
Dr. James Dobson
A new abortion law passed by New York's Democratic-led state legislature and signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo permits abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, up to the very moment of birth, for almost any reason.
Advertisement - story continues below
Conservative Christian author, radio broadcaster and family counselor Dr. James Dobson is calling it "pure barbarism on a scale rarely seen since the Middle Ages."
The new law permits abortions if the mother's life is at risk, which can be interpreted broadly to include protecting "mental health." To celebrate the law, Cuomo ordered that One World Trade Center be illuminated in pink.
TRENDING: 15% stock discount with your employer: Should you buy?
The law also moves abortion violations from the state's penal code to the health code.
Dobson, founder and president of Family Talk as well as the James Dobson Family Institute, is an author and psychologist, has written dozens of books, counseled multiple presidents and was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2008.
Advertisement - story continues below
"It is not overstating the matter to say I am horrified by the New York State Senate’s vote to pass the euphemistic Reproductive Health Act (RHA). This bill is not about reproductive health at all. It is pure barbarism on a scale rarely seen since the Middle Ages," he said.
"This legislation expands upon New York's already liberal abortion laws, which allow for on demand abortion up until 24 weeks. The RHA's main aim is to justify abortions throughout a pregnancy’s entire term based on the overly broad exceptions defined in Roe’s companion case, Doe v. Bolton, including such subjective measures as a woman’s emotional and psychological wellbeing. Late term abortions had only previously been authorized in New York if done to save the life of the mother."
He said New York already was considered the abortion capital of the nation, but this bill "also allows non-physicians to commit abortions, and decriminalizes abortion by moving it from the criminal code to the public-health code."
"New York is symbolically doubling-down on the killing of the unborn on the 46th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, casting an even darker shadow on a date already shrouded in tragedy and the loss of innocent life," he said.
"This terrible news comes alongside an Iowa judge’s decision to strike down that state’s heartbeat bill, saying it violated the state’s constitution. In the exact opposite spirit to New York’s RHA, Iowa had prohibited abortions after a baby’s heartbeat is detectable, usually around six weeks into a pregnancy," Dobson said.
Advertisement - story continues below
"Make no mistake, these two setbacks only serve to further focus and energize our movement. I urge all pro-life Americans to call, write, and email your representatives and remind them that the majority of us in this country want the exact opposite of the RHA, a reduction — not an expansion — of abortion.
"Donate, march, and post on social media and use every tool and resource at your disposal to affect the change for which we are all praying so fervently. There is a battle raging for millions of lives preordained by God himself, and it is we who must stand for them so that they might have a chance at life."
Lila Rose, president of the pro-life group Live Action, which has done undercover video investigations revealing the misbehavior of abortion-industry players, warned: "Convicted criminals aren’t subjected to the death penalty in New York state, but now children up until the ninth month of pregnancy can be given lethal injections and poisoned to death. This is no different than infanticide."
She pointed out that pro-lifers in the state had fought successfully against the plan.
Advertisement - story continues below
"But the November election put pro-abortion Democrats in control of both state houses, and Democrat politicians have made abortion on demand a priority. While the pro-abortion zealots in New York have won this battle, they will ultimately lose the war on abortion," she said.
"New York’s law is barbaric and inhumane and rejects modern science and medical advancements that reveal the development and humanity of life in the womb. Millions of Americans are waking up to the barbaric reality of abortion and rejecting it. A recent Marist poll showed 75 percent of Americans believe abortion should be limited to – at most – the first three months of pregnancy. This includes 61 percent of those who identify as pro-choice, 60 percent of Democrats, and 78 percent of independents," she said.
"One thing that this law reveals to the nation is the extent and the extremism of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which allows laws such as this one to exist. It was Roe that legalized abortion through all nine months of pregnancy in this country. If Roe is not soon overturned, any state could follow New York’s monstrous example.”