Franklin Graham Calls Out the Hypocrisy of Andrew Cuomo Saying Human Life is 'Not Expendable'
Rev. Franklin Graham called attention to Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s statement that no life is “expendable” or “disposable” in light of a bill the governor signed last year making abortion legal up to the time of birth.
In a Facebook post, Graham quoted Cuomo from a news conference on Tuesday, when the governor said, “My mother is not expendable, and your mother is not expendable and our brothers and sisters are not expendable, and we’re not going to accept a premise that human life is disposable, and we’re not going to put a dollar figure on human life.
Cuomo reacts to the calls to get the economy running again soon during coronavirus: “My mother is not expendable, and your mother is not expendable, and our brothers and sisters are not expendable…We’re not going to put a dollar figure on human life.” https://t.co/hmODbKuv4b pic.twitter.com/6kYjkw9A7f
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 24, 2020
“The first order of business is save lives, period. Whatever it costs.”
Graham wrote in response, “I agree with Gov. Cuomo on the high value of life and applaud his efforts to defend lives from the coronavirus. Yet he signed a law that legalizes abortion up to birth for nearly any reason. I respectfully urge the governor to consider his statements today in light of the millions of innocent lives taken by abortion.
“In 2017 alone, 105,380 babies lost their lives by abortion in New York. Human life is not expendable, and we should work to save it — from womb to tomb,” the evangelist and humanitarian wrote.
In January 2019, on the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, Cuomo signed New York’s “Reproductive Health Act” into law.
The 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling prevents states from placing restrictions on abortions until the age of viability outside of the womb (generally seen as the third trimester, or six months from conception and beyond); however, the ruling does not preclude states from allowing late-term abortions.
In signing the new law allowing late-term abortions in his state, Cuomo said, “Today we are taking a giant step forward in the hard-fought battle to ensure a woman’s right to make her own decisions about her own personal health, including the ability to access an abortion.
“With the signing of this bill, we are sending a clear message that whatever happens in Washington, women in New York will always have the fundamental right to control their own body,” the Democrat added.
The legislation permits abortions up to the time of birth for the broadly termed “health” of the mother and revokes the requirement for medical care for babies born alive after a failed abortion, according to the pro-life law firm Liberty Counsel.
The law also decriminalized the killing of an unborn child in the womb in cases not involving an abortion.
The United States is one of only seven countries that allow elective late-term abortions after 20 weeks, according to the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute.
The Kaiser Family Foundation reported that most states have banned late-term abortions starting at the age of viability of the unborn child, with exceptions for saving the life and, in some states, protecting the health of the mother.
President Donald Trump spoke about the issue of late-term abortions during his State of the Union address in February 2019, calling for Congress to take action to protect the unborn.
“To defend the dignity of every person, I am asking the Congress to pass legislation to prohibit the late-term abortion of children who can feel pain in the mother’s womb,” Trump said.
“Let us work together to build a culture that cherishes innocent life,” he added. “And let us reaffirm a fundamental truth: All children — born and unborn — are made in the holy image of God.”
In late February, nearly every Democratic senator voted against requiring that medical care be provided to babies who survive abortions.
A cloture vote on the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act garnered the support of 56 senators, compared to 41 who voted to block it.
All 53 GOP senators and three Democratic senators voted to proceed, while 41 Democrats voted no, meaning the measure fell short of the 60 votes needed for cloture, ending debate.
The bill requires, in part, that medical personnel “exercise the same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence to preserve the life and health of the child [who survives an abortion] as a reasonably diligent and conscientious health care practitioner would render to any other child born alive at the same gestational age.”
The Susan B. Anthony List’s national campaign chair, Jill Stanek, a former nurse who witnessed babies born alive during an abortion procedure and then left to die, said in a statement provided to The Western Journal, “It is appalling to see Democrats … vote against compassionate, common sense bills, including one that simply requires medical care for born children.”
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