Legal: Killing babies and their mommas on New York altars

New York's new abortion law is beyond despicable. Really, how else can we describe it? Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who set this in motion, and the lawmakers who sanctioned it should be ashamed -- and those who voted for them should be experiencing deep regret.

Abortion is sad enough. Life is life -- whether in the womb or outside of the womb, whether at one month or nine. But when ending the innocent life of someone fully formed is legal, when it is applauded -- literally, when elected officials grin like Cheshire cats for this "win" for women's rights, when One World Trade Center is lit up in pink to celebrate it, "despicable" comes closest in description. I'm not calling the individuals responsible despicable. Rather, they are deceived and blinded, and the result of their delusion is this despicable law, which sacrifices innocent life on the altars of "progression."

So what actually is contained in New York's Reproductive Health Act? Journalist Penny Starr, in her article "8 Shocking Facts About New York's Radical Abortion Law," writes:

Here are eight facts about New York's new abortion law:

• The "fundamental" right to abortion is enshrined in the New York Constitution. "Every individual who becomes pregnant has the fundamental right to choose to carry the pregnancy to term, to give birth to a child, or to have an abortion, pursuant to this article," the law states.
• The law allows non-physicians to perform abortions. "A health care practitioner licensed, certified, or authorized under title eight of the education law, acting in his or her lawful scope of practice, may perform an abortion," the law states.
• The law allows abortion through the third trimester, including up to birth. "Third-trimester abortion will be allowed under the new law when a preborn child is diagnosed with a condition that will cause him or her to die at or shortly after birth," Live Action reported.
• The law removes protections for babies who survive an abortion procedure. "The new law removes protections for babies born alive after an abortion -- meaning they could be left to die after birth -- by rescinding a portion of New York's public health law," Live Action reported. Late-term abortions, until now, were illegal in the state of New York.
• The law prevents pregnant women whose babies are killed in an attack on the mother from seeking justice and could result in infanticide by repealing the requirement for a second physician to be on hand in case an attempted abortion past 20 weeks yields a live infant.
• The law states that an unborn child cannot be a victim of homicide if he dies while in the womb following an attack on the mother. "'Person,' when referring to the victim of a homicide, means a human being who has been born and is alive," the law states.
• Pro-abortion advocates said the law would protect legal abortion even in the event that the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision to make abortion legal -- a decision that did no go as far as the New York law. "[The law] not only increases access to abortion across the board, including late-term abortions but also goes beyond Roe, which left some limits in place," Catholic News Service reported.

Read Starr's full article here: https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/01/24/8-shocking-facts-about-new-yorks-radical-abortion-law/.

Each of these is appalling, but zone in on the fact that a baby may be aborted at any time -- even just prior to birth! My friend just had a baby whom she had to deliver early. She shared a photograph. I looked at her beautiful newborn, and it hit me: Aubrey Faye -- all 6 pounds, 13 ounces and 19.25 inches of her--could have been aborted a second before entering the world. Mind-boggling. Despicable.

This law also means a baby born alive after a botched abortion may be placed on a shelf somewhere, without medical care, left to die. It's horrifying, yet you and I are told to sit down and shut up because, "Who are you to judge?" Really?

The law also shines a light on the hypocrisy of the so-called progressive women's movement: A pregnant woman who is attacked and loses her baby cannot seek legal justice for homicide because her unborn baby is not a "person." Starr writes, "'Person,' when referring to the victim of a homicide, means a human being who has been born and is alive, the law states." If this ain't enough to snuff the life out of a mother! This will kill a woman quicker than anything. Why aren't the #MeToo-ers and the Pussyhat-wearers and the I Am Woman! Hear Me Roar-ers ripping and roaring over this? If ever there was something to scream about, this is it -- that a man can attack a woman, killing her child, yet she has no legal power because that child is not a person, according to the emperor-gods of the Empire State. This is low--even for liberal, progressive New York.

I'm a native New Yorker, lived there all of my life until just a few years ago, but I am embarrassed, ashamed and appalled by this legislation. This isn't progression. This is regression. This is some nightmare from which we must pray to awake. Maybe I'm gullible, but I have to believe that even those who are pro-choice recognize this as beyond the pale, wicked and, yes, downright despicable. God, have mercy on our souls -- and God, please have mercy on the most vulnerable souls among us: our precious babies.

Adrienne Ross is owner of Adrienne Ross Communications and a former Southeast Missourian editorial board member. Contact her at aross@semissourian.com.