New York Governor Kathy Hochul has announced the second round of money dispensed to the abortion industry through the Abortion Provider Support Fund. In a press release, it was declared that $13.4 million is being given to 37 abortion businesses across the state.
In May, Hochul announced the creation of the fund after a leaked draft opinion from the Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization indicated that the Supreme Court would overturn Roe v. Wade. The goal was not only to ensure that abortion remains legal, easily accessible, and well-funded in New York, but to also attract abortionists to set up shop there. Hochul had also previously vowed to make New York a “safe harbor” for abortion in response to the Texas Heartbeat Act.
The first round of funding was dispensed in July, and abortion businesses were not eligible to receive funding in the second round if they already had been awarded money.
“New York State is committed to protecting reproductive rights, and as other states wage a war on abortion access we will continue to be a safe harbor,” Hochul said. “To ensure access to reproductive health care, we must provide the resources and support providers need. I will not stand by and allow women to be subjected to government-mandated pregnancies.”
Hochul’s chosen phrase, “government-mandated pregnancies,” is inaccurate. No government polices “mandate” pregnancy; the majority of pregnancies result from a consensual act which is known to, at times, biologically result in the creation of a new human life. Pro-life laws seek to protect that new human life from being denied his or her natural right to continue to exist without being unjustly killed.
Despite Hochul’s pro-abortion rhetoric, New York was already extreme on abortion, long before Roe was overturned. The state has an abortion access fund to help low-income women pay for abortions, as well as a mandate requiring that abortion be covered in all insurance plans, even among religious groups. Hochul has also attacked pregnancy resource centers while shielding abortionists from prosecution in other states. State legislators are also looking to enshrine abortion as a “right” in the state constitution. Additionally, state officials have tried to force Google to remove pregnancy resource centers from search results and bullied small towns into removing any restrictions on abortions from their local laws.
Hochul doesn’t need to do anything to make New York a safe harbor for abortion. Clearly, it already is.
