In our efforts to oppose the Reproductive Health Act, we’ve been stressing over and over again that we already have too many abortions in New York, and that New Yorkers don’t support an expansion of abortion in our state.  A new poll not only confirms this point, but puts an exclamation mark on it.

Sponsored by the Chiaroscuro Foundation, the poll surveyed likely New York voters.  Although a majority (55%) described themselves as “pro-choice”, 66% thought that there was no need to expand access to abortion — and this number grew to 79% when they were told that we already have over 111,000 abortions in our state each year.

Only 17% approve of unlimited abortion on demand through the ninth month of pregnancy (which is the current law, thanks to the Supreme Court, and which would be confirmed by the Reproductive Health Act.); 80% disapprove of such a policy, 61% strongly.

A large majority of New Yorkers oppose the following, which would be permissible under the Reproductive Health Act:

92% oppose abortion for selecting the sex of a baby;

89% oppose abortion for reducing triplets or twins to a single child;

75% oppose allowing non-doctors to perform abortions; and

71% oppose forcing Catholic hospitals to allow abortions.

Large majorities also support the following reasonable regulations of abortion, all of which would be impermissible under the Reproductive Health Act:

87% support providing information about options and risks to pregnant women before they make an abortion decision;

78% approve of a 24-hour waiting period prior to an abortion; and

76% approve of parental notification for minors’ abortions.

Kathy Gallagher, the director of pro-life activities for the New York State Catholic Conference, summed it up best:

“These poll results should send a strong message to government officials: New Yorkers, even those who self-identify as ‘pro-choice,’ don’t want more abortion in the state.  The public desires prudent and reasonable regulations on the abortion procedure. New Yorkers want abortion to be truly rare. Politicians promoting the radical agenda of groups like Planned Parenthood and Naral are out of step with everyday New Yorkers, be they Republican or Democrat.”

All Catholics — indeed, all people who believe that enough is enough –  should send a message to their government officials  that they oppose the Reproductive Health Act.

 

Tags: Reproductive Health Act

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 13th, 2013 at 4:30 pm and is filed under Abortion, Governor, Legislation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.