New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has said he will refuse to sign the state’s latest budget unless provisions are made to ensure abortion up to birth can be obtained by residents. In addition, he believes that terminations should be permitted for any reason.
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Cuomo, speaking alongside Hillary Clinton at Barnard College in Manhattan, vowed that he would not pledge his support for the 2019-2020 state budget legislation unless the Reproductive Health Act and the Comprehensive Contraception Coverage Act are both approved by the state legislature.
According to the Reproductive Health Act, any woman who becomes pregnant has the “fundamental right to choose to carry the pregnancy to term, to give birth to a child or have an abortion.”
In addition, the legislation would also remove any reference to abortion from the state’s penal code.
The state legislature is expected to pass the bill on January 22, coinciding with the 46th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade.
“This is only the beginning of the protections that we will have for our women, for our environment, criminal-justice reform, education — the list goes on,” said Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins, D-Yonkers following the announcement, as reported by the Democrat & Chronicle. “But in January, the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we will make our statement, we will make our mark.”
Pro-life campaigners are horrified by Cuomo’s promise.
“As many of you know, the Governor is pushing again for abortion through birth and even after with so-called ‘Reproductive Health Act.’ Now he has an anti-Life Democrat-led Senate to help him get it through,” New York State Right to Life campaign posted on Facebook.
In addition, the group issued a statement declaring that the legislation will “expose mothers to increased dangers by removing protections currently in New York statute.”
Current state law allows for abortion up to 24 weeks, but the new legislation would scrap that, and would instead permit the killing of unborn babies up to birth as long as the practitioner acts in “good faith.”