By Danny Hakim



So, what was in that speech that Eliot Spitzer didn't deliver at lunch today? He planned to unveil a bill to change the state's abortion laws in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to uphold a ban on a certain late-term abortion procedure. Instead, he made a brief appearance then headed back north after two state troopers were shot in the Catskills, one fatally. His wife, Silda Wall Spitzer, gave a version of the speech instead.



She said that her husband was proposing new legislation, the Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection Act, that would update the state's abortion laws, which predate the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision and do not address circumstances like allowing for late-term abortions to protect a woman's health.



State laws on the books since 1970 list abortion as a criminal offense, with exceptions allowed in a variety of circumstances. Mr. Spitzer's proposal would remove abortion from criminal statutes and make it a matter of professional and medical discretion.



Here's an excerpt from the text of the speech written for Mr. Spitzer:



I will ensure that even as the Supreme Court continues to dismantle the rights of women, we will take action to protect those rights here in our state... [The legislation] would enshrine the protections of Roe v. Wade into New York State law.
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