New York's attorney general Wednesday took action to allow late-term abortions in cases where the mother's health or fetus is in jeopardy. He said Supreme Court rulings overrode an existing state law. In 1970, the law essentially criminalized abortion past 24 weeks of pregnancy.
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Thursday he sent that legal opinion to the state comptroller, who requested it to help in audits of state payments to health care providers.
State criminal law says abortions must be performed within 24 weeks of pregnancy or when deemed necessary to preserve the mother's life.
Schneiderman writes that the constitution as interpreted by the court protects late-term abortions "to protect the woman's health" and "where the fetus is not viable."
He says his opinion "eliminates any ambiguity about the consistency of our state's law with these federal constitutional rights."
