Charges Dropped for Killer Who Stabbed Pregnant Woman Under New NY Abortion Law
Murderer escapes charges for killing unborn child under Andrew Cuomo's new legislation
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Prosecutors have dropped charges originally filed against the man charged with murdering a pregnant woman in New York after recent changes to the state's abortion laws mean that the killing of her unborn child is no longer a chargeable crime.
48-year-old Anthony Hobson of Queen, NY, was initially indicted on abortion charges when he arrested Friday for his pregnant girlfriend’s murder — but later withdrawn due to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s new Reproductive Health Act that allows for abortions up until the point of birth.
Following his arrest, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown sent out a press release declaring Hobson would be charged with second-degree abortion as well as murder for last Sunday’s fatal stabbing of 35-year-old Jennifer Irigoyen.
A DA spokeswoman later announced, however, that the abortion charge “was repealed by the Legislature, and this is the law as it exists today.”
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Democrat Gov. Cuomo signed the RHA into law on Jan. 22, the 46th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision.
The law removes abortion from the state’s criminal code, placing it, instead, in public health law.
It faced fierce opposition, with the New York State Catholic Conference warning that it “removes accountability for those who would harm unborn children outside the context of medical termination of pregnancy.”
Calls are being made for Cuomo, a Catholic, to be excommunicated from the church for supporting and celebrating the new legislation.
According to the New York Post, NYC Catholics and abortion opponents voiced outrage Saturday over the lack of justice for the unborn child who was killed in the attack.
“It’s evil,” said a nurse attending Mass at the Church of St. Agnes in Midtown.
“It’s a progressive slippery slope.”
“I’m enraged,” said Rose deMarco, 78, of Greenwich Village.
“That was murder. [Hobson] murdered two people and he should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
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Irigoyen was five months pregnant when Hobson allegedly stabbed her multiple times in the abdomen.
That “means it’s open season on pregnant women in New York,” said Dennis Poust of the New York State Catholic Conference.
Lawmakers who argued against the bill in Albany said the Queens tragedy exposed the bill’s flaws.
At least 38 states and the federal government have made it a crime to kill a fetus against the mother’s wishes.
“The fact that this is no longer the case in New York shows how out of step this new law is both with the rest of America and with common sense,” said Rev. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life.
“With New York’s law, we’re saying you can take a life and escape any punishment,” said Assemblyman Brian Manktelow (R-Wayne County).
“How as a society can you allow that to happen?”
Cuomo’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
