New York

The Democratic governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, signed the Reproductive Health Act on January 22nd, 2019 which marked the 46th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision. New York allows the woman a little more time when compared to Georgia’s and Arkansas’ laws. This act ultimately allows women to get an abortion up until the woman reaches 24 weeks. Women are only permitted to receive an abortion after 24 weeks if their life is in immediate danger. This ultimately allows the mother to go up until the third trimester with her pregnancy before deciding if she an abortion is the correct decision for her. 

According to Time, as of February 1^st, 2019, New York is trying allow women to get an abortion following the 24 week deadline if health is threaten rather than just her life and if the fetus has no chance of survival outside of the mother’s womb. In New York, there are no specific laws put on women regarding their reason for abortion prior to the 24-week period. Many women are in favor of New York’s leniency pertaining to abortion, while many men are against New York’s decision. Anti-abortion activists have spoken out and have said that New York’s 24-week law should be lessened as by 24 weeks, the fetus has a fully developed inner ear and their lungs have begun to form. These anti-abortion activists believe that the 24-week period should be lessened and resemble a time frame closer to Arkansas or Georgia. 

 Jezebel, referred to as a supposedly feminist website, reported on Elizabeth who was 35 and had an abortion at 32 weeks. Elizabeth had been married for two years and prior to her abortion, she had a miscarriage at 10 weeks. When pregnant with her second child, Elizabeth found out at 31 weeks that her baby boy would be unable to breath outside of her womb and would ultimately be unable to survive. At 32 weeks, Elizabeth flew to Colorado to get a shot which would start the process of a third trimester abortion. Upon returning to New York, she was able to finish the delivery. She says that her mom’s family was more pro-choice than her dad’s conservative family. She decided that she would tell her dads side of the family that they had lost the baby at 32 weeks rather than explaining that she had an abortion. As Elizabeth explains her experience throughout these 32 weeks, she talks about how she had a strong support system by her side and had doctors that expected the best rather than the worst. After a doctor visit when Elizabeth’s baby had dropped off the charts, the doctors told her that New York laws would not allow Elizabeth to go through with an abortion in the state of New York as this was not a health risk directly affecting Elizabeth but rather her baby. Elizabeth ultimately had to fly to Colorado where she found a doctor who would perform the procedure on her before returning to New York. New York is still working on their new abortion laws which have not been finalized. From this story it is gathered that past 24 weeks, New York by law is unable to perform an abortion if the mother’s life is not in immediate danger.

As with any state and any law, there will always be a divide between what people believe to be is true and what is false. This is no different when it comes to abortion laws in New York. In Paul Moses, The Ones Ignored, he discusses the New York state laws. In his writing he does not explicitly express his opinion about the law but rather provides the readers with information. Moses compares the laws that were set in 1970, which were the ones that replaced the 1830 stature, to the laws that Governor Andrew Cuomo signed in 2019. The New York law declares in its policy statement that “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.” Democrats seem to be more in favor of the Reproductive Health Act than republicans and would tend to agree more with the statement previously said. This new law ultimately expended the amount of time a woman may have before an abortion is illegal unless her life is immediately threatened. Moses quotes Deborah Glick, the Assembly sponsor of the Reproductive Health Act, during a debate before the bill’s passage that says “if a fetus is somehow delivered and is alive, then it becomes a person under New York State law and is granted all of the rights of a person, if it is alive.” While this statement is controversial, it is in fact a law. Once the 24 weeks has been passed and there are no sever health issues with the mother and the child is born, it is illegal to terminate that person’s life as they are now a citizen. 

Another point of view that can be considered when accounting for the increase in time allotted for abortion is that there is more money going into the industry. By allowing the mother to almost complete her second trimester, cutting her off by a month, is that organizations and business involved in this field will ultimately acquire more money through both private payments and insurance. New York differs from Maine in that tax dollars are not spent on abortions but, clinics will still be receiving money through insurance companies. Anne Hendershott and Victor Bermudez, discuss how New York is maximizing their profits in the abortion industry. Hendershott and Bermudez talk about how “the ratio of abortions to viable births for women living in New York City is nearly twice that of the national average.” This article is based heavily on studies and facts surrounding the topic of profit from abortions. It is said that between forty and sixty percent of all viable pregnancies end in abortion. New York City is the largest provider of abortion services and because of this, Planned Parenthood of New York City has made enormous profits off of these increased percentages. Democrats are more content with this when compared to republicans who are pro-life.