Category: Westchester County

Lowey Calls on GOP to Focus on Jobs, Not Restricting Women’s Health Choices

02/14/11

(WHITE PLAINS) – Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-Westchester/Rockland) was joined today by Westchester County community organizations in calling on Republican Congressional leadership to focus on the issues most important to American people – creating jobs and getting our economy on track – rather than restricting women’s health choices.

“As I visit all the communities of my district, I am asked about high unemployment, how government can help promote job growth, and how we can get the economy working again for families trying to make ends meet,” said Lowey.  “Not once have I heard that it is important for the government to get to work on restricting women’s health choices and denying basic care.  It is shocking to me that at a time of high unemployment and enormous economic challenges ahead of us, Congressional leaders are focusing on extreme and divisive social issues.  It must stop now.”

H.R. 3, the so-called “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,” would eliminate tax breaks for private employers who provide health coverage if their plans offer the full range of women’s health services, and would forbid women who use a flexible spending plan to use pre-tax dollars on certain legal health procedures.  Federal law already prohibits use of taxpayer funds for abortion services.  H.R. 3 would also undercut an important exemption on this ban by re-defining rape in a way that could limit health choices for victims of statutory rape and other crimes.

Another bill, the so-called “Protect Life Act” would prohibit Americans who receive insurance through state exchanges from purchasing health plans that cover the full range of health services, even though they would already pay for that coverage with their own money.  It would also permit hospitals to refuse to perform abortions even if necessary to save the life of the mother.

Finally, Congressional leadership has proposed eliminating federal funding for Title X of the Public Health Service Act.  This would deny federal funding for health care providers that provide cancer screenings, Pap Smears, contraception, immunizations, blood-pressure testing, and much more if they also provide the full range of women’s health services.  Title X funding has played a critical role in reducing unintended pregnancies, decreasing infant mortality, and detecting cancer at early stages.

“The Pence and Smith bills are the most devastating legislative assaults on women’s health care in American history,” said Reina Schiffrin, CEO of Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic.  “These ideological attacks overlook the fact that Planned Parenthood doesmore to prevent unintended pregnancies than any other organization.”

“The YWCAs in New York are proud to be joining Congresswoman Lowey and our sister organizations in calling for the leadership of the House of Representatives to focus on the real work that they were elected to do,” said Maria Imperial, CEO of the YWCA White Plains and Central Westchester.  “The Gender Wage Gap continues. Women and their families are living in poverty. We need to address these issues rather than attacking healthcare options for women.  Women make up nearly 50% of this nation’s workforce. They need to be trained for our new economy; we don’t need to work on restricting their rights. The conversation has to change now. We simply cannot afford it any more. “

May Krukiel, Director of the Westchester Women’s Agenda, said, “Reproductive freedom is the law of the land.  Efforts to restrict access to reproductive health care should be seen as illegal and cannot be tolerated.”

“The newly-elected reactionary Congress is determined to destroy women’s health. Instead of creating jobs, these extremists are savaging women’s health care. They want to prevent millions of  women from obtaining health insurance coverage for abortion services – even insurance paid for with private dollars or provided by employers in the private marketplace.  These zealots are amending a law decades old to make it legal for doctors and hospitals to stand by and allow pregnant women to die if intervention to save them would kill the fetus. Congresswoman Lowey and our other pro-choice representatives are fighting off three devastating bills plus budget cuts as we speak. We stand with Congresswoman Lowey and our allies to defend the rights of America’s women,” stated Catherine Lederer-Plaskett, President, WCLA – Choice Matters.

More than one million women in the United States are unemployed.  The number of abortions in the United States decreased from 2000 to 2008, the most recent year for which data is available.

Alert: Special Election – The Washington Agenda wants to come to Westchester!

ALERT!
SPECIAL ELECTION
THIS TUESDAY,  FEBRUARY 15TH!

If you live in the
Westchester County 12th Legislative District
we are begging you to come out and
vote for MaryJane Shimsky.

MaryJane is a 100% pro-choice advocate who will protect our women, children, and families. She understands the importance of our clinics, childcare, and health centers.

Her opponent, DeCicco, publicly stated that all minors should be required to have parental consent before being permitted to have an abortion. Can you imagine a 12-year-old girl, an incest victim, asking the father who raped her, “Can I please get an abortion so that I won’t have to give birth to your child?”(ECC forum, 2/7/11)

At the same forum, he said that 17-year-old females should not be able to get emergency contraception (which is a high dose of birth control that can stop a woman from becoming pregnant up to five days after unprotected sex) over the counter. We should applaud young women who want to take responsibility before they have an unwanted pregnancy, not punish them! DeCicco wants to see them pay the price of unintended pregnancies, and then force them into a circumstance in which they will likely choose abortion.

Astorino, His Puppets and Washington Extremism
What is going on in Washington DC, brought on by the anti-choice zealots empowered by the Republican win last November, can happen here in Westchester County.

Westchester’s Right to Life County Executive Rob Astorino is a rabid extremist, yanking funding away from working women and their children.  This is a man whose budget shows he only cares about those who vote for him. The rest of us–especially the working poor–are being thrown under the bus so that he can claim to meet budget promises. Trust me when I say, we will all pay later in tax dollars for Astorino’s stunts.
Importantly, our County legislators decide many reproductive rights issues including prisoners’ rights, Medicaid expenditures, and more. The cost to your tax dollars will be huge if legislators do not understand these obligations, and only try to grab headlines, like Astorino likes to do, with penny-wise pound-foolish cuts.

DeCicco is a puppet–a mini-me–for Astorino. Even a DeCicco supporter, The Westchester Rising, calls him Astorino’s “partner.”

The Message Here:

VOTE FOR MARYJANE SHIMSKY

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15TH!
Special Elections have a very low turnout because few people realize the election is occurring.
Thus your vote will have a multi-fold impact!

TELL YOUR FRIENDS TO VOTE
MARYJANE  SHIMSKY!

Celebrate the Meaning of Roe: Vote-Special Election Feb. 15 – Elect MaryJane Shimsky!

Roe v. Wade is under attack across the United States. Women are losing their/our constitutional right to privacy and to control our own bodies.
Empowered by the 2010 elections, states are working to pass damaging legislation. (Click here to read more.)
BUT YOU CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!
Vote in the Special Election
Tuesday February 15th

You Vote – You Choose
MaryJane Shimsky—a pro-choice, progressive, budget and tax-minded candidate, running on the Working Families and Democratic lines, who has fought for the residents of Hastings-on-Hudson and the Town of Greenburgh on such projects as Ridge Hill and Stew Leonards, and worked as the Director of Community Relations for Assemblyman Richard Brodsky;
or
Astorino’s next mini-me—anti-choice Nicholas DeCicco who refused to complete Choice Matters’ questionnaire. DeCicco, like Marcotte, will walk the Right-to-Life Astorino anti-choice anti-child anti-family walk, voting as he is told.
Say “NO” to Another Astorino Puppet
In November 2009, Westchester elected a Right-to-Life (RTL) County Executive, Rob Astorinio. We have been paying the price ever since.
Astorino may want to protect the so-called unborn, but he sure has made his position about the born clear: Astorino says, Throw them under the bus to every child and family in need. Astorino’s budget is the antithesis of family. He focuses on cutting all services that support working mothers, early childhood programs and corresponding housing support.
On his coattails, Sheila Marcotte won in the 10th County Legislative District and is doing exactly as her commander has directed–voting in lockstep with him against child care scholarships, low income daycare and funding for community healthcare programs, among others–voting against a safety net and costing taxpayers millions.
Astorino’s other puppets have done the same. Believe me when I say, we do not need and cannot afford another Astorino mini-me.
Worry About Funding!
Astorino’s Right to Life beliefs have already corrupted the budget process. Laws are not the only things at stake. Budgets decide who matters.

Remember it was Astorino who took a sledge hammer to child care funding, pulverizing it by taking away 4.3 million dollars—this after the most recent census data reported that 16.7 percent of Westchester children under 5 years of age are living in poverty, which is up from 9.6 percent in 2005—and added new positions for his political cronies. When those positions were cut by the County Legislators, Astorino hired his cronies anyway using empty lines on the budget!

SPECIAL ELECTION
TUESDAY
FEB. 15TH
Choice Matters
Endorses
MaryJane Shimsky
for
Westchester County Board of Legislators

Astorino Proposes Budget using Right to Life Philosophy!

Right to Life County Executive Rob Astorino is wasting no time building his first budget on the tenets of Anti-Choice Extremism: Champion the Fetus, but once it’s born, throw it under the bus…deprive it of food, health care, shelter and education.

Astorino’s Anti-Child Anti-Family Budget
The first thing Astorino did to draft his Anti-Child Anti-Family Budget was to go after the truly defenseless.

He took a sledge hammer to child care funding, pulverizing it by taking away 4.3 million dollars—this after the most recent census data reported that 16.7 percent of Westchester children under 5 years of age are living in poverty, which is up from 9.6 percent in 2005.

Even the business community opposes the Astorino-style anti-child budget. Why? Because they insist that we will only stem our country’s declining competitive advantage in the global economy if we invest in our children’s early years. The strongest advocates for increasing spending for quality services for young children are leading economists like Nobel winner James Heckman and Art Rolnick, and national groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and America’s Partnership for Economic Success.

Astorino also cut all the 4-H programs in Westchester, which rely on matching grants to survive. If Westchester does not provide any funding, there is nothing to match!

Anti-choicers like to claim the moral high ground and supposed family values, but, in reality, those like Astorino don’t care about people—or at least not about families that are financially different than their own.

Astorino’s Next Target: Families.
Astorino is planning on closing one of the most highly regarded family shelters, WestHelp, which houses 70 homeless families. The shelter is part of the HELP agency which was founded more than two decades ago to provide transitional housing to the homeless. It has 108 units and offers its residents job training and day-care services. WESTHelp’s occupancy rate has doubled since September and can be expected to continue to rise as applications for food stamps have risen in recent months.

Astorino also has Westchester’s health care system on the chopping block. Treating thousands of patients annually, the community health centers, Open Door Family Medical Center and Hudson River HealthCare have taken on the role of the Department of Health’s local clinics, providing preventive health care to the poor and uninsured. Astorino plans to savage their budgets, resulting in, among other things, kids without inoculations, women without prenatal care and seniors without necessary medical treatment.

Astorino’s pièces de résistance budget cut: He is closing all the community mental health clinics this year—50% on January 1, 2011 and the remaining 50% on July 1, 2011. Clearly Mr. Astorino is out of touch with the needs of real people and their families.  Depression which often leads to domestic abuse, murder, and suicide is a direct result of unemployment and feeling out of control.

Remember, Astorino is dong this as job loss has driven more Westchester residents into the ranks of the uninsured and underinsured.

Astorino is Playing Three-Card Monte with Your Tax Dollars!
Astorino claims that he is doing all this to lower taxes by 1%-but there really is no 1% decrease.  Astorino is raising fees and borrowing money to pay: 1. tax certiorari payments, 2. increased cost of pensions, and 3. pension buy-outs.

We will be paying for that for years to come. If anyone sees a reduction in his/her county taxes it will be approximately $20, and then only under very limited circumstances!

Call Your Westchester County Legislator and
Tell Them to Say NO
to Right to Life County Executive Astorino’s Budget

CBL 1 John Testa [-]                         (914) 995-2828                
CBL 2   Peter Harckham [+]          (914) 995-2810
CBL 3 John Nonna [+]                    (914) 995-2847                
CBL 4   Michael Kaplowitz [+]      (914) 995-2848
CBL 5 William Ryan [+]                  (914) 995-2827                 
CBL 6   Martin Rogowsky [+]        (914) 995-2834
CBL 7 Judy Myers [+]                     (914) 995-2802                
CBL 8   Alfreda Williams [+]         (914) 995-2833
CBL 9 William Burton [+]              (914) 995-2812               
CBL 10  Sheila Marcotte [-]           (914) 995-2817
CBL 11 Jim Maisano [+]                  (914) 995-2826               
CBL 12 Thomas Abinanti [+]        (914) 995-2821
CBL 13 Lyndon D. Williams [-]     (914) 995-2837               
CBL 14 Bernice Spreckman [+]    (914) 995-2815
CBL 15 Gordon Burrows [-]           (914) 995-2830                
CBL 16 Ken Jenkins [+]                   (914) 995-2829
CBL 17 Jose Alvarado [+]              (914) 995-2846

 (+) = pro-choice
 (-) = anti-choice

Are You With Us Saturday? We’re Endorsing Pro-Choice Leader Eric Schneiderman

Choice Matters and Rep. Nita Lowey to Endorse Pro-Choice Leader Eric Schneiderman for New York State Attorney General

Join Us.
Eric Schneiderman has been fighting to protect women’s fundamental reproductive freedoms for literally decades. It is vitally important who the Attorney General is when it comes to freedom of choice, because we must have someone who will protect clinic access, stop harassment, and aggressively push for greater protections — and Eric’s long record shows beyond any doubt he will be outstanding in this regard.

In addition, Eric’s opponent is an extremist who opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest.

Stand with Choice Matters and Rep. Lowey as we endorse a man, Eric Schneiderman, who has spent his entire life fighting for women’s rights.

When 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 16th
Where: Westchester County Center
(Intersection of Rt. 119 and Central Ave.)

Myth Busters #1 Nan Hayworth is NOT Pro-Choice!

Fact #1: Nan Hayworth is NOT Pro-Choice!!
She is running for Congress against Pro-Choice John Hall, in the 19th District which encompasses northern Westchester County, and parts of Orange, Dutchess and Rockland counties.

Nan Hayworth is a Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing.
In the Republican Primary she wanted voters to believe she was as anti-choice and reactionary as her opponent, and as soon as she won that, she started claiming she was pro-choice.

How do we know this?
Because her campaign told us that they did not want to hand in our questionnaire until after the Primary. Then, when they saw the questionnaire, she refused to complete it out of fear that we’d reveal the truth. Nan Hayworth is anti-choice.

What they did not bargain for is that back in December 2009, soon after Hayworth announced she was going to run, we emailed her. We had an on-going communication in which her campaign as authorized by her clearly stated:

Hayworth wants to:
1. Severely limit a woman’s right to choose;
2. Restrict access to women’s reproductive rights; and
3. She would have voted in support of the Stupak Amendment which is the greatest attack on women’s reproductive rights since the passage of Roe v Wade.

The reason given for her support of the Stupak Amendment was because she “would have voted with the GOP [Republican } Conference.”

In other words, Hayworth is in lockstep with her Party. All for independent thought!!

Apparently, a vote for Nan Hayworth is a vote for whatever her party tells her to do.

Lest You Forget
Why it is Important to Use Your Right to Vote to Vote Choice
(We are posting a different story each email. Take the time to read someone else’s pain.)

“A doctor brought her in. He called me and said, “Will you admit her on your service? She’s got a strangulated hernia.” I said, “Well, why don’t you send her to general surgery?” He said, “I think it’s in your field.” She came in and she had a loop of bowel hanging out of her vagina wrapped in newspaper and that was the “strangulated hernia”. And what he [the abortionist] did was perforate the uterus. He pulled out the bowel with his aborting instruments and he thought it was fetal bowel. She had literally over thirty inches of bowel hanging out of her vagina. And the poor woman should have died from several causes:  bowel obstruction, septicemia, and everything else. I operated and did a bowel resection, pulled this damn dirty bowel out of the uterus and vagina, and she lived. But many others died.

(Taylor Buckley, former chief resident in a big city general hospital in the early 1940’s, in Doctors of Conscience, by Carol Joffe, Beacon Press, 1995)

Profiling Amy Paulin Assemblywoman, NYS 88th Assembly District

All About Assemblywoman Amy Paulin

Amy is one of the Assembly’s most effective and productive members. She ranks in the top 3% of all Assembly members for sponsoring bills that pass both houses of the Legislature. Over her first four terms, 84 of the bills she sponsored became law, which is unprecedented for a legislator of her seniority.

Assemblywoman Paulin is a staunch advocate for women, with a lengthy list of accomplishments, including:

●Authoring landmark legislation which lengthens orders of protection in both the civil and criminal courts to assist those victimized by domestic violence;
●Negotiating the groundbreaking law that makes human trafficking and labor trafficking felony offenses;
●Sponsoring the law that eliminates the statute of limitations for rape;
●Promoting spousal maintenance legislation as a companion bill with no fault divorce and with payment of counsel fees legislation;
●Voting to ensure families can afford to keep their health insurance by requiring insurance companies to obtain approval from the state superintendent of insurance before they propose to increase insurance premiums; and
●Introducing five new bills to the Assembly to crack down on sexual assault and protect its victims. These new bills will stiffen the penalties for sexual assault, especially when a child is the victim.

Assemblywoman Paulin has been named a Leader in the Fight against Domestic Violence by the New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NYSCADV), Among the many awards she has received are: the Excellence in Leadership Award from NOW of New York City; the Margaret Sanger Award from the Family Planning Advocates of New York State; and the Health Center Award by the Community Health Association of New York State.

Before being elected Assemblywoman, Amy Paulin served in several highly visible jobs, including Executive Director, My Sister’s Place; Member, Scarsdale Village Board; Founder and Chairwoman, Westchester Women’s Agenda; President, Westchester League of Women Voters; Vice President, NY State League of Women’s Voters; Citizen Member, County Board of Legislators’ Special Committee on Families; Scarsdale Citizens for Senior Housing; Scarsdale Arts Council and many more committees, councils and foundations.

Paulin’s opponent is Rene Atayan, Chair of the Bronxville Republican Party. Atayan is vehemently anti-choice and believes in severely restricting women’s access to abortion.

Election results

Most of our endorsed pro-choice candidates won their elections this year including:

DISTRICT ATTORNEY – Janet Difiore
COUNTY CLERK – Timothy Idoni
COUNTY LEGISLATOR – District 2 – Peter Harckham
COUNTY LEGISLATOR – District 3 – John Nonna
COUNTY LEGISLATOR – District 4 – Michael Kaplowitz
COUNTY LEGISLATOR – District 5 – William Ryan
COUNTY LEGISLATOR – District 6 – Martin Rogowsky
COUNTY LEGISLATOR – District 7 – Judy Meyers
COUNTY LEGISLATOR – District 8 – Alfreda Williams
COUNTY LEGISLATOR – District 9 – William Burton
COUNTY LEGISLATOR – District 10 – Vito Pinto
COUNTY LEGISLATOR – District 11 – James Maisano
COUNTY LEGISLATOR – District 12 – Thomas Abinanti
COUNTY LEGISLATOR – District 14 – Bernice Spreckman
COUNTY LEGISLATOR – District 16 – Ken Jenkins
COUNTY LEGISLATOR – District 17 – Jose Alvarado

We are sad to report that County Executive Andy Spano was unseated by anti-choice Robert Astorino. Andy Spano was a strong supporter of our organization and of choice. Another strong supporter of choice, Yonkers City Council President Chuck Lesnick, was also unseated.

Official Board of Elections results can be found here.

2009 ProChoice Voting Guide

prochoice Are you PRO-CHOICE in Westchester County, NY? Here is the WCLA-Choice Matters Voting Guide. It tells you who is pro-choice in local elections. This year we are voting for Supreme Court Justices, County Court Judge, County Executive, District Attorney, County Clerk, and Westchester County Legislators. We have also made an endorsement this year for Yonkers City Council President.

These are local elections and very important. Local government plays a very important role in Choice decisions. Just read the Guide and you’ll see how. Because many people do not bother to vote in local elections those of us who do have a far greater impact on the outcome.

If you need additional reasons to vote on November 3rd, please note: 1. There are more Right to Life endorsed candidates on the ballot this year than at any time during the Bush administration; and 2. Locally elected officials are the candidates for higher office tomorrow.

VOTE on Tuesday, November 3rd.

We ask for you to distribute this link far and wide to all of your pro-choice friends. It is your legal right to carry our voting guide into the voting booth with you.

Download the guide here (Adobe PDF)

WCLA-Choice Matters Endorses Alfreda Williams

There are two Democratic candidates running in the September 15th Primary for the open District 8 seat on the Westchester County Board of Legislators, but only one of them is pro-choice.

WCLA-Choice Matters interviewed both Alfreda Williams and Karen Wompa prior to making endorsements. Both candidates described themselves as pro-choice, but only Williams truly is. The Board of Directors unanimously agreed to endorse Alfreda Williams because she unequivocally supports choice and reproductive health care. Karen Wompa was determined to be anti-choice due to her responses during her interview.

How We Endorse

WCLA – Choice Matters’ endorsements are made by its Board of Directors. Endorsements are determined case by case. To be considered for endorsement, candidates must complete and return WCLA – Choice Matters’ questionnaire and participate in an interview if requested.

Endorsement is considered only for those who unequivocally support:

  • access to abortion and contraception for all women, unimpeded by laws, restrictions, or regulation;
  • strict confidentiality for all reproductive health care;
  • coverage by public and private insurance of abortion and contraception.

Just simply calling yourself pro-choice is not enough for us. In the past, so-called pro-choice elected officials have gone on to support legislation that would weaken Roe v Wade or make it more difficult for Westchester women to have access to the reproductive rights that they deserve.

We stand by our endorsement of Alfreda Williams in the September 15th Democratic Primary and in the General Election.

Signed,
WCLA-Choice Matters Board