By Matthew Rosen
Abortion has been a hot topic for the past couple weeks thanks to Governor Cuomo’s new abortion bill titled the Reproductive Health Act. The bill is a gross violation of legislative vagueness, and even more importantly, it is a detriment to human life. Governor Cuomo’s new bill is the most radical abortion bill currently in effect as it aims to solidify the “right” of women to have late term abortions. In order for the pro-life movement to prevail, first we have to at least convince the United States to reach the consensus that third trimester abortions are just plain evil. If we can’t get that far, the pro-abortion side will never care about whether the fetus can feel pain, has a heartbeat, or has brainwaves.
So what exactly has me all up in arms about the New York Reproductive Health Act? While I am quite obviously against the whole bill, the line in the bill that really worries me is that it protects abortion “when necessary to protect a woman’s life or health.” I am going to make myself clear, most conservatives and pro-life advocates aren’t against abortions in cases where it will definitely save the mother’s life and the fetus isn’t viable. That is usually the one case where it is necessary and proper. Besides that, abortion is killing another living being.
So what part of that line is worrying to me? The part where the bill states that she can have an abortion to protect the woman’s “health.” One thing that bothers me is the implementation of vague laws, and this is one of the more vague ones I’ve seen. What constitutes “health?” Is there a legal definition? Is it defined in clear detail in the bill? Does it go over what constitutes bad “health?” No, no, and no. What is going to stop a doctor from claiming that having the baby would result in postpartum depression and allowing the abortion at 24+ weeks would “protect” the mother’s mental “health?” It could go even further to a point where the doctor could agree that because the mother doesn’t believe they have enough money, it would affect the mother’s “health” to have the baby under their current financial system. We’ve seen this before. The vague wording of the Commerce Clause and the Necessary and Proper Clause has led to great power overreaches throughout most of American history.
But let’s even get passed the vague wording and get to abortion in general. We live in a time where Democrats want to double down on their pro-abortion stance that they talk about it like it’s something to be proud of… and it boggles my mind. When you are okay with killing a living being with a heartbeat, brainwaves, pain receptors, limbs, facial features, etc., how could you think we are awful people for believing otherwise? It is not a woman’s right to be irresponsible and then kill a living being that should have a chance in the world. A woman does have the right to be responsible by either not having sex, or having safe sex. A woman does have the right to take a morning after pill. Even for the pro-abortion side, I have to ask why you feel like you need 24-40 weeks to realize this?
Giving the green light to easy abortions also presents a practical problem. While not my main argument (the killing part is the main crux of my pro-life argument), it is still relevant to point out that it makes people able to choose to not be responsible for their own actions. Having consequences for irresponsible actions prevents more of that action from occurring in the future. There is now less of an incentive to be safe. This is just an extra side point that isn’t as important or as strong as the others, but it’s still true.
Of course though, Governor Cuomo’s reign as the most pro-abortion Governor was short lived, as Governor Ralph Northam and his Virginia Democrats are now in favor of a new Virginia abortion bill that allows for abortion up to 40 weeks, even up to the point where the woman is showing clear signs that she is about to give birth. Ralph Northam then jumped on the opportunity to comment by not only defending the radical bill, but claiming that it would be okay to abort the baby after it is born in “tragic or difficult times.” The Democrats are digging themselves so far into the ground by continuously trying to top each other to be the most left. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez topped the Democrats to be the most left on the environment, Ilhan Omar topped the Democrats to favor the highest tax rate, Ralph Northam topped the Democrats to be the most pro-abortion, and there is a running battle within the Democratic Party to be the most intersectional and anti-Trump. This party is running so far left it is scary.
While Cuomo and Northam are passing radical bills allowing abortion as late as you want, the real bills we should be passing are Heartbeat bills, which makes abortion illegal once a heartbeat is detected. That is the next step for pro-lifers on the mission to make protecting the life and rights of the unborn the mainstream. The Reproductive Health Act and the proposed changes in Virginia law need to be reversed and blocked so that an irresponsible parent prevents an entire life from happening due to convenience. And yes, a very large majority of abortions are for economic reasons and convenience… not rape, incest, or the mother’s life in danger. I also want to take a moment to thank President Trump for giving the proper attention to this issue during his State of the Union address. Republicans need to fight harder to protect the lives of the unborn. While many Republicans believe in the pro-life cause, close to none speak out enough.
So as you have noticed, I’ve been using the term “pro-abortion” instead of “pro-choice.” This was done on purpose because there is no pro-choice argument in favor of late-term abortion. You are taking away the choice of another human life. In fact you are taking away all of their choices. It’s funny how the Democrats aren’t pro-choice on any other political issue, but for abortion, they are pro-choice when it comes to ending a life that isn’t yours. From education to healthcare to taxes and basically everything in between, the Democrats are anti-choice.
The Democrats used to also be in favor of “safe, legal, and rare,” but now we are in the age of “shout your abortion.” Safe, legal, and rare never made sense in the first place, because if you want it rare then you must admit something is inherently wrong with it, and if you want it legal, you must admit there is nothing wrong with it. But beyond that, Democrats now make it as if it is something to be proud of, something to actually promote. Safe, legal, and rare went out the window as the Democrats doubled down and radicalized their positions. This is honestly a practice that I believe will be looked down upon in the future, and people will question how we ever were content with it, let alone proud of it. Democrats like to use the phrase “You’ll be on the wrong side of history,” which is usually just a political tool to shame the other side. I hate the phrase and think it’s stupid, but if it applies to only one political topic of the year, it’s Democrats on abortion.
The pro-life movement shouldn’t back down to the insane attacks on us. They already shamed and tried to ruin the life of the Covington students simply because they were at the March for Life (The pro-life rally in D.C.), and wearing Trump hats. The tactics they use against people who disagree with them politically are sickening and horrible for the social divisions in America. They will call us sexist for being pro-life. They will try to shame you into being more afraid to talk about it by saying you hate women, or you don’t care about children, or men shouldn’t be allowed to talk about this topic. Just remember, these are illogical and intolerant arguments. Just remember, in the long run, we have to win this debate. They will try to shame us into not speaking out about it, but we are going to have to speak up for the generation that won’t be here because of this practice. We have to be the voice for all of the voices that got taken away.