On January 22, New York passed the Reproductive Health Act concerning the abortion laws of the state. The previous laws regarding abortion restricted the time required to get an abortion to 24 weeks after pregnancy with exceptions deriving only from extreme medical problems threatening the life of the mother. With the signing of the new act, the 24 week limit remains; however, babies medically determined to die right after birth qualify for abortion after the designated period. In addition, the act decriminalizes abortion by regulating it through the public health law.

This controversial idea held Democratic support for many years, but only recently received the Senate and Assembly majority to pass the act. Many people support the idea of abortion, while others view abortion as murder. Some even deny an unborn child “person” status until they officially come into the world, giving them no qualms about using abortion. Although technology advances daily, troubles during pregnancy still occur. At times, it seems that people deem it more necessary to save the mother’s life instead of the baby. Understandably, in the case of the mother surviving, people prefer to make sacrifices in order to save the mother’s life. On the other hand, as further acts reduce the number of doctors necessary to perform the procedure and extend the deadline for choosing abortion, people continue to wonder, “Where do we draw the line?”

While unwanted pregnancies continue to consistently occur, especially in cases where prevention was not taken, other options exist besides abortion and should be considered. According to a recent study by American Adoptions, over two million couples in the U.S. wait for the opportunity to adopt. A statistic that leaves a potential thirty-six couples waiting to adopt for every child entered into the adoption system. A process that includes a seemingly endless amount of red tape, adoption takes a long time and requires lots of effort, but nevertheless couples every year earn their adoption degrees and wait with open arms for the opportunity to help a child. In any case dealing with a lack of want or the probability of an “absence of fetal liability”, sending the child into adoption agencies provides a much better option than outright abortion.

Although political dissension continues with no end in sight, both Democrats and Republicans find another option through adoption. By turning away from abortion as the only solution, America provides families with the opportunity to adopt a child and provides unborn children the opportunity of a future.