New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is shrugging off criticism from Roman Catholic leaders for his excommunication from the church over his support of a new state abortion law.

Saying he is duty-bound to separate his religious views from his work as governor, Cuomo, a Democrat, defended his support for the state’s Reproductive Health Act, which he signed last week. The bill mostly codifies abortion rights protected in Roe v. Wade and other federal abortion rulings.

“I have my own Catholic beliefs, how I live my life. … That is my business as a Catholic,” Cuomo said. “I don’t govern as a Catholic. I don’t legislate as a Catholic.”

Catholic bishops in Knoxville, Tennessee, and Tyler, Texas, tweeted support for excommunicating Cuomo from the church after he signed the abortion bill last week.

“Excommunication is to be not a punishment but to bring the person back into the Church. It’s like medicine for them,” tweeted Knoxville Bishop Rick Stika. “But this vote is so hideous and vile that it warrants the act.”

A spokesman for New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan rejected those calls in a statement, saying excommunication “should not be used as a weapon” against politicians who support abortion rights. But Dolan himself blasted Cuomo in an op-ed published Tuesday in The New York Post.

The piece called the abortion bill “ghoulish” but focused instead on Cuomo’s comments about another piece of legislation, known as the Child Victims Act, that would extend the statute of limitations to give abuse victims more time to sue or seek criminal charges. In his State of the State address, Cuomo included a quote from Pope Francis that “the church cannot remain indifferent to this, and the church must punish such priests.”

That displeased Dolan, who wrote that Cuomo was using the Pope’s comments out of context as “an applause line.” He said the governor “insults and caricatures the church” and tries to “reduce the sexual abuse of minors … to a ‘Catholic problem.'”

The church had been a leading opponent to the bill until it dropped its opposition last week when the legislation was revised to treat public and private schools the same. The bill passed nearly unanimously Monday.

The Rabbinical Council of America released the following statement in response to the passage of the law:

The New York law permits abortion when “the patient is within twenty-four weeks from the commencement of pregnancy, or there is an absence of fetal viability, or the abortion is necessary to protect the patient’s life or health.” In addition, the new law moves the section of state law dealing with abortion from the penal code to health statutes.

Jewish law opposes abortion, except in cases of danger to the mother. Most authorities consider feticide an act of murder; others deem it an act akin to the murder of potential life. There are Jewish legal scholars who permit, in extenuating circumstances, the abortion of compromised fetuses.

The RCA maintains that “abortion on demand,” even before twenty-four weeks from the commencement of pregnancy, is forbidden. There is no sanction to permit the abortion of a healthy fetus when the mother’s life is not endangered. The RCA supports that part of the law that permits abortion, even at a late stage, when the mother’s life is at risk.

Rabbi Aaron Lichtenstein, of blessed memory, a leading expert in Jewish law and mentor to many of rabbis of the RCA, wrote, “from the perspective of the fetus and those concerned with its welfare, liberality in this direction comes at the expense of humanity…” (“Abortion: A Halakhic Perspective,” Tradition, 25(4), Summer 1991).

Rabbi Elazar Muskin, president of the RCA, said, “Jewish law is based on the theological presumption that a human being does not possess total ownership of his or her body. Our bodies belong to God; we are His stewards. Therefore, decisions about abortion must be made with due consideration of theological and moral principles.”

Rabbi Daniel Korobkin, first vice president of the RCA, said, “The removal of any restriction from abortion access and the redefining of the word ‘homicide’ to exclude abortion, indicate a further erosion of the moral values of our society, where killing babies is no longer construed as immoral in any way, even when the fetus has a measure of personhood, actual or potential.”

Rabbi Mark Dratch, executive vice president of the RCA, added, “We are very concerned about the potential physical, emotional, personal, and financial implications that abortion restrictions may have on the mother, the family, and the child. We maintain that it is the duty of the family, as well as that of society, to enable those impacted to live lives of dignity and we must prioritize ways to find means of support.”

(AP / YWN World Headquarters – NYC)