CHAT 28 COMMENTS
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signs Reproductive Health Act, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019, at the State Capitol in Albany, N.Y. Also pictured is attorney Sarah Weddington, front left, who successfully argued Roe v Wade before the Supreme Court. (Darren McGee/Office of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo via AP)
In January, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) signed a radical abortion bill legalizing abortion through all nine months of pregnancy and removing protections for babies in the womb and babies born in a botched abortion. According to a new poll released Friday, however, a full 79 percent of New York residents think abortion should be limited to at least the first six months of pregnancy.
According to a Knights of Columbus (KoC)/Marist poll released Friday, New York State residents tend to support abortion at higher rates than most Americans, but even so, only 21 percent say abortion should be "available to a woman at any time during pregnancy," as the new law provides.
The vast majority of New York residents (79 percent) support some restrictions on abortion: 13 percent say it should be limited to the first six months of pregnancy; 26 percent say it should only be allowed during the first three months; 22 percent would restrict it to cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother; 9 percent would allow it only to save the life of the mother; and 9 percent would never permit abortion in any circumstances
Americans in general are more likely to support restricting abortion: 17 percent would never permit it ever; 12 percent would allow abortion only to save the life of the mother; 29 percent would allow it only in cases of rape, incest, and a threat to the life of the mother; 22 percent would only allow it in the first three months of pregnancy; and 8 percent would allow it in the first 6 months of pregnancy. Only 13 percent of Americans support abortion through all nine months of pregnancy.
Even New Yorkers who identify as pro-choice firmly oppose allowing abortion through all nine months of pregnancy. Only 32 percent say abortion should be available for a woman throughout all nine months. Only 30 percent of Democrats agree.
The vast majority of New York Democrats (70 percent), Republicans (94 percent), and Independents (75 percent) support restricting abortion to at least only the first six months of pregnancy.
When asked specifically if they think abortion "should be generally legal or generally illegal during the last three months of pregnancy," only 32 percent of New Yorkers say late-term should be generally legal, while 63 percent say it should be generally illegal.
A whopping 71 percent of New Yorkers say "Abortion should be banned after 20 weeks except to save the life of the mother," and another 4 percent say it should not be permitted at any time.
If even voters in liberal New York overwhelmingly oppose late-term abortion, why did the state's Democrats push a bill to legalize abortion in all nine months of pregnancy? Democrats fear that the Supreme Court may overturn the decision making abortion legal, Roe v. Wade (1973). Under Roe, an abortionist may kill an unborn baby in a mother's womb up until the moment of birth, so long as the abortionist says the death is necessary for the health of the mother, loosely defined.