ProChoice Voter proudly endorses Cait Conley for Congress. After meeting each candidate, carefully considering their records, and listening to their presentations at multiple forums, Cait is the woman who can beat MAGA Mike Lawler.
Cait Conley is an outspoken and proven leader who maximizes every opportunity to address the reproductive health care crisis, including abortion and contraception.
Cait zeroes in on the overturning of Roe v. Wade, national abortion bans, and the Big Ugly Bill’s horrific impact on Planned Parenthood and independent clinics. Cait has highlighted Anti-Choice Extremist Mike Lawler’s 11+ votes against abortion care and his support for the national abortion ban which prohibits veterans and their families from receiving abortion care or counseling – even in cases of rape, incest, or severe health risks.
Cait Conley was born and raised in the Hudson Valley. After the September 11th terrorist attack, high school junior Cait put country over self, applied to West Point, graduated in the top 2%, and literally put her life on the line to keep us safe.
At this time, when 25+ million women of reproductive age live in states with total abortion bans, we know Cait Conley is the warrior we need to defeat MAGA Mike Lawler. Given her Special Ops background, and election and national security experience at the highest levels in Washington DC, Cait will be ready on Day One to fight like hell to take back our rights and our Democracy!
VOTE FOR CAIT CONLEY ON JUNE 23RD!
Photograph: Cait Conley, Choice Matters: New York: The Front Line, 10/23/2025. Photographer: Betsy Franco Feeney
In the over two decades that I have been at the helm of WCLA –Choice Matters, I have never before witnessed any Democratic candidate for any office so shamelessly and publicly sexualize and degrade women – until now.
Last week, the New York Times printed a scandalous exposé about New York’s Congressional District 17 Democratic primary candidate Peter Chatzky and his fascination with sex and his objectification of women on his Facebook page. Now, as Chatzky plays the victim, issuing a pathetic apology, his friends and wife continue to dismiss his actions as boys-will-be-boys humor.
Peter Chatzky is another multi-millionaire who is self-funding his congressional campaign. He is the Briarcliff Manor Deputy Mayor – and he is also the man who has single-handedly put the #MeToo movement and the Epstein Files front and center in the race to flip CD 17.
Both the NYT and NY Post reported an assortment of examples including “speculat[ing] about how much he would have to pay Melania Trump, the first lady, to have sex with him”, “whether he was too old to have an intimate relationship with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, then in their 20s”, how to “enhanc[e] breasts in photoshop”, and “jokes about sperm, masturbation and sexual arousal”. He even solicited responses from his Facebook friends.
This is chronic male misogyny – not simply bad judgment. This man is running for Congress claiming to be a “progressive”. How is dehumanizing and sexualizing women “progressive”? How is talking about big breasts and sex with teenage girls “progressive”? The radicalized Trump administration is ripping away women’s rights – from abortion, to contraception, to job equity, to voting rights. And Chatzky? He, too, is part of the culturally complicit patriarchy problem.
Remaining silent or justifying Chatzky’s behavior as “locker room talk” dismisses his accountability. Normalizing misogyny creates a breeding ground for anti-woman behavior. It validates male entitlement and excuses discriminatory and even criminal actions against girls and women.
We have all watched the Epstein Files slowly unfold with the drip, drip of information being released. The men implicated are of different political parties and nationalities. The only things these men have in common is their gender, wealth and color – and that the people in the know remained silent – from the customs agents, to housekeepers, to pilots, to friends, to spouses…
Peter Chatzky has degraded women by making them sexual objects and the butt of jokes. Deplorable behavior like his perpetuates an oppressive cultural attitude.
This past Monday we saw Bill Cosby found guilty, again – an American icon until he wasn’t. His friends remained silent for decades. The #MeToo movement was a revolutionary revolt against the expected code of silence and the gendered advice: “Don’t report it. It’s your word against his. Get over it and move on.” Earlier this year, in a campaign ad, Chatzky threw a puppet in the trash – a puppet that was clearly female – and a Democrat. When called out, his response and that of his friends and spouse were the same: “Get over it. It wasn’t a big deal.” WRONG. It’s a very big deal and we will not get over it!
It’s time for Peter Chatzky to drop out and move on.
Bruised, Beaten, Distraught But Not DEFEATED. WE GET UP AGAIN.
Yes, survivors from all over the country spoke out and millions of Americans called, protested, and marched. But still, two key senators committed to voting to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, basically assuring his place on the Supreme Court.
Yes, Kavanaugh lied under oath. He lied about sexual assault. He lied about overturning Roe v. Wade. He lied about his determination to find against requiring insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions. And tomorrow, they will confirm him anyway.
Yes, we are despairing. But more importantly, We Are Angry- and that anger will take us farther, to the place we must go to win.
The women of New York deserve nothing less.
We’re organizing – stand up for the rights of women, survivors, and everyone else under attack by Donald Trump and Brett Kavanaugh.
Women all across the country came forward to courageously share their stories.
Together, we said “HEAR ME.” We said “LOOK AT ME.” And we said NO to Brett Kavanaugh.
Today Susan Collins and Joe Manchin committed to voting “YES” for Brett Kavanaugh, and therewith we fell short of the votes we needed to stop Kavanaugh.
But that defeat will feed us. Our power – the power of our movement has grown and will continue to grow–and this November we will storm the polls and show the politicians what our power can do – WE WILL VOTE!
Brett Kavanaugh is a lying sexual assaulter and extreme right-wing political hack. His horrific confirmation to the Supreme Court gives us all the power to put our fury to work.
>The president of the United States openly mocked survivor Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.
>Only one Senate Republican seemed to care about us.
>The FBI investigation was a total sham.
We must channel our fury and use it to drive voters to the polls all over New York State.
We can make New York State a Reproductive Rights sanctuary so that women cannot be ignored. Not Here. Not Now. Not Ever.
Tell Senators Susan Collins & Lisa Murkowski NOT to repeat the Anita Hill Debacle.
They MUST DEMAND an FBI investigation!
There MUST be a Full and Fair Hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee – Starting with an investigation by the FBI.
THE FACTS:
Professor Christine Blasey Ford bravely came forward and identified herself as the survivor of a sexual assault by Brett Kavanaugh.
Dr. Ford courageously told the world how Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh attacked her, pinning her down on a bed, while groping her and grinding his body against her, and trying to rip her clothes off. When she tried to scream out for help Kavanaugh covered mouth. One of Kavanaugh’s friend who was in the room turned up the music to cover her screams.
That Kavanugh friend, Mark Judge, refuses to testify before Congress. Although he denied the assault, his writings seem to say otherwise. In his book, “Wasted: Tales of a Gen X Drunk”, he describes extensive drinking and partying while attending Georgetown Preparatory School, with Kavanaugh. He even refers to a cohort as “Bart O’Kavanaugh”, a possible veiled reference to Brett Kavanaugh.
Now, a former schoolmate of Dr. Blasey Ford has confirmed hearing about the assault while at school.
The only thing that Dr. Blasey Ford is asking for is that the FBI investigate the assault, before she testifies before Congress – BUT Head of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Grassley, is refusing that request. Dr. Blasey Ford has even already taken and PASSED a polygraph test.
TAKE ACTION: TELL SENATORS COLLINS & MURKOWSKI TO DEMAND AN FBI INVESTIGATION BEFORE THE HEARINGS CAN PROCEED.
CALL, WRITE & FAX: SENATORS SUSAN COLLINS & LISA MURKOWSKI
Sen Susan Collins
R – Maine
413 Dirksen Senate Office Building,
Washington DC 20510
Main: (202) 224-2523
Fax: (202) 224-2693
Sen. Lisa Murkowski
R – Alaska
522 Hart Senate Office Blding
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-6665
Fax: (202) 224-5301
Chairman Crespo and Members of the Bronx Democratic Party Executive Committee
Bronx Democratic Committee
1640 Eastchester Road
Bronx, NY 10461
Dear Chairman Crespo and Members of the Bronx Democratic Party Executive Committee:
It has been brought to our attention that former Senator Jeff Klein is being considered for a judgeship by the Bronx Democratic Committee.
As the voices of hundreds of thousands of women from across New York State, we ask that Jeff Klein be held to the same standards demanded of Brett Kavanaugh by the US Senate Democrats.
They are demanding that until such time that a complete investigation has been conducted and concluded, the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh should not be permitted to come to a vote. That same standard must be apply to consideration of Jeff Klein.
Governor Cuomo has said, “The allegations of sexual assault against Judge Kavanaugh are disturbing and deeply concerning. We owe it … to the American people to fully investigate these allegations — our democracy demands nothing less.”
As the Bronx Democratic Committee, you must surely see that there is no room for a double standard.
Jeff Klein should not be considered for a judgeship until such time that the allegations lodged against him over nine months ago are fully investigated, and conclude.
We the undersigned respectfully ask that you do not consider Mr. Klein for a judgeship at this time.
Alert: Below are THE 6 US Senators who will decide the future of the nominee for the US Supreme Court, and thus the future of Roe v. Wade, the course of health care, and the direction of the US Supreme Court’s decisions for decades to come.
Getting these 6 to do the right thing is hard because the 4 Democrats are up for re-election in “red” states and the 2 Republicans don’t want to be at odds with their political party.
So we must show them the facts. Kavanaugh is Bad for Their Constituents.
We must call the 6 senators below and tell them “Vote NO on Kavanaugh. He will take away our coverage of pre-existing conditions.”
We need to make sure they know the facts. Here are just a few of the many impacting their constituents:
Joe Manchin needs to know that his state of West Virginia has THE highest number of people with pre-existing conditions and THE highest rate of diabetes in the country, and the 2nd highest in cancer deaths.
Joe Donnelly needs to know that his state of Indiana has the 7th highest rates of autism and is the 11th highest state in cancer deaths. Approximately 695,832 people (12.9%) of the population have diabetes, with another 1,719,000 (35.6%) of the adult population suffer from pre-diabetes. Every year approximately another 33,000 are diagnosed with diabetes.
Heidi Heitkamp needs to know that in her state of North Dakota, 33.9% have diabetes and pre-diabetes out of a state population of 755,393 (2017) – and that’s about one in two North Dakotans, 50 percent, lives with a pre-existing condition. North Dakota is one of the top 13 states in new lung cancer cases and survivals.
Claire McClaskill needs to know that in her state of Missouri, 51% of the population – more than 1 out of every 2 Missourians – has a pre-existing condition. 332,300 Missouri children already have been diagnosed with pre-existing conditions, and that Missouri has the 6th highest rate of lung cancer in the country – and that approximately 699,992 people in Missouri (13.2%) have diabetes, and another 1,625,000 people, (35.9%), have pre-diabetes.
Susan Collins needs to know that her state of Maine53% of the population – more than 1 out of every 2 Mainers – is living with a pre-existing condition. Maine is 9th highest in cancer deaths and 11.1% of the adult population has diabetes. 28,000 people in Maine are living with Alzheimer’s disease, affecting an additional 69,000 family and friends.
Lisa Murkowski needs to know that in her state of Alaska 1 out of every 2 Alaskans has a pre-existing condition. Also, Alaska has the highest number of annual diagnosed cases of Alzheimer’s per year. 59,186 people in Alaska, (10.9% of the adult population) have already been diagnosed with diabetes, and that another 194,000 people (36.7% of the adult population) have pre-diabetes. The cancer rate in Alaska is higher than the national average. This is just a smattering of the facts about people who will be thrown off of health insurance.These 6 Senators need to know THEY MUST VOTE NO on Kavanaugh.
Brett Kavanaugh, the president’s nominee to become the next US Supreme Court, has already made clear that he believes companies cannot be required to cover pre-existing conditions as mandated by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This is not a party-based issue. It is in no way a partisan issue. Everyone in the country needs health care and there are over 130 million folks in the United States with pre-existing conditions.*(Find your state.)
(Kavanaugh also believes sitting presidents cannot be held accountable for their actions.)
We need to get the senators to focus on is that Kavanaugh’s first attack will be on the ACA’s coverage of pre-existing conditions. He has over 2.5 million people’s health care in the crosshairs.
In June, the Department of Justice joined a lawsuitbrought by 20 states challenging that ACA requirement that pre-existing conditions must be covered. They are asking that the courts eliminate these ACA protections. (The Lawsuit)
According to The Wall Street Journal, the adverse impact of this lawsuit will be felt on the individual market, including approximately 175 million people who get health coverage from small and large employers.*
This lawsuit is expected to make it to the US Supreme Court.
If Kavanaugh is confirmed, he will be the deciding vote to take away health insurance coverage from hundreds of millions of people with pre-existing conditions.
Examples of people who will lose coverage If Brett Kavanaugh becomes the next Supreme Court Justice:
Any person on the Autism spectrum will be deemed having a pre-existing condition and will not be able to get coverage – AND IF THE FAMILY CAN FIND COVERAGE, the cost will likely be through the roof. This is true for all special needs conditions. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) April 2018 report, 1 in 59 children are living with an autism diagnosis.
Dementia, Alzheimer’s: both pre-existing conditions. “An estimated 5.7 million Americans of all ages are living with Alzheimer’s dementia in 2018. This number includes an estimated 5.5 million people age 65 and older and approximately 200,000 individuals under age 65 who have younger-onset Alzheimer’s.” “It is estimated that nearly 500,000 new cases of Alzheimer’s disease will be diagnosed this year.”
Diabetes: 30.3 million people in the United States (9.4% of the population) have diabetes, according to the 2017 National Diabetes Statistics, 2017, published by the CDC. West Virginia has the highest rate of diabetes in the nation.
Pregnancy will be deemed a pre-existing condition as it was before the ACA became law. According to Dr. Leah Kaufman, Legislative Chair of District II of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, a pregnant woman could end up paying $17,000 a year for health insurance.*
These 6 US Senators will determine the future of Roe v. Wade and direction of the US Supreme Court’s decisions for decades to come.
Children are being torn from their families, put in cages, and left uncertain if and when they’ll see their parents again. This is the reality for over 2,000 immigrant children as a result of Trump’s zero-tolerance policy which began in May, and for months before as a part of a “pilot” program. Not only is the policy inhumane, but it also exposes a real hypocrisy among many politicians. How is it that the very elected officials who champion the rights of the fetus are ready to throw the “born” into concentration camps?
Many of these politicians who refuse to support a comprehensive reunification program of children with their parents are also the politicians who rally behind the message that “every life” has value and should be protected by society. According to the anti-woman Pro-Life Action League, “Every child, regardless of the circumstances of his or her conception, will be welcomed and loved.” – unless that child happens to be non-white. Many of the same people who’ve been silent or indifferent to the crisis produced by Trump’s zero-tolerance policy profess support for the anti-choice “right to life” stance. This message – touted by mostly white male representatives – apparently does not apply to the lives of immigrants who are not in-utero, and are coming to this country from non-white nations.
Every Democrat in the Senate signed a bill that would have prioritized connecting the State department with various countries’ governments to facilitate immediate family reunification. The bill would have also addressed some of the issues affecting immigrant men, women, and children such as rape, sex-trafficking, femicide, and violence. But not one single Senate Republicans has supported the bill – without which it cannot pass the Senate!
Separating these children from their parents, most of them below the age of 12, is a complete rejection of their emotional and physical well-being. Doctors and child welfare advocates not only cite the damaging effect of the short-term anxiety experienced by the separated children, but also that it puts them at a higher risk of PTSD, depression, and attention deficit disorder. These care facilities, regardless of their good intentions, cannot provide the concentrated love and comfort that shape children during their early developmental stages. Further, the longer the period of separation, the longer the recovery will take.
As one contract worker wrote, “They’re in crisis. They’re just crying uncontrollably.” “We’ve seen young kids having panic attacks, they can’t sleep, they’re wetting the bed. They regress developmentally, where they may have been verbal but now they can no longer talk.”
In addition, because there has been no tracking of the children, the reunification process will take months.
This kind of major governmental failure is not uncommon when it comes to immigrants of colors. As a nation, we’ve systematically shut out non-white immigrants throughout our history. Whether it was the Chinese Exclusion Act, The Immigration Act of 1924, or trying to stop immigrants from “shithole countries,” racial identity plays a major role in one’s ability to come to the U.S.
Trump’s own wife is a recipient of this privilege. Melania is a recipient of the Einstein Visa (for a reason no one is quite sure of,) and was able to sponsor her parents’ immigration as well. But this familial sponsorship is now considered to be “chain-migration” by her husband and he’s working to dismantle it.
It becomes more important as Trump destroys the lives of so many immigrant families to call out the hypocrisy that infects his government, and his family. Anything less than reunification must be called out so our country can finally treat every immigrant, regardless of their skin color, as human beings.
Why do anti-choice fanatics think the rights and well-being of “born” children are less important than the rights of fetuses? Because their position is based on controlling women. The separation and division of immigrant families are about control and humiliation – just like their anti-choice one is about doing the same to women.
Many New Yorkers are still reeling from the news story that broke on Monday. Four women are accusing now former NYS Attorney General Eric Schneiderman of violence and abuse.
It is hard to reconcile that the described actions and accusations can be attributed to the same person that inspired many of us and led the charge on so many progressive fronts.
We at WCLA – Choice Matters won’t attempt to.
The former Attorney General was to be our keynote speaker on June 14th. Clearly, that is no longer the case.
Violence of the kind described is always wrong and cannot be explained away. People must always be held accountable.
As we navigate our way forward, we must hold on to some rock-solid truths:
Over the past 8 years, the New York Attorney General’s office has been the most progressive AG’s office in the country. It was an office that showed no fear when threatened by Washington. It fought relentlessly for comprehensive reproductive rights for all, Dreamers in the DACA program, immigrants facing the travel ban, workers cheated of their wages, environmental protection, and voting rights. The AG’s office was THE legal resistance holding Donald Trump accountable to the law.And that can continue to be the case. The work of the Attorney General’s office was not conducted by one person.The staff that did the legal work to make those fights a reality is still in place. Eric Schneiderman was the face of the office but it was the staff that did the heavy lifting. We must support the staff, and elect an AG who will allow them to keep moving this progressive agenda forward;
It is clear that a double standard is alive and well in the United States. While New Yorkers would not tolerate such behavior by one of its own elected officials, the country has a president that brags about assaulting women and encourages voters to support a pedophile. We must keep up the legal resistance and demand that all play by the same rules; and
Every Election Matters. Whether it is a school board election (which occurs in Westchester next Tuesday) or County or State or Federal one – every election matters. The message “when they go low, we go local” must become the mantra of our resistance. We can only advance a progressive pro-choice agenda if we vote.
Here at WCLA – Choice Matters, we continue to work to advance reproductive freedom. Thursday, June 14th, is the date of our annual gala. This annual event raises funds necessary to pay for some of the arduous grassroots work we do.
Please save the dateand stay tuned for the announcement of our new featured speaker!
The existence of anti-choice crisis pregnancy centers that disguise themselves as real clinics is already deeply unsettling. However, a recent Rewire article sheds light on something even more appalling: some of these centers in North Carolina are using federal money to buy programs that spread misinformation about abortion and promote Christianity.[1]
The program in question is the “Earn While You Learn” program, which is comprised of a series of videos that claims to educate women on reproductive health, but actually spreads false information about abortion, postpartum depression, and pregnancy as a whole.
As a reward for watching these videos and completing worksheets over them, women can earn essentials for childcare, such as diapers and car seats. Not only is this blatantly incentivizing women to avoid exercising their right to obtain an abortion, it is also disparaging of lower income women. Dinah Monahan, the founder of the program, described her motivation to start the program as being to counteract “entitlement culture.”[2] She blames lower income women for their struggles to obtain materials necessary for childcare and claims that they have grown up manipulating the system. Her program, in her mind, is an effort to correct this behavior— and also to “share Christ”. Women involved in the program have said that they are able to earn points to redeem on diapers and other essentials by attending Bible study and church services.[3] This goes well beyond using federal funding to promote religiously biased videos. This amounts to federal funding being used to promote Christianity to women in crisis. This type of activity tramples on the Constitution’s guarantee of a separation of church and state. Unfortunately, this is truly a snowball rolling down hill. Under Trump and the present Senate and House leadership, every day leads to ever-greater destruction of women’s civil rights. The more organizations like these crisis pregnancy centers are able to get away with, the greater the risk to unfettered access to reproductive health care.
[1] Littlefield, A. (2018, May 03). Anti-Choice Centers in North Carolina Use Federal Funds to Buy Programs Crafted to ‘Share Christ’. Retrieved May 10, 2018, from https://rewire.news/article/2018/04/26/anti-choice-centers-north-carolina-used-federal-funds-buy-programs-crafted-share-christ/
[2] Littlefield, A. (2018, May 03). Anti-Choice Centers in North Carolina Use Federal Funds to Buy Programs Crafted to ‘Share Christ’. Retrieved May 10, 2018, from https://rewire.news/article/2018/04/26/anti-choice-centers-north-carolina-used-federal-funds-buy-programs-crafted-share-christ/
[3]Littlefield, A. (2018, May 03). Anti-Choice Centers in North Carolina Use Federal Funds to Buy Programs Crafted to ‘Share Christ’. Retrieved May 10, 2018, from https://rewire.news/article/2018/04/26/anti-choice-centers-north-carolina-used-federal-funds-buy-programs-crafted-share-christ/
