New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, vowed to push through the state legislature a Women's Equality Act before the current legislative session ends on June 20, WORLD reports. The act, he said, would include a provision to expand the legality of late-term abortions. In the wake of late-term abortionist Kermit Gosnell's grisly trial, opponents of Cuomo's proposal are hoping political support for the measure will evaporate. Gosnell was convicted of not just murdering three babies after they were born but aborting 21 babies after Pennsylvania's legal limit of 24 weeks of pregnancy, when babies are considered viable to survive outside the mother. Gosnell's trial highlighted Pennsylvania's lack of oversight of abortion centers, and Cuomo's proposal could relax regulations on abortionists further in New York, a state that already has few abortion limits such as waiting periods or bans on public funding of abortion. Cuomo hasn't introduced his promised legislation yet, but in his January State of the State address he named the Reproductive Health Act (RHA) as one point in the Women's Equality Act agenda. The standalone RHA is a few votes shy of passing in the state Senate, so Cuomo will likely make some tweaks to try to gain support from Republicans.
