New York Prepares 'Back-Alley Abortionist Empowerment Act' as Governor Cuomo Launches Bill that Would Victimize Women and Girls

WASHINGTON, June 4, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Despite the fact that New York has the highest percentage of pregnancies ending in abortion of any state in the nation, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has launched an effort that will further increase the incidence of abortion in the state. "As the inhuman details of Kermit Gosnell's 'house of horrors' trial continue to resonate, it is irresponsible for Governor Cuomo to advance a 'Back-Alley Abortionist Empowerment Act' seeking to remove all medically and legally appropriate protections for women and girls considering abortion," said Americans United for Life Action's President and CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest. "Why should women die through the misdeeds of New York abortionists unregulated, unmonitored and free to provide horrific care?"

Currently AUL Action is actively working in New York to protect New York women and girls who would be vulnerable to present and future Kermit Gosnells, should the legislation advance.

"The technical impact of Gov. Cuomo's efforts would be to block commonsense regulations of abortion—an often dangerous medical procedure, especially later in pregnancy," said Dr. Yoest. "He essentially creates a 'Back-Alley Abortionists Empowerment Act' that will remove the few legal protections in place in New York and sanction an environment where more women will be victimized and hurt by an unregulated and unrestrained abortion industry.

"If Cuomo's legislation succeeds, New York will be sanctioning unrestricted, virtually unregulated, and taxpayer-funded abortion-on-demand, making it the most radically pro-abortion state in the nation."

AUL Actions' legal team notes that the proponents of the bill claim to be addressing a problem with access to abortion—a problem that clearly does not exist in New York. According to the most recent data from the Guttmacher Institute, the abortion-industry think tank, 33 percent of New York pregnancies ended in abortion in 2008. More pregnancies ended in abortion in New York than in any of the other 50 states.

Other abortion advocates have argued that New York needs Governor Cuomo's legislation to ensure that abortion is permitted and protected in the state should Roe v. Wade be overturned or further undermined. However, in the 1994 decision Hope v. Perales, the due process provision of the New York Constitution was interpreted as protecting a woman's right to abortion in the state.

Consider a few points from AUL Action's survey of New York law:

• New York does not have an informed consent law for abortion and does not protect the right of parents to be involved in the abortion decisions of their minor daughters.
• New York taxpayers are already required by statute to fund "medically necessary" abortions for women receiving public assistance.
• New York hospitals providing emergency care for sexual assault victims must provide life-ending drugs mislabeled as "emergency contraception."
• New York health plans that provide prescription coverage must provide coverage for contraception, including life-ending drugs mislabeled as "emergency contraception."  The provision includes an exemption so narrow it excludes the ability of most employers and insurers with moral or religious objections from exercising the exemption.

"In light of recent, tragic deaths at the hands of Big Abortion, advancing legislation that enables abortionists to harm more women and girls makes no legal sense at all," said Dr. Yoest. "The headlines are full of news of women's health being neglected in abortion clinics. Governor Cuomo should not champion a bill that would unleash such victimization on New York women."

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

AUL Action is the legislative action arm of Americans United for Life, a nonprofit, public-interest law and policy organization whose vision since 1971 is a nation in which everyone is welcomed in life and protected in law.

Contact: Kristi Hamrick, E-mail: [email protected]

SOURCE Americans United for Life Action