The Attorney General of New York has long been an enthusiast for abortion. He used to boast about how he once served as an "escort" to accompany women into abortion clinics. He has consistently found pretty much every way possible to promote abortion. And he has now reached a new low, issuing a legal opinion that sends a clear message to the world — New York is open for business for late-term abortions
As a legal matter, his opinion letter is not a surprise. He correctly stated that to be valid under current Supreme Court precedent (I refuse to call it "constitutional law"), New York's abortion law must contain a "health exception" for post-viability abortions. But the problem is that "health" has been defined so broadly as to be functionally meaningless, since it would include "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." (That's a quote from Doe v. Bolton, the companion case to Roe v. Wade)
So the effect of the AG's opinion is to make clear to the world that New York permits abortion on demand for all nine months of pregnancy, for any reason whatsoever. And remember, there's no requirement that a woman seeking an abortion be a New York resident — so it's come one, come all
The really insidious part of the opinion comes in the second part of his opinion, dealing with late-term abortions where the baby is "nonviable".
The problem with a relying on a "viability" standard is that it is undefined in the law — neither the Supreme Court nor New York law defines it with any kind of specificity (in fact, the term is entirely absent in the New York statute). In Casey, the Court described "the concept of viability" as "the time at which there is a realistic possibility of maintaining and nourishing a life outside the womb". In Roe, the Court said it meant that "the fetus then presumably has the capability of meaningful life outside the mother's womb"
Talk about arbitrary. What does that mean, and who decides?
Here's the devil in the details. As the Attorney General noted in his opinion, the Supreme Court has left it to the abortionist to decide — with no requirement that his opinion be reviewed by anyone, with no legal standard, entirely in his discretion. In fact, the Court said that "it is not the proper function of the legislature or the courts to place viability, which essentially is a medical concept, at a specific point in the gestation period. The time when viability is achieved may vary with each pregnancy, and the determination of whether a particular fetus is viable is, and must be, a matter for the judgment of the responsible attending physician." (That's from the decision in Planned Parenthood v. Danforth)n
So it's carte blanche for abortionists. He could interpret "nonviable" to mean that the baby cannot have a "meaningful" life because she needs some kind of basic life support (which is common and ordinary care for preemies), or she will not survive more than a short time (which would encompass many babies with treatable disabilities, much less babies with microcephaly due to Zika)
The end result is an open door to late-term abortion that specifically targets babies with disabilities. That's eugenics, and it's unequivocally evil
New York has often been called "The Abortion Capital of the United States". It's hard to believe, but this recent move has made it even worse. Thanks to our Attorney General, New York is rolling out the carpet for late-term abortions.