The abortion law recently passed in the state of New York constitutes a new and frightening chapter in our nation’s searing ongoing debate about how to balance the God-given rights of unborn children with the legitimate effort to mitigate the suffering of pregnant women in very difficult circumstances. The exuberant celebrations that accompanied the signing of the New York legislation signified the radical nature of this turning point in American law and public policy, and the language surrounding those celebrations emphasized the three threats to the sacredness of human life that the New York statute embodies.

The first of three threats is direct: the individual lives that will be lost because, in its concrete effects, the new legislation more fully authorizes truly viable unborn children to be put to death. It is impossible to believe that our society has come to a point where states are willing to kill even those unborn children closest to the moment of their birth.