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Seven hundred pro-life demonstrators from across New York State converged in Albany last week to protest a provision in Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Women's Equality Act that would expand the state's abortion laws.

"His bill gives the abortion lobby everything on their wish list. It is a gift," Kathleen Gallagher, director of pro-life activities for the New York State Catholic Conference, told the group before sending them off to hold signs in the Assembly lobby, meet with legislators and pray in the Assembly chamber.

The Catholic Conference co-sponsored the event along with New Yorkers for Life, an effort spearheaded by New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms.

In a June 4 editorial published on the Huffington Post website (www.huffingtonpost.com), Gov. Cuomo maintained that the provision - grouped with his 10-point Women's Equality Act, which prioritizes other women's equality issues that are supported by New York State's Catholic bishops - "codifies in state law the reproductive rights afforded by Roe [vs. Wade]" and "in no way expands abortion rights."

What bill would do
But opponents point out that it inserts a broad health exception into state law, exceeding the current stipulation of allowing late-term abortions only to protect the mother's life. The state's bishops issued a statement noting that the health exception doesn't just mean serious physical illness, but can "include age, economic, social or other emotional factors. It is an exception that will permit unlimited late-term abortion on demand in New York State."

Opponents of the bill add that it could allow licensed healthcare professionals who are not physicians to perform abortion procedures and eliminate criminal charges for coerced abortions.

It could also be used to compel all hospitals to allow abortions, they say, calling the bill's religious exemptions vague and its codification of federal laws "selective."

"The abortion expansion renders the entire Women's Equality Act unacceptable," Mrs. Gallagher said at the protest. "We are here today to show our elected officials the face of pro-life New York. This is absolutely a winnable issue for us, but we can't let up now."

Why they came
Marie White of St. Gabriel's parish in Rotterdam brought her three toddlers and sister-in-law to the advocacy event. If the abortion provision were eliminated, she would consider it a "baby step" toward her ultimate goal.

"I would like to stop abortion completely," Mrs. White said. "As Catholics [and as humans], it's our moral obligation to protect the sanctity of life."

Participant Daniel O'Connor, who attends St. John the Evangelist parish in Schenectady and St. Francis Chapel in Colonie, told The Evangelist that he takes his "Catholic faith as seriously as I possibly can, especially the Gospel of life. There's really just no excuse to sit out events like this."

Mr. O'Connor tries to pray outside Planned Parenthood locations in Troy and Schenectady weekly. He said more abortions will lead to more psychologically wounded mothers.

Seventeen-year-old Kyla Loucks, a homeschooled parishioner of St. Mary's Church in Ballston Spa, has also protested outside Planned Parenthood. She recalled meeting a passerby who had undergone several abortions and struggled with guilt.

"She said, 'People don't understand how much it hurts after the fact,'" Kyla said. "We don't need any more babies killed. This isn't part of a women's health bill; it's more hurting them than it is helping them."

Kyla said her pastor, Rev. Thomas Kelly, spoke about the pro-life demonstration in a homily and included letters in the parish bulletin. She believes the abortion provision shouldn't be "packaged together" with the other women's rights points in the bill, like pay equity and ending sexual harassment in the workplace.

Abortion capital
Protest organizers emphasized that the Governor's efforts would bring more late-term abortions to New York, which is already known as the nation's "abortion capital." Should Roe vs. Wade ever be reversed, opponents say, New York could become an abortion destination.

The legislative session ended as The Evangelist went to print on Tuesday. After the demonstration, Gov. Cuomo and women's groups announced an intention to change the language of the abortion provision to ensure it wouldn't lead to partial-birth abortions.

The Rev. Jason McGuire, executive director of New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, called the news "a desperate attempt to pass the Governor's bill, but state legislators and the average New Yorker will not be fooled. If the Governor simply adds a sentence to his bill noting that there is a federal ban on partial-birth abortion, that would not even come close to remedying the fundamental flaws in this legislation."

Catholic Conference spokesman Dennis Poust responded similarly: "Abortion expansion in New York is not about partial-birth abortion," he wrote in a statement. "The Catholic bishops and the pro-life community object in the strongest terms to any expansion of late-term abortion, regardless of the procedure used."

Editor's note: After The Evangelist went to print, the governor announced the Women's Equality Act would be split into 10 component parts to be voted on later in the week.[[In-content Ad]]

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