New York Right to Life Clarifies AB6221

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

I had written to the folks at New York State Right to Life asking them specifics about AB6221. A woman named Jessica was kind enough to provide me with the requested information and also clarification about the New York Assembly Bill 6221. Since AB6221 is fairly short, it simply references previous bills that are already law.

The following information is provided as a means of clarifying what AB6221 will do, if it passes NY’s Senate as it has passed NY’s Assembly.

There has been a lot of confusion circling around AB6221, and I thank you for writing to clarify.

New York law on abortion, as passed in 1970, allows abortion in the third trimester when the mother’s life is in danger, and requires that licensed physicians perform abortions.

In 1973, Roe v Wade, and it’s companion case Doe v Bolton, handed down a ruling on abortion that overrode our law. Roe allowed abortion within the third trimester if the mother’s life OR *health* was in danger. Doe went on to define “health” with a loophole so broad as to allow abortion-on-demand through any point in pregnancy. The Court wrote:

The medical judgment [for a late-term abortion] may be exercised in the light of all factors—physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman’s age—relevant to the well-being of the patient. All these factors may relate to health. This allows the attending physician the room he needs to make his best medical judgment. And it is room that operates for the benefit, not the disadvantage, of the pregnant woman.

AB 6221 would do two major things. It would first – and this would have an immediate effect in New York practice – allow non-doctors to perform abortions. This would be done by repealing the section of the penal code that requires only licensed physicians to perform abortions. The bill sponsors say that it would still be limited to those “operating within the scope of their practice” so in practice this would be mean nurses, midwives, and physicians assistants. We’ve already seen a movement to actively make it so that midwives and nurses are performing abortions – http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/10/politics/california-nurse-practitioners-abortions/ – so this is continuing that trend.

Second, AB 6221 would bring a third-trimester “health” exception into New York state law. While NY law is currently superseded by Roe anyway, should Roe be overturned and abortion regulation be turned back over to the states, we would revert to only a life exception in the third trimester. By passing AB 6221, the Assembly is seeking to ensure that, no matter what happens to Roe, there will always be abortion-on-demand in New York, no matter how old the unborn child is.

AB 6221 does not specify what methods of abortion are to be used- it works to expand WHEN and WHY late abortions can be done. The article that you reference below is talking about a commonly employed method of abortion late in pregnancy where the baby’s heart is stopped.

In essence then, AB6221 is designed to shore up potential problems that would occur should Roe v. Wade is ever overturned. It would allow non-doctors (like midwives, nurses, and physicians assistants) to perform abortions and it would extend the “health” exception into the third-trimester, where this is not now current.

In essence then, the state of New York wants to ensure that should Roe v. Wade become overturned at any point, they will already have laws in place that effectively replace it in New York state.

I am going to write an article very soon on the various methods of abortion used in the United States. I can use a refresher on this subject and it may also help to educate people who are really unaware of the methods that are used and during which trimester they are normally associated.

Frankly, as readers will note (and as many already are aware), there is no “safe” or “painless” way to kill an unborn human being. The fact that it happens so often with so many women repeating the process is proof that, for many, abortion-on-demand is a means of “contraception” or “birth control.” While I find any and all abortions appalling, I can understand that a young girl who becomes pregnant via rape (which is an extremely low percentage) would have an abortion. Depending upon the age of the “mother,” she herself may be in a terrible position health wise if she doesn’t have an abortion. Nonetheless, the child is still be killed.

Statistics have proven that many abortions are repeats. In 2012, 1.2 million women had abortions, and “the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 44 percent of these were repeat abortions, and 1 in 5 represent a third or even higher order abortion.” There truly is no excuse for this except laziness. In spite of contraceptives being available over the counter or via prescription (condoms to pills), it seems that either these contraceptive methods are either not being used according to directions, they’re not being used at all, or they have a higher failure rate than anyone is letting on.

If 44% of women having abortions are having repeat abortions, something is seriously wrong. Out of 1.2 million abortions in one year alone, roughly 600,000 abortions are performed on women who have already had at least one abortion.

Folks, those who value life and understand that human beings were made in God’s image understand that this should not be. Yet, it is and we need to ask why? Is it so that the “rights” of women to murder their unborn child remain intact or is it something worse?

Anytime an abortion happens, even when it truly involves saving the life of the mother, it is not a good thing. Frankly, I would hate to be the physician who has to make that decision about either aborting the child to save the life of the mother or the reverse.

Nonetheless, it is also clear that the liberal lawmakers in the state of New York want to ensure that under no circumstances (including the reversal of Roe v. Wade), will women ever have to worry about losing the “right” to kill their unborn human child. This is why AB6221 exists and those who support it desperately want it to become law.

My understanding is that it will have a very difficult time passing NY’s Senate. Like those who want to ban ammo and guns, we can be assured that they will not give up if the bill loses in the senate. They will simply regroup, reword, and try again.

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective