Stewart-Cousins responds on abortion bill
Via guest blogger Ernie Garcia:
Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) responded this morning to pro-life activists’ intention to picket her Yonkers office this afternoon over her sponsorship of proposed abortion legislation.
The Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection Act seeks to amend state abortion laws. Yesterday a representative from Advocates of Life said that the protest was organized to express the group’s members’ concerns about who can perform an abortion, the lifting of limits when an abortion can be performed, parental consent and religious hospitals’ ability to opt-out of abortion services.
Stewart-Cousins said that only a physician with proper licenses will be allowed to perform an abortion. She said the proposed law would align New York’s abortion laws with the federal government’s.
“It’s about codifying Roe v. Wade,†said Stewart-Cousins, referring to the Supreme Court case that made abortion legal nationwide. “It’s at this point putting New York state in the appropriate leadership role when it comes to women’s health and women’s rights.â€
Under current state law a woman can only have an abortion through the 24th week of her pregnancy, unless there is a justifiable reason such as a threat to her health. The proposed legislation allows a doctor and the woman to decide when an abortion is performed.
Tony Felicissimo of Advocates of Life said yesterday that his members are also protesting the possibility that Catholic hospitals would be required to perform abortions or that these institutions health plans would be required to pay for abortions.
Stewart-Cousins said that there is an existing conscience clause in state statutes and that the proposed legislation does not change religious hospitals’ ability to opt-out of abortion services. “It is not the intent of this legislation to create a different environment in terms of the way Catholic hospitals operate,†she said.
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With all due respect to Senator Stewart-Cousins, the Reproductive Health & Privacy Protect Act is much more than an attempt to only “codify Roe v. Wade.” The Senator should have read the bill more closely before she did ex-Governor Spitzer’s bidding when she introduced this piece of legislation.
In reality, RHAPP is extremely harmful and dangerous to women and young girls. It strips away parental consent for abortions yet leaves in place the need for parental consent when their child wants aspirin at school. It lets women choose abortions for any reason whatsoever, in any trimester and with no restrictions. It also allows any health practitioner, whether it be a dentist or a social worker, to perform an abortion. That’s only the beginning.
RHAPP should never have been introduced. If Sen. Stewart-Sessions cares for women, young girls and parental rights, she needs to pull RHAPP from the NY Legislature.
So here we go again usurping parental rights. How can it be that a hospital can’t give a minor an aspirin without parental consent, but they can performa a major medical procedure like an abortion without the parent ever knowing? Stand up for your rights to parent your children so that when an unwanted pregnancy occurs, you as a parent can help them make the proper choice when it comes to such a serious, potentially life changing major decision. Next thing you know they will be bypassing parental consent for STD prevention vaccinations
Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins should re-read her piece of legislation (S.6045-A) and consider whether she wants to align herself with this radical uncompromising abortion plan.
Her bill removes all references to “duly licensed physician” in our current law and replaces them with the words “health care practitioner†with regard to who may perform abortions. That appears to be a pretty deliberate attempt to broaden the scope of practice for various other health practitioners to perform abortions, especially since fewer and fewer physicians are willing to perform abortions. For what other purpose would this language change be in the Senator’s bill?
Her bill goes way beyond the federal government to elevate abortion to the status of a “fundamental right”—equal to the right to free speech or the right to vote. The current standard of review in abortion cases is “undue burden,†meaning that an abortion regulation would be held invalid only if it placed a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking abortion. Senator Stewart-Cousins’ bill would apply the strict scrutiny standard, the highest standard of review, and require an abortion regulation to be narrowly tailored to serve a “compelling state interest.†Even the U.S. Supreme Court does not hold the right to abortion to be so fundamental. Current federal law allows reasonable restrictions and regulations on abortion like parental consent for abortions performed on minors; Senator Stewart-Cousins’ bill would not.
Whether or not it is the Senator’s intent to erode the religious liberty interests of Catholic institutions, that would be the result of her bill. Federal and state statutory protections for Catholic hospitals and other agencies are incomplete, weak, and under legal attack. The RHAPP proposal is part and parcel of an orchestrated nationwide campaign to require all health care providers to participate in abortion, eliminate conscience protections and threaten religious liberty.
The Senator should remove her name from the bill.