New York State is overregulated. That, we know far too well. The economy and living conditions across the state would be markedly improved were many burdensome regulations to be dropped off the books. Sometimes, though, you have to be careful what you wish for. Deregulation of certain activities can have serious consequences on living conditions, even for those yet to come into this world. Abortion, something that many of us believe is wrong to begin with, is one of those things that require extensive regulations. Unfortunately, the current administration in Albany disagrees.

In his State of the State address this past January Governor Eliot Spitzer pushed his Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection Act. Since then, he’s been in constant communication with the pro-abortion sects of the legislature, prepping them to pass this bill which he forced through the Senate rules committee. The Act would essentially deregulate abortions in New York. It even prohibits the state legislature (the supposed voice of the people) from ever enacting any abortion regulations in the future. By doing so, Spitzer offers an all-out assault on the rights of the unborn.

With its open-ended language, it’s not a stretch to say that the Act would promote abuses of the system it creates. The new law would state that a woman has the "…right to determine the course of her pregnancy, which includes the right to bear a child or terminate." Combine that with nebulous language allowing late-term abortions (those into the period of fetal viability) based upon the (Physical? Mental? Emotional?) health of the woman, and the doors are open to abortions occurring throughout the entire nine-month period of pregnancy. As someone whose healthy and whimsical three-year-old niece was born at 26 weeks and weighing only 18 ounces - the very borderline of viability - I can’t help but look at these questionable late-term abortions as more than the killing of a fetus; they’re outright infanticide.

Much to the detriment of the "women’s’ rights" tag that gets applied to legislation such as this, physical abuse of women by their partner is actually encouraged. This law comes complete with a redefinition of the criminal liability associated with causing an abortion through force. Basically, under the new parameters, if a man sickeningly beats his girlfriend or wife with the desire of causing an abortion of the child he doesn’t want, he is protected from the laws that exist today and gets off relatively Scott-free. Domestic abuse is more common than our society wants to believe (nearly one in three women is abused in her lifetime by a "lover") and the Governor’s act will only invite the very, very worst of it.

Speaking of domestic situations, the Act also allows for the continued decay of the family unit by limiting parental responsibility and their understanding of their child’s well-being. The law would grant supreme privacy to all minors, making it so that a young girl’s parents cannot find out that she had an abortion (parental consent for an abortion is not required under current law). Amazingly, this very same girl cannot receive painkillers or piercings without parental consent, things so very minor in comparison. An abortion and its aftermath can be traumatic to a young girl. The act of sexuality that brought the "need" for it could have been, too. All of this can set a teen onto a path that ruins her entire life. The young teen, despite her worried or rebellious thoughts to the contrary, needs her parents at that moment in time, more so than ever. She needs their support during and after the abortion. But, how can parents do their jobs to the best of their abilities when they are hog-tied by State law, left completely oblivious to this life-altering event?

Fundamentally, in more ways than one, this is an insidious law. The language of Spitzer’s bill identifies abortion as a fundamental right, an appropriate designation in the eyes of its delighted supporters. If that’s so, it’s really unbelievable how much our society has eroded over the life of our nation. These United States of America were founded over 230 years ago with the intent of creating a Heaven on Earth. Those who founded this nation truly understood the fabric of fundamental rights. Those rights, in their most basic essence, were – and are to this day – Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Take away one of them (Life) and the whole concept of fundamental rights is completely meaningless.