The controversy over Sen. John Cornyn’s (R-TX) Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act is still simmering in Congress, as Senate Democrats decry the anti-abortion provision they claim they didn’t know about until last week. (Evidence suggests otherwise.) The bill would provide relief and protection to sex trafficking victims, yet Democrats’ pro-abortion agenda has halted the important legislation from progressing.
New York has the opposite problem. A pro-abortion provision in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D-NY) Women’s Equality Act has stopped significant bills from coming out of the New York State Assembly for a couple of years. That is, until now.
In a victory for New York State women, the ten-point Women’s Equality Act(WEA), has been broken up by the Assembly, paving the way for protections for victims of human trafficking and domestic violence, among other issues. An abortion-expansion component, the tenth point of the ten-point WEA, has for years been a sticking point to the passage of the other 9 bills.
Cuomo's legislation has some worthy points. For instance, one bill is similar to Cornyn’s in that it includes language that would help strengthen human trafficking laws.
It would, in part, eliminate the requirement that coercion be proven in a sex trafficking prosecution when the victims of sex trafficking are minors. In addition, the bill would increase the penalties for trafficking and create an affirmative defense in prostitution prosecutions if the defendant was herself a sex trafficking victim. This bill seeks to address the massive underground trafficking industry by holding traffickers accountable, making prosecution and enforcement more effective, and giving greater protections to victims.
Provisions like this weren’t the problem; The Assembly agreed on nine out of 10 points. The controversial pro-abortion one happened to be the tenth. You see, the provision in question wasn’t just pro-abortion – it was radically pro-abortion. This nasty bit of text would have permitted non-doctors to provide abortions and allow women to get third trimester abortions for any reason. LifeNews published some disturbing details describing what such late-term abortions look like.
In abortions that take place later in pregnancy, which would be legalized in New York by the abortion-expanding Women’s Equality Act, often babies are killed by sliding a needle filled with a chemical agent, such as digoxin, into the beating heart, before being delivered.
This provision was much more extreme than the one included in Cornyn's legislation, which merely would have prevented the taxpayer funding of abortion.
Including such pro-abortion language in a “Women’s Equality Act” meant to protect lives just didn’t make sense. Innocent unborn children certainly aren’t treated as equals in regards to the legislation and abortions, particularly late-term ones, can often come with dangerous complications - not to mention the risk women face with post-abortion syndrome.
Now, however, each provision is going to be counted separately, meaning the other lifesaving provisions in the “Women’s Equality Act” will have a better chance of becoming reality. This is partly thanks to former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s fall from grace. Silver was forced from office after reports revealed he had abused his position and accepted at least $4 million in bribes. His resignation paved the way for his successor Carl Heastie, who was more open to allowing individual votes on each provision in the “Women’s Equality Act.”
This is a victory for pro-lifers in New York. Hopefully, the US Senate is taking note. In the meantime, join Guy in mocking Democrats' shameful talking points.
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