030493 Butcher Abortionist Hayat will appeal his conviction on the grounds it violates women's abortion rights,
By MIKE PEARL in New York and DEBORAH OR1N in Washington
The lawyer for "Butcher of Avenue A" abortion doctor Abu Hayat will appeal his conviction on the grounds it violates women's abortion rights, The Post has learned.
Lawyer Ronald Veneziano will claim that baby Ana Maria Rodriguez - who lost her right arm when Hayat botched an abortion on her mom, who was then eight months pregnant - wasn't a person but an unborn fetus.
As a result, Veneziano will argue that Hayat's conviction on three counts of assault against little Ana Maria must be dismissed since New York criminal law requires that in
juries be inflicted upon n person," not a fetus.
"They can't have it both ways," Veneziano told The Post_
Several legal experts in New York predicted the case could ultimately go to the U.S. Supreme Court, raising uncomfortable questions about fetal rights, and placing Hayat in the ironic position of championing the feminist cause of abortion rights.
The appeal papers will be filed in state curt this spring, raising issues that Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Atlas sidestepped during the trial, issues that experts see as a gray area.
National Abortion Rights Action League lawyer Dawn Miller declined comment on the constitutional issue that Hayat's lawyer is seeking to raise about whether the fetus is a "person"
Other abortion-rights advocates privately say the case is uncomfortable because of Hayat's involvement in it but they may
have to support his side if an appeals court upholds the conviction by ruling the fetus was a person - a ruling that would threaten abortion rights.
That also could put Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau in the position of arguing the right-tolife side by contending that the conviction should stand because the fetus was a person.
Right-to-lifers argue that life begins at conception, that the fetus is a person - and that abortion thus amounts to murder.
The U-S. Supreme Court legalized abortion in its landmark 1973 roe v. Wade decision, which says states cannot restrict the procedure during the first six months of pregnancy. The decision doesn't bar abortions in the third trimester, but does allow states to impose restrictions.
Eleven states allow abortions in the final three months, while New York is among the 39 that prohibit third-trimester abortions except to save the mother's life, according to NARAL
During Hayat's trial, his lawyer contended that because of Roe v. Wade, the fetus cannot be considered a person.
"To hold otherwise would have placed the highest tribunal in the land in a position where it would, otherwise, have literally sanctioned murder; ' Hayat's lawyer contended.
Doug Johnson of the National Right-to-Life Committee argued that the Hayat case also raises questions about the naxional l~eedom of Choice Act (FOCA) now being pushed by pro-choice advocates.