Light Up the Night: How Pro-Lifers Can Make a Difference in the Face of Extreme Late-Term Abortion Legislation

On January 22, 2019, New York passed the so-called “Reproductive Health Act” – or RHA – which Governor Andrew Cuomo then signed into law.

It was a date full of significance. Forty-six years earlier, the Supreme Court of the United States had granted women the right to legally abort their babies in Roe v. Wade.

This act is extreme because it removes restrictions on abortions, essentially allowing babies to be killed up until the moment of birth. The passage of RHA was met with thunderous applause. Governor Cuomo directed that several landmarks, including the One World Trade Center, be lit up in pink to celebrate the new legislation.

NIFLA Vice President of Legal Affairs Anne O’Connor said in a statement:

“Instead of celebrating, citizens of New York should be heartbroken over this shameful treatment of their most vulnerable population. We urge all citizens to turn their grief into action by supporting organizations that advance the cause and culture of life. This would include organizations such as NIFLA at the national level or your local pregnancy centers.”

During times of such darkness, the pro-life community can come together and bring good out of evil. Like the spire of the World Trade Center shone in the New York sky like a beacon of evil, the pro-life community can come together to support and honor life-affirming pregnancy centers that shine the light of life.

Countless women and children have been touched by the positive work done by NIFLA and the pregnancy centers they represent.

According to the BRIEF OF 13 WOMEN AND THE CATHOLIC ASSOCIATION FOUNDATION AS AMICI CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONERS:

Laura Wu thought she had met her soul mate. . . . But when Laura told her boyfriend that she was pregnant, he was angry.

“He told me, ‘It is either me or this child. If you choose this child, you will do it alone. You won’t have your parents to support you.’”

An aunt of Laura’s volunteered at Boro Pregnancy Crisis Center in Queens, New York, and encouraged Laura to call for an appointment. At Laura’s initial appointment, she went through the center’s “options counseling” where Laura received information about adoption, abortion education, and single parenthood.

Laura chose to continue her pregnancy.

“For me that was hope. Just knowing that they were there if I needed them was a big, big help. . . . All of my healing, just feeling that I could do this is because of [the center]. Had they referred me to an abortion clinic, I don’t know how I would have reacted.”

New York’s legislation is a death knell for the unborn. But pregnancy centers like Boro Pregnancy Crisis Center and the network of nearly 1,500 others NIFLA represents are providing life-affirming alternatives to abortion that empower women and give them tools to help them through pregnancy and motherhood instead.

• 

Sadly, this battle is not endemic to New York alone. Recent news out of Virginia and Rhode Island shows that other states are considering similar late-term abortion legislation.

According to CNN, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam spoke about the proposed legislation in an interview to a Washington radio station:

“[Third trimester abortions are] done in cases where there may be severe deformities. There may be a fetus that’s nonviable. So in this particular example, if a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen,” Northam, a pediatric neurosurgeon, told Washington radio station WTOP. “The infant would be delivered. … And then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.”

Nebraska Republican Sen. Ben Sasse reacted to comments Virginia Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam made Wednesday morning, telling the governor that he shouldn’t serve in government if he supports leaving babies to die after they’ve been born.

“This is morally repugnant,” Sasse said in a statement.

Thankfully, the proposed Virginia legislation has been put on hold for now.

NIFLA president and founder Thomas Glessner weighed in on the developments of the last few weeks by pointing back to the original language in Roe v. Wade and its companion decision Doe v. Bolton:

Just this week Virginia considered legislation that, according to its sponsor Del. Kathy Tran, clearly allows for abortion up to the time of birth. 

These legislative actions have shocked the consciences of millions of Americans who logically ask: how did we get here?
 
We have arrived here because forty-six years ago, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its decision in Roe v. Wade. These legislative proposals, as horrific as they are, merely codify the original holding of Roe.

SCOTUS held in Roe v. Wade and its companion decision of Doe v. Bolton that abortion may not be prohibited by any state, even in the third trimester of pregnancy, if the abortion is necessary to preserve the “health” of the mother.

In Doe v. Bolton SCOTUS defined what it meant by allowing abortion for health reasons. Its definition of ‘health’ means that any stress factor in a mother’s life – physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and her age – justify abortion at any time during pregnancy.

So, how did it come to this? It came to this when our government decided that there is such a thing as a ‘life unworthy of life.’ That is what Roe v. Wade and its adherents on the far left have imposed upon our nation. 

We envision an abortion-free America and a culture where all life – born and unborn, regardless of infirmities, handicaps, age, or gender – is protected under the law and cherished in the hearts of the citizens of our republic.

President Trump also conveyed empathy for the outrage expressed by the pro-life movement over legislation such as RHA and similar bills being considered in other states.

“I think this will very much lift up the issue,” Trump said regarding recent concerns voiced by those fighting for the right to life.

“… people have never thought of it in those terms.”

In the face of such dark days, the pro-life community should rally around life and donate, pray for or otherwise support organizations like NIFLA as well as the pregnancy centers in their own communities.

The answer to the emerging mentality of death on demand is more life-affirming pregnancy centers that tell women: YES, you are capable! YES, we believe in you! YES, we can help you!

By providing women with positive alternatives to abortion, the battle for life can still be won in the United States.