Many of you have asked for my thoughts regarding the newly signed bill regarding abortion. Here are my thoughts:
I join many Jornadistas in expressing my profound sadness and disappointment in New York State's new abortion policy. As legislators were celebrating, Jorniadistas were teaching of the reality of an abortion as the killing of the unborn; and the reality that mothers and fathers suffer the remorse and heartbreak of an abortion.
The official statistics tell the horrible story of abortion in our state. 86,627 abortions in New York State in 2015; 367 abortions per 1,000 live births (so over a quarter of all pregnancies in our state ends with an abortion); 505 abortions per 1,000 live births in New York City (so over a third of all pregnancies in the City ends with an abortion).
The current abortion regime in our state has decimated entire swaths of our population and has left millions in post-abortive pain. It is the very definition of a gross dereliction of duty by our government. These numbers will only grow with this new policy.
We, Jornadistas, pledge to continue to offer resources and services to any young women experiencing difficult or unwanted pregnancies and to support her infant. If legislators are truly pro-choice, then they will join me in supporting these life-affirming choices by making them more widely known and accessible.
The Governor and his colleagues hail this abortion law as progress. However, our work together can achieve true progress when we help teach and form a culture among our youth that values and respects all human life from conception to natural death.
I ask all Jornadistas to work together in bringing a culture that values and respects all life. I ask you to call your local state-assemblymen or women in expressing your disappointment in this bill (young people's voices must be heard). And finally I ask that I ask that you pray for our governor and his colleagues for the conversion of their hearts. And I ask that you join me in making sure that if our young women find themselves pregnant, we assure them of our presence, support and love.