The Pink Plague

Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York, a Democrat, signed a bill into law this week that he characterized as “the most progressive agenda this state has ever seen.”

I agree with him. The new law is hideous. There are hardly words to describe it or the ideological glee with which its signing was greeted by supporters in the state capitol in Albany. I refuse to give the event more publicity beyond what can be found on YouTube. So, I leave that to readers. Suffice it to say that the signing was so unsettling that it could have been a scene from the horror film Hereditary (2018).

The Reproductive Health Act permits abortions throughout a pregnancy, allows non-doctors to perform them, repeals all safeguards for babies that survive, and reaffirms abortion as a “fundamental right.” If you’ve never read a legislative proposal or bill before, I urge you to read it. But don’t expect the insight of Solon, the Napoleonic Code, or the Federalist Papers. This reads like a promotional piece written by a staffer at Planned Parenthood.

As if that weren’t enough, Cuomo signed the bill on the 46th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision and then celebrated by ordering public structures like the Freedom Tower and bridges in New York City to be lit in pink. Cuomo’s shamelessness knows no bounds, but then neither does that of the assemblymen and senators who wore pink scarves and clothing to the signing. I don’t know what kind of person rejoices over such a violent act, but apparently these people exist. They are my representatives, and they are either immoral or unthinking, perhaps both.

If you are an advocate of liberal democracy, as I am, then you ought to find this chilling. Rights do not exist in some theoretical plane divorced from their corresponding actions. To give just one example, free speech does not exist in theory. It has to be practiced in the media, the marketplace, academia. You can’t have free speech on paper but then restrict it to suit your progressive purposes. But that is exactly what is taking place in the media and on many campuses. Free speech no longer exists. To put it into a “zone” amounts to nothing more than caging dissenters.

The same can be said of abortion. To elevate the practice to a right is to divorce it from its action, to intellectualize it until the act of suctioning, dismembering, or poisoning becomes “termination” and the overall act a “procedure.” But if you look at what is actually done, suddenly reproductive health becomes a callous disregard for and waste of human life. To call it an abomination is certainly not beyond the pale.

Expect more of this as politicians in blue states pander to their base and attempt to secure unlimited abortion rights. They are doing so in anticipation of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. Even if that were to happen, it is important to keep in mind that New York State already had abortion rights on the books. In fact, the former law allowed it up to 24 weeks and even afterward if the mother’s life was in danger. Only licensed medical personnel could perform them. Now, it seems, anyone with medical training can do it. So Planned Parenthood can expect increased traffic in their clinics this year, many of which are located in Hispanic and black neighborhoods.

This is a new ideological plague, a pink one that infects the minds and hearts of those who are exposed to indoctrination, which is just about anyone who has been in the state school system or higher education. As always, the defenseless suffer the most. Yet, who will stand up for them and give them a voice? Where is the church, Cardinal Dolan? Will there be denunciations, letters, editorials, statements read from the pulpit every Sunday? Will he rebuke the governor publicly (let alone excommunicate him)? Or have red cardinals and purple bishops succumbed to the pink plague, too?

French composer and musician Michel Legrand died yesterday. I offer his “The Windmills of Your Mind” below for the unborn who will never take a breath of life because of this pestilence.

Haven’t had enough? Go to Robert Brancatelli. Photos: Governor Andrew Cuomo by Diana Robinson (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0); plague photo by Jeswin Thomas from Pexels; black and white by Alain Frechette from Pexels. The Brancatelli Blog is a member of The Free Media Alliance.