Vote denied on abortion ban

Kathleen Gallagher, associate director for the New York State Catholic Conference, claimed that the Assembly, especially the Democrats, will not allow the abortion ban to come to the floor for a vote because "it's clear that Speaker [Sheldon] Silver knows if this bill ever came to the floor, the pro-life people would win."

The Catholic Conference represents the state's bishops on matters of public policy.

Arcane excuse

The Democratic majority had argued that position and that they should be the ones to decide the bill to be discharged. The Republican minority argued the opposite position.

The issue the Assembly actually ended up voting on was whether to allow the abortion ban to be substituted for the budget reform bill as the one "motion-to-discharge" item. The vote was 75-66 against allowing the substitution.

"They were changing the rules as the clock was ticking," Mrs. Gallagher told The Evangelist. "The thought of having a vote was encouraging. Unfortunately, it was on such a convoluted question. But considering that, I think 75-66 was a very decent margin for us."

Bi-partisan

The Catholic Conference official applauded Assembly Minority Leader John Faso's impassioned defense of a vote on the ban, noting that he called himself "angry, shocked and ashamed" to be a part of the Assembly in light of its actions.

The Conference plans to "regroup and re-strategize," and meet with pro-life groups before planning its next steps. Since some of the language in the existing partial-birth abortion ban has been struck down in other courts in the country, Mrs. Gallagher said the Conference may consider rewriting the bill.

(04-15-99) [[In-content Ad]]