Abortion Battle Brews Between Spitzer, Church

Tensions are running high between the Spitzer administration and the Catholic Church, which is mounting an unusually aggressive campaign to stop the state from enacting a law that would declare abortion a fundamental right for women.

Governor Spitzer, whose administration drafted the legislation and is pressing lawmakers to pass it this year, is coming under fire from church officials who say the bill would leave Catholic hospitals and social service agencies vulnerable to discrimination lawsuits brought by women seeking abortions or referrals and could ultimately lead to state sanctions against the institutions.

Administration officials say the church is exaggerating the impact of the bill on Catholic facilities and, for the time being, have ruled out adjusting the language.

Mr. Spitzer unveiled the bill, which is called the Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection Act, in April. This year, his administration has signaled that the measure is a top priority, causing alarm among church leaders.

In his State of the State address in January, the governor called on lawmakers to pass the act. That month, his wife, Silda Wall, delivered a speech devoted to the legislation at a gathering in Rochester to mark the 35th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade.

In response, the church has intensified its campaign. In recent weeks, the archdiocese has organized a petition drive, shipped more than 100,000 pamphlets to parishes, and produced an advocacy video that it is distributing to Catholic leaders across the state.

Its effort will culminate next month, when the Roman Catholic archbishop of New York, Edward Cardinal Egan, and New York bishops are scheduled to meet with Mr. Spitzer and urge him to reconsider the legislation, church officials said.

"I've never seen anything like this. People, when they find out about this bill, get really incensed, and they want to do something," the director of pro-life activities at the New York State Catholic Conference, Kathleen Gallagher, said. The conference is the official public policy arm of the church.

If passed, the act would overhaul New York's abortion laws for the first time since 1970.

State Republicans, which control the Senate by two seats, say they are opposed to the bill. Democrats, who have a wide majority in the Assembly, have indicated they would support the measure only if the Senate joined them. Lawmakers say a Democratic takeover of the Senate would sharply increase the likelihood of passage.

The bill would establish a fundamental right of a woman to terminate her pregnancy prior to fetal viability and in later stages if the woman's health is at risk. It would also remove abortion regulations from state penal law and places oversight in the realm of public health law.

The administration and abortion rights activists say the chief purpose of the act is to preemptively ensure that abortion remains legal in New York should the Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade.

Church officials say the act goes much further. Among their concerns is a provision that expands the field of people who may legally perform abortions. The legislation would extend authority beyond physicians to "qualified, licensed health care practitioners." They also say the bill would eliminate the possibility of placing new restrictions on abortion, such as parental notification, informed consent laws, and waiting periods.

They say they are most troubled by a section that states that the "the state shall not discriminate against the exercise of the rights … in the regulation or provision of benefits, facilities, services, or information."

"If they grant us a license, which is a state action, they will be discriminating," a legal coordinator for the archdiocese, Edward Mechmann, said. "The right to abortion would have more protection under New York's law than the right to free exercise of religion."

Spitzer administration officials dispute the church's interpretation, arguing that a "conscience clause" provision in state law allowing physicians to refuse to perform abortions for religious reasons and federal laws prohibiting the federal government from requiring doctors, hospitals, or clinics to perform abortions would protect Catholic hospitals and social-service agencies from legal penalties.

"Nobody will be required to perform an abortion," an assistant counsel to the governor, Lisa Ullman, said in an interview.

Kelli Conlin, the executive director of the New York affiliate of Naral, the organization formerly known as the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, said the legislation provides the "absolute right of women to access the service" but does not demand that an institution perform abortions. She called the claims made by the church "sensational distractions."

Church officials, who have raised their concerns directly with the governor's office, say the proposed act conflicts with state and federal refusal statutes — an inconsistency they say would invite legal challenges against their institutions. Moreover, they say, the statutes could be overturned just as easily as Roe v. Wade.

"If the intent is not to force our hospitals and other facilities to perform abortions or make direct referrals or promote abortion, then why not amend the bill?" a spokesman for the Catholic Conference, Dennis Poust, said by e-mail.

"Why not include specific language that says the bill does not apply to institutions owned, operated or sponsored by a religious institution? They are well aware of our concerns and have been shown zero interest in amending the bill. We have had lengthy discussions at the highest level of the administration on this and have gotten the cold shoulder," he said.

Cardinal Egan's objections to the bill follow an earlier flare up between him and Mr. Spitzer over the governor's budget proposal. In a January letter co-signed by other religious leaders, the cardinal said he considered the governor's decision to omit a $1,000-a-student private and parochial school tuition tax deduction a breach of trust.

The latest conflict has the potential to create "negative atmospherics between the Catholic community and the governor," said the executive vice president for government and public affairs of Agudath Israel of America, David Zwiebel, whose Orthodox Jewish organization has worked closely with the church to urge the Spitzer administration to boost support for parochial school families.

Still, he said, "It's not like all conversation has broken off. Like all relationships with government officials, it's complicated."

He noted that the governor's budget allocates $55 million for private and independent schools to pay for the cost of complying with state attendance requirements. Jewish and Catholic groups had sought the reimbursement money for several years.