Bloomberg Makes First Pro-Abortion Decision
NEW YORK — State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer was not the only New Yorker who started the New Year with an attack on the unborn. New York City's new mayor, Michael Bloomberg, will make good on a campaign promise to improve the abortion training of interns in city hospitals, Bloomberg's spokesman, Bill Cunningham, confirmed.
Bloomberg, in a campaign Blueprint for Public Health, said he would integrate medical residency training in abortion into the city's Health and Hospitals Corp. network of obstetrics and gynecology programs. The plan, which covers 11 hospitals, includes an opt-out for students who have moral objections.
But it promises to help make abortion more available, as nearly one in seven doctors nationwide is trained in a New York State hospital.
“It is sad that in a city that has just suffered the loss of thousands of lives, the mayor wants to add to the carnage,” said Lori Hougens, a spokes-woman for the New York State Right to Life Committee.
Bloomberg has said he will also require all hospitals to offer “emergency contraception,” which involves the distribution of abortifacient drugs, as a protocol of care for rape victims who are brought into emergency rooms.
— John Burger
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- January 20-26, 2002
