AUL Says Gosnell Trial A Cautionary Tale for New Yorkers Who Would be More Vulnerable to Renegade Abortionists Under Governor Cuomo's Initiative

WASHINGTON, May 13, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The grisly evidence in Kermit Gosnell's "House of Horrors" criminal trial in Philadelphia should be a wake-up call to New Yorkers who could soon be more vulnerable to similar deadly care, if Governor Andrew Cuomo's proposed abortion legislation is enacted. Americans United for Life President and CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest said, and observed that Governor Cuomo has announced plans to remove New York's extremely limited legal protections for women considering abortion with proposed legislation that removes all legal restraints on New York's abortion industry.

"New York already has the highest abortion rate in the nation.  And now Governor Cuomo is expected to propose legislation that gives free-reign to abortionists," observed Dr. Yoest. "The grisly testimony about appalling conditions and infanticide in the trial of abortionist Kermit Gosnell in Philadelphia should be a cautionary tale for New Yorkers. The technical impact of Gov. Cuomo's efforts would be to block all commonsense regulations of abortion—an often dangerous medical procedure, especially later in pregnancy. He is essentially proposing a 'Back-Alley Abortionists Empowerment Act' that will remove the few legal protections currently in place in New York and sanction an environment where more women will be victimized by an unregulated and unrestrained abortion industry.

"An important lesson that we should learn from the Gosnell trial is that an unmonitored, unregulated abortion industry is extremely dangerous. It is time to protect women and girls from an industry that consistently places profits above women's health and safety."

Protecting New York women and girls from Gosnell-like clinics should be an area of bi-partisan agreement.

AUL has developed two pieces of model legislation requiring regular inspections of abortion clinics and strict adherence to medically appropriate standards of patient care:

• The "Abortion Patients' Enhanced Safety Act" mandates that abortion clinics meet the same patient care standards as facilities performing other outpatient surgeries.
• The "Women's Health Protection Act" requires that abortion clinics meet minimum health and safety standards in a variety of areas including recordkeeping, staffing, sanitation, patient intake and testing, the abortion procedure itself, and post-operative care.

For more information on New York's abortion polices, click here.

SOURCE Americans United for Life