Cuomo Says He Would Sue To Protect Abortion Rights In NY
Spectrum News, State of Politics
Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday indicated he would sue to protect access to abortion services in New York should the Supreme Court act to restrict reproductive rights.
Cuomo was in Poughkeepsie to once again push for the passage of the Reproductive Health Act, a measure meant to strengthen abortion laws in the state and urge the Republican-controlled Senate to take up the legislation, seizing on the potential shift on the court with the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy.
“I want to get it done before the Supreme Court does that because I don’t want any gaps in a woman’s right to protection and we have a better legal case when the Supreme Court acts because I will sue when the Supreme Court acts and I want the New York State law in place,” said Cuomo who, along with Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, was endorsed by New York’s Planned Parenthood organization.
It’s not clear who the state would be able to sue, given the Supreme Court’s power to set precedent in its decisions.
In a follow-up email, Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said, “we will seek to protect the fundamental constitutional right of women under both state and federal law.”
But Cuomo has sought to make the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh by President Donald Trump this week a galvanizing issue for his campaign as he faces a Democratic primary challenge on Sept. 13 from actress and education advocate Cynthia Nixon.
New York’s current abortion law pre-dates the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
“Well now we know we’re not guaranteed Roe v. Wade. And the New York law, my friends, does not currently go as far as Roe v. Wade. Roe v. Wade has the protections that we now rely on in New York,” Cuomo said.. “We never passed the New York State law because we relied on Roe v. Wade and everyone assumed it would always be there and because the Republicans wouldn’t pass it using that as an excuse. We now need to codify Roe v. Wade which will actually increase the protections in New York, God forbid they do what they intend to do.”
It is unlikely Republicans in the Senate will return for a vote on the RHA, which would shift language for abortions from the state’s penal code to the public health law, change abortion’s status as an exception to homicide and allow abortions in the third trimester of a pregnancy under certain circumstances.
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Poster comment: Who are you going to sue??? SCOTUS???
