On Tuesday, coincidentally the 46th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the New York State Senate passed the Reproductive Health Act, and it was signed into law by Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The law, which is likely the most expansive abortion bill in the country, allows late-term abortion until the baby’s due date if it meets certain requirements. Not only is this kind of legal protection of late-term abortion an affront to the humanity of the unborn and the dignity of society, but New York celebrated it publicly, as if it had just won the Super Bowl.
When the bill passed, video shows the assembly chamber erupting into cheers, with politicians and audience members applauding the bill as if it were a victorious symbol of strength.
BREAKING: New York State Senate just made HISTORY and passed the Reproductive Health Act on the anniversary of #RoevWade! pic.twitter.com/u2diMzgSQW
— ? PPNYC Action Fund (@PPNYCAction) January 22, 2019
That night, One World Trade Center lit up in the color pink to honor the passage of the bill. Imagine, a beacon of capitalism, shining not to showcase freedom and prosperity but the “liberty” marking the path toward infanticide.
Cuomo says One World Trade Center’s 408-foot spire, the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, the Kosciuszko Bridge and the Alfred E. Smith Building in Albany will be lit in pink tonight to celebrate passage of Reproductive Health Act https://t.co/TmDEmj18Vy pic.twitter.com/XYdgxPNaoC
— Joseph Spector (@GannettAlbany) January 23, 2019
Of course, Planned Parenthood applauded the passage of the bill with words of affirmation and an emoji.
This. Is. Huge.@NYGovCuomo JUST signed the Reproductive Health Act into law — a big win towards securing safe, legal abortion & access to contraception for all!
Can’t wait to see other states follow New York’s lead to protect our health and rights. ? https://t.co/1nH9fnIJDK
— Planned Parenthood Action (@PPact) January 23, 2019
Two of the most heinous parts of the bill describe the new parameters of abortion: if “the patient is within twenty-four weeks from the commencement of pregnancy” and second, and this is the worst qualifier, “or the abortion is necessary to protect the patient’s life or health.” The wording of that second phrase is so comprehensive, even in legal lingo, protecting the patient’s health could mean almost anything.
This new bill ensures that New York remains the most progressive of all the states in pushing forward “reproductive rights” (an absurd term for baby-killing). Per the CDC, about one in three unborn babies are aborted in New York City. Statistics also show more black babies are aborted than born alive in New York City.
Still, New Yorkers not only fail to be discouraged by this news, they also celebrate it.
To be clear, this is not the passage of abortion rights, but the permission to commit infanticide and call it by another name — an eight-pound baby can survive outside the womb with very little medical aid. Late-term abortion procedures are ghoulish and graphic: The Lozier Institute reports that “Abortions performed after 20 weeks gestation, when not done by induction of labor (which leads to fetal death due to prematurity), are most commonly performed by dilation and evacuation (D & E) procedures. These particularly gruesome surgical techniques involve crushing, dismemberment and removal of a fetal body from a woman’s uterus, mere weeks before, or even after, the fetus reaches a developmental age of potential viability outside the mother.”
Did the State Assembly and Senate know this and still applaud, or are we to assume somehow in the age of information they are willfully ignorant of the procedure?
With thousands of families waiting to adopt, passage of a bill that allows and celebrates abortion of this magnitude is disgusting. The reaction to this bill demonstrates that politicians in New York have overlooked the dignity and sanctity of the least in our society to further their own progressive self-interests.
Nicole Russell (@russell_nm) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a journalist who previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota.

