Pro-lifers pledge to continue fight for the unborn

The State Assembly Health Committee's vote last week against legislation to ban partial-birth abortion has only made pro-lifers more determined than ever to speak out for the unborn. "People in the pro-life movement saw this vote as pretty discouraging, but I don't," stated Kathleen Gallagher, associate director of the New York State Catholic Conference. "We will win this one. It's just going to take some time." What encouraged her were the eight votes that the partial-birth abortion ban did receive, including two from traditionally pro-choice legislators: Assemblypersons Harold Brown (R-Onondaga) and Nettie Mayersohn (D-Queens). On several other pro-life bills " all of which were defeated as well " only five or six assembly members voted yes. `Watershed' "This has made partial-birth abortion the watershed issue," Mrs. Gallagher told The Evangelist. "The ground has shifted. In the abortion debate, [pro-abortion] people are talking about the child for the first time in my memory." John Kerry, executive director of the Catholic Conference, pointed out that it has been documented that partial-birth abortion kills a baby who is almost fully delivered, that the procedure is being performed in New York State, that there are no medical situations which would require partial-birth abortion and that "overwhelming majorities of the American people oppose the procedure. "That a small minority in the Assembly could overlook all of this evidence and vote to disallow a full and fair hearing on the Assembly floor suggests that political agendas have been placed before the fragile lives of partially-born members of the human family," he said. Other measures The other bills defeated by the Assembly Health Committee would have required: * informed consent for pregnant women seeking abortions, * parental notification prior to a teenager's abortion, and * the creation of the crimes of fetal assault and homicide. The state Right to Life Committee called the assembly's votes "sad," an outrage, and "a deplorable violation of justice." Strategizing However, despite the defeat of all four bills, Mrs. Gallagher told The Evangelist that all pro-life groups in New York State will soon meet to plan a new strategy together. "That bill may be dead, but a new bill will be introduced," she said of the partial-birth abortion bill. Since several amendments were made to the bill before it reached the Assembly Health Committee, she added, the bill may be rewritten to include those clarifications and re-submitted. "The pro-life community has the momentum. While the committee vote may be over, we will not settle into complacency or acceptance of the status quo," Mr. Kerry stated. "We will continue our efforts at both the state and federal levels to ban this abhorrent and unnecessary procedure, and to restore respect for human life in our society."

(06-05-97) [[In-content Ad]]