The number of unborn babies who died from late-term abortions in New York City in a single year was greater than the number of people killed by homicide, figures have revealed.
The data was released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and published by the New York Police Department.
The number of abortions in the state could increase even further after New York passed legislation legalising abortion up to birth for any reason.
Recent data
According to the most recent data available, in 2015 the number of abortions in New York City at or after 21 weeks was 1,485 while the number of homicides was 352.
However abortions at 21 or more weeks only account for 2.3 per cent of the 63,610 abortions carried out in the city in 2015.
New York state recently passed a law to make it even easier to have an abortion, giving it the most liberal laws in the US.
The Reproductive Health Act became law in January, following a vote in the state Senate.
Abortion on demand
The new law declares that all women who become pregnant have the “fundamental right” to have an abortion.
After 24 weeks, abortion is now permitted if the mother’s “health” is endangered, effectively legalising abortion up to birth for any reason.
Lila Rose, founder of pro-life group Live Action, said that “children up until the ninth month of pregnancy can be given lethal injections and poisoned to death. This is no different than infanticide”.
Love both
Lord Alton, in response to recent laws in the US – which have led to call for more permissive abortion legislation in the UK – emphasised that taking the life of a child in the womb “is not the answer”, whether in New York or Northern Ireland.
He said the solution is not to end the lives of unborn babies, but rather to “love them and their mothers. To love them both”.