Tag: abortion

The On-Going Attacks on Planned Parenthood

To anti-choice extremists. Planned Parenthood is the symbol of women’s reproductive freedom, which to them is unbearable.

In July, anti-choice zealots launched their war on women with a guerrilla-style attack on Planned Parenthood. Seemingly out of nowhere they hurled heavily edited videos at the media, that supposedly showed Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of fetal tissue for a profit. When the whole video was examined, however, the truth came out. It became clear that the real conversation being had was actually a discussion of legal forms of fetal tissue donation.

Unfortunately, it did not matter that the producers of the altered videos all had suspicious credentials and belonged to the anti-abortion group The Center for Medical Progress (CMP)—led by 26-year-old activist David Daleiden who has a murky past at best. The feeding frenzy had begun.

“Roll Call found that some House Republicans had seen the videos weeks before they were released to the public without making any public comment, suggesting some degree of private coordination between the CMP and the GOP.” The Daily Beast

Despite the stench of fraud surrounding these altered videos, the federal government and some states began probes into Planned Parenthood.

In August, Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts, and South Dakota completed their probes and cleared Planned Parenthood of any alleged wrongdoing; and governors in Washington, New York, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Idaho, and Virginia have rejected calls for probes in their own states.

In addition, the attempt to get the Federal Government to defund Planned Parenthood failed-but only by seven votes in the Senate. That’s why they think they can make it happen this time around.

Anti-Choice Extremists have been Very Successful this Summer:
► Five (5) states – Alabama, Utah, Arkansas, Louisiana, and New Hampshire – have all defunded Planned Parenthood and other states are working toward the same end.
â–º There has been a dramatic increase in violence, including arson, against Planned Parenthood clinics around the country as a result of the hateful and false rhetoric spread by anti-choice legislators and activists.
â–ºThese anti-choice activists gained traction with candidates in search of an electoral base. They demand that their candidates staunchly oppose women and our right to comprehensive reproductive health care including abortion and contraception

Republican presidential candidates have weighed in:

● All of the candidates are on the record as opposing abortion, and want to ban it.

  • Some want to ban abortion even in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the woman.
  • Mike Huckabee has said he would not rule out using the military to end abortion, and recently stated, as if to prove him point, that he would support denying an abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim.
  • They have all vowed to defund Planned Parenthood.
  • Jeb Bush is famously on the record for saying “[He’s] not sure we need half a billion dollars for women’s health issues”

► These extremists have also aided in the rise of severe abortion restrictions including Ohio’s new one, HB 131, which will make it a felony to perform an abortion based on a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome. As a candidate competing for the GOP presidential nomination, Gov. John Kasich will sign it into law. This law holds the doctor liable!

51 Abortion Restrictions & New York State

“Through the first six months of 2015, states enacted 51 new abortion restrictions; this brings the number of restrictions enacted since 2010 to 282. Although only about a dozen state legislations remained in session as of July 1, these states may well enact additional restrictions before the end of the year.” RH Reality Check

It is a fact that state governments are well on their way to criminalizing abortion, and women are already dying. Just this year, a 33-year-old woman in Indiana was sentenced to 20 years in jail under that state’s fetal homicide law for supposedly self-aborting her pregnancy.

People incorrectly think that there is no problem for women in New York State. The reality, however, is quite different.
> In 2012, NY cut $2 million from the family planning budget and has still not restored those funds.
> Since January 1, 2015, nine anti-choice bills have been proposed in Albany.
> 53% of NY counties have no abortion clinics and the number of abortion providers is decreasing every year.
> In 2011 there were 225 abortion providers which is a 9% decline from 2008 when there were 249.
> For those living in NYC, abortion services are accessible. However, for those out of the City, to get an abortion past 16 weeks is significantly more difficult. Women generally have to travel to the City or Westchester to terminate. WCLA – Choice Matters and I have personally dealt with women coming from upstate to terminate at that point. It is a three-day procedure and the people require housing, etc. – not to mention they have to miss work, school and leave their families.

> After 24 weeks, it is virtually impossible to terminate in NY. NY’s law was written before Roe v. Wade and does not provide the full constitutional protection guaranteed by Roe. If a woman’s health is at risk or something goes wrong in her pregnancy after 24 weeks, she must seek care outside of NY because NY law does not allow a doctor to perform an abortion.

There are three truths:

  1. Abortion is an essential part of reproductive health care.
  2. Women will find a way to have abortions regardless of the laws and penalties implemented to stop them.
  3. Most women, by a vast majority and regardless of religion, support the right for all women to have unfettered access to comprehensive reproductive health care, including contraception and abortion.

The vast majority of young people do not recognize – because we have not forced them to learn it – that the right to control our bodies is a civil right, just like the right to vote and to marry whomever you choose. Unless vigilantly defended, these rights can and will be lost.

WCLA – Choice Matters has established a strategy for fundamental grassroots advocacy of reaching out to all registered female voters to establish their position on reproductive rights and, if pro-choice, keeping them informed about candidates and the issues. Then we email to whom we can; and mail with a stamp to everyone. Despite the speed and ease of the internet, the reality is that paper materials mailed to a household are still far more effective than email, and, unfortunately, far more expensive.

This commitment and degree of outreach are the way a real grassroots organization works and why Choice Matters and WCLA PAC are so successful – and what sets us apart, and is the key to our phenomenal impact in elections every year. However, we can’t do it without your continued financial support.

Stand with us and the silent majority that votes with our WCLA PAC Yellow Voting Guide in hand. Your continued moral and financial support enables us to keep up the fight. Without you, we cannot exist.

 

Senate to Consider 20-Week Abortion

Plus
The Anti-Abortion Rights Strategy

“One state at a time – and then go national!”
That is the new anti-choice strategy and it’s working!

The 20-week abortion ban is the anti-choice extremists’ target right now.  They believe the ban will be their opening to challenge and, ultimately, overturn Roe v. Wade.

Over the course of the last 12 months, these strategic zealots have managed to get this ban – a prohibition of all abortions from 20 weeks on – passed into law in 15 states, with others including Wisconsin, New Hampshire, and Ohio considering bans as well.

These bans are so extreme that a woman is prohibited from terminating a pregnancy even in cases of severe fetal anomalies.

By showing success in individual states, these anti-choice extremists gained leverage in Washington DC. They used it to convince their legislative partners in the House of Representatives to introduce the same ban in Congress – and it passed in the House on May 13, 2015.

Then on June 11, 2015, Republican presidential candidate Senator Lindsey Graham introduced the bill in the Senate, and every single 2016 GOP presidential hopeful quickly endorsed it; and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has promised to get it to the floor of the Senate for a vote.

Maybe you think this doesn’t affect you because you live in New York.

Think again! If the 20-week ban is passed by Congress then it becomes New York’s law too.

For now, the Senate Democrats will hopefully block the ban; and if they fail, President Obama will likely veto it. But the legislation is gaining momentum.

BREAKING NEWS: Santorum Couldn’t Stop Glick

Guess who was in Albany on Tuesday?
Anti-choice extremist, former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum!!!

You remember Rick –  he believes that the Supreme Court decisions allowing married and single women the right to birth control were wrong and should be overturned.

Why Albany? Santorum thinks New York is vulnerable. He was here joining with others to egg on anti-choice legislators to oppose bills protecting a woman’s right to choose.

But that didn’t stop Assemblywoman Deborah Glick who introduced a bill, A 6221, that would guarantee New York women the full constitutional protection of Roe v. Wade – a protection sorely missing from New York law.

We desperately need to protect New York women from the horrific attacks being waged against us in states across the country and in Washington D.C. The passage of A 6221 is the way to do that!

New York’s Assembly is leading the way.

Call your Assembly member and tell her/him that you support A 6221.

Then let’s make sure the Senate follows!

Congress Set to Cut Your Abortion Rights This Thursday

This Thursday, the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the US House of Representatives will vote to ban 20-week abortion nationally.

The symbolism of the day can’t be missed.

The 114th Congress’ anti-choice politicians are using the Roe v. Wade anniversary to send a clear message: They are gunning for women and our reproductive rights.

In the Senate, the new Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, made the passage of this ban a campaign promise when running for re-election last fall!

Just hours after being sworn in, the right-wing controlled Congress introduced this 20-week abortion ban.

If the 20-week abortion ban becomes law, it will effect women in every state in the country – jeopardize women’s health everywhere. The bill is unconstitutional and would institute criminal penalties, including up to five years in prison for health care providers for delivering safe medical care to women who need it. [1]

The bill, HR 36, deceptively named the “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act”, is based on lies and junk science claims that:
*fetuses are viable and can feel pain at 20 weeks (both false),
*abortion at that stage is too risky for women (it is still safer than childbirth), and
*the public supports a ban (in truth, the overwhelming majority wants pre-viability abortions, including at and after 20 weeks, to remain safe and legal).[2]

With women’s rights supporters now in the minority in Congress, we need to fight harder than ever against attacks on our reproductive rights. We need to reach out to Congress and to President Obama. If the bill passes Congress, we will need President Obama to stand up for all women and veto this bill.

CLICK HERE TO TAKE ACTION
(This will take you to the National Partnership for Women and Families to facilitate contacting Congress.)

We Must Speak Out!
[1] National Partnership for Women and Families
[2] National Organization for Women, Terry O’Neill

The Demise of Abortion Rights in New York State

The end of abortion rights in New York State is coming, and not with a bang but with a whimper. Its demise is already in full swing. The cause is the election of politicians like Jeff Klein and Michael Kaplowitz who claimed to be pro-choice advocates to get our votes but then aligned themselves with anti-choice extremists immediately upon their election. The deceptive tactics of the Kleins and Kaplowitzs are effectively facilitating the erosion of a woman’s right to choose right here, right now.
These elected officials – Klein to the New York State Senate and Kaplowitz to the Westchester County Legislature – lied to the pro-choice community to get elected, and then consciously turned their backs on their constituents for their own political gain.

Why? Because New York State is a pro-choice state with the vast majority of voters supporting comprehensive reproductive rights, which includes abortion. Eighty percent of New Yorkers support the passage of the Reproductive Health Act “which is aimed at protecting reproductive freedom for women, ensuring a woman’s right to make private health care decisions regarding pregnancy. At least two-thirds of voters from every party, region and demographic group support it, with the exception of self-identified conservatives who support it 64-29 percent.” Sienna Research Institute

Decisions Made for Personal Gain, at Our Expense
Jeff Klein, immediately after being re-elected to the New York State Senate to represent SD 34 (Pelham and part of Mount Vernon and the Bronx), aligned himself with the Republican anti-choice extremist Dean Skelos. Klein claimed it was an act of independence. In reality, it was a power-grab by a self-absorbed, egocentric politician who thought it was more important to enhance his own personal power than to stand up for women who elected him and make up his constituency.
Did you know that it was Senator Klein who refused to bring the 10-point Women’s Equality Agenda to the floor of the Senate for a vote – just because anti-choice Skelos did not approve?

Unfortunately, Klein would rather stand with Skelos than with the women of New York—and Klein doesn’t care that by doing so, he, Klein, is empowering and advancing an anti-choice agenda.

Let’s remember that Jeff Klein, when he served as a NYS Assemblyman, used WCLA – Choice Matters and the issue of Choice to win his primary for New York State Senate. Klein swore then, as he has every election since, that nothing would stand between him and fighting for a woman’s right to comprehensive reproductive rights – which includes the right to have an abortion. Clearly, he lied.

And then we have Michael Kaplowitz who was just re-elected to represent CLD 4 (New Castle and parts of Yorktown, and Somers). Kaplowitz has had his eye on being Westchester County Board Chairman for years. So, as soon as he was re-elected, Kaplowitz went to the anti-choice legislators with whom he had voted to pass the 2012 budget that gutted funding to community health centers, food pantries and senior nutrition programs, and dramatically raised the cost of childcare, to negotiate his deal. Kaplowitz agreed to support Jim Maisano (who voted against ensuring safe access to reproductive health care clinics) for the position of Westchester County Board Vice – Chairman and to appoint Sheila Marcotte (who opposes abortion rights even in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the woman) as Budget Committee Chairperson in exchange for making Kaplowitz the new Westchester County Board Chairman. 

It is important to understand that the Budget Committee is, in fact, the most important committee for women’s rights. The departments that relate to women and families comprise a large portion of the county budget. The Budget Chairperson decides what will appear on the agenda and who will be heard.

Kaplowitz single-handedly empowered the anti-choice minority on the Board at the expense of women throughout Westchester County. Now this minority can work with Westchester’s right-to-life extremist County Executive who has already imprinted an anti-choice agenda on his administration – ending sex education funding, receiving awards for abstinence-only program support and vetoing the most basic of rights, safe access to reproductive health care. Kaplowitz, personally, has empowered this County Executive zealot, Rob Astorino, who called abortion “a straw man” as he prepares to run for governor.

Call to Action
These men – Klein and Kaplowitz – are just two examples of politicians who have betrayed our trust, pretending to be our allies while working against us. They made promises to the pro-choice majority and are reneging. They are hurting us on the local and state levels, and they think we are not smart enough to see through their charade.

But I know they’re wrong because we have you — and it’s your commitment, your unwavering dedication to protecting women’s health and rights that will make the difference this year. Please, make your gift right now.

Will Westchester Medical Center Be Forced To Ban Abortions?

I didn’t know who to vote for… so I didn’t vote.

I have heard these words repeated over and over again since the November 5th Election. Why? Because the over 85,000 voters in our database who have relied on finding the bright yellow ProChoice Voting Guide in their mailboxes every year – the guide that explained both who to vote for and what Choice means on a County level – did not receive it! This year, there was no ProChoice Voting Guide mailed out to our Westchester voters because we simply did not have the money.

The results are clear and Westchester has paid the price. In 2013, pro-choice candidates lost in astonishing numbers. County legislative seats that should have been wins for pro-choice candidates were losses. In District 10, (part of New Rochelle and Eastchester), the pro-choice challenger who took on the incumbent who opposes abortion even in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the woman, lost by 485 votes. In District 14, (part of Yonkers and Mount Vernon), the pro-choice challenger who took on an 18-year incumbent who votes against women at every opportunity including her historic vote to deny women safe access to reproductive health care, lost by 890 votes. And there are more districts just like these two. These are races in which our ProChoice Voting Guide would have made the difference between winning and losing!

2013 stands in sharp contrast to 2012, when our support for pro-choice candidates resulted in unprecedented victories, and we elected our endorsed candidates at all levels of government. Ninety-one percent of the candidates WCLA – Choice Matters endorsed, won! Those wins could not have happened without you or our ProChoice Voting Guide. (Please make a contribution today!)

Did you know that in odd year elections like this one, approximately seven out of every nine voters are women, and of those seven, five are over the age of 50? Not your typical internet and social media users. Reaching this target population requires more traditional avenues of communication – yes, snail mail – the U.S. Postal Service. And the postage costs just keep going up.

Anti-choice extremist County Executive Astorino said repeatedly, “County elections have nothing to do with abortion.” That could not be farther from the truth, but people believed him because there was no voting guide to refute him. County government plays a very significant role in reproductive rights and the implications can be huge. Just look at Albuquerque, New Mexico. That municipality just voted on an initiative to ban abortions after 20 weeks. That could happen here.

Reproductive rights is absolutely a County issue.
The people we elect decide the County budget. Departments relating to women and families comprise a large portion of that budget. The County Executive nominates and the County Board of Legislators (CBL) confirms appointments to the Westchester Medical Hospital Board; thus the Board’s elected officials ultimately control whether the hospital will continue to provide abortions. The CBL decides whether inmates will get pregnancy tests, abortions, and prenatal care on request and without delay. The County Health Department decides which clinics will provide services and whether they will provide reproductive health services, counseling, and referrals for abortions. The County Executive appoints, and CBL votes to confirm commissioners important to the pro-choice issue including Health, Social Services, and Corrections.

Last year, those elected officials gutted all funding to the community health centers which directly impacted women. Funding for comprehensive sex education is gone, and instead, the County Executive, who is winning awards from abstinence-only organizations, vetoed a bill giving women safe access to reproductive health centers.

Sadly, WCLA – Choice Matters forecasted election night results. We put our voting guide on line but that only reached a limited number of people. In contrast, our mailed bright yellow ProChoice Voting Guide reaches the all-important target audience – women – who are rushing between work and other responsibilities, and those that do not live on the internet. The mailed voting guide provides, literally, an in-hand education that can and does go from the mailbox to the voting booth.

Make a gift to Choice Matters to support our work.

In 2014, all seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and New York State government are up for election: Congress, Governor, Comptroller, Attorney General, and the New York State Senate and Assembly. This election matters. Last year, we watched as a turncoat Senate Democrat turned his back on his constituents and aligned himself with the anti-choice Republican leader. Together, they blocked the Women’s Equality Agenda from coming to the floor for a vote. They made us realize how much New York has in common with Texas.

If we are not able to distribute our ProChoice Voting Guide to our database of over 85,000 Westchester County residents, November 5th, 2013 will serve as a precursor of elections to come.

But you can stop that from happening by contributing to WCLA – Choice Matters today.

Choice Matters has been standing strong since 1972! That’s 40+ years! Choice Matters has interviewed hundreds of thousands of female voters, identified those who are pro-choice, and added them to our database. We do this every single week, each and every year. It’s our amazing database and our mailed ProChoice Voting Guide that make us victorious. We’ve always understood this. But we just didn’t have the money to print and mail out our voting guide this year – and pro-choice candidates lost across the County. We cannot afford to let that happen again next year.

Your support today will make it possible for us to send our ProChoice Voting Guide and newsletter which informs the public about Choice, elected officials, reproductive rights actions, challengers’ positions, and our critical endorsements. This voting guide newsletter scares some candidates and elected officials, and rewards others, because it holds them accountable for their actions.

Your generous contribution of $25, $100, $250 or more will help Choice Matters’ ProChoice campaign continue to identify and educate households across the county and state.

 Choice Matters is a mighty pro-choice organization with a proven strategy. That’s because you, our donors, have given us extraordinary support. We hope you will continue to do so because we need your help now more than ever. Your contribution, whatever you can afford – large or small – will make a difference. Every dollar truly counts.

Please mail your contribution today or you may securely contribute on line at www.choicematters.org.

Supporting Choice Matters is the most valuable action an advocate for Choice can take.

Noam Bramson vs. Rob Astorino – The Facts

The lines have been drawn for this November’s elections and everything is at stake. Every seat in Westchester County government is up for grabs — including that of the County Executive. One can honestly say that November will determine the fate of  our County for years to come. This year’s election will be about values and a vision for the future and it will determine whether we recognize the rights of all people or only those of a select few.
The candidates in the County Executive’s race are set. It will be a matchup between Democratic nominee New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson and Tea Party favorite incumbent Rob Astorino.
Westchester voters have a clear choice between a social progressive, Noam Bramson, and a far right extremist, Rob Astorino, who is way outside the mainstream.Bramson supports a woman’s right to choose and marriage equality.
Astorino adamantly opposes both. Astorino also opposes abortion in cases of incest, rape or to save the life of the woman. He has even gone so far as to deny women the most basic of rights – safe access to reproductive health centers – for which he received accolades from the NYS Right to Life Committee. (Read it here!)

Astorino also opposes comprehensive sex education, cutting all funding in the County budget to Planned Parenthood’s educational programs. This past fall Astorino was honored for his anti-Choice extremist positions by a Bronx-based organization, Program Reach, that developed an abstinence-only sex education program and councils pregnant youth from an anti-abortion rights perspective. (Read it here!)

Bramson supports NY SAFE, the legislation passed by Governor Cuomo and state legislators that is aimed at keeping guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill while respecting the rights of legal gun owners.
By contrast, Astorino refuses to say whether he supports or opposed common sense gun safety laws. We do know, however, that Astorino believes that County property should be used for hosting gun shows. As soon as he took office four years ago, Astorino revoked a ban on gun/sniper shows that had been in effect since shortly after the shootings at Columbine.
To get a clear picture of the economic difference, click here.
You can also check out Astorino’s Numbers Game.
Bramson supports the Women’s Equality Agenda (WEA) proposed by Governor Cuomo. The Agenda is a 10-point proposal that will “break down barriers that perpetuate discrimination and inequality based on gender” and ensure that all of New York’s 10 million women, including Westchester’s 496,016, get a fair deal.
Click here to read more about the Agenda.
By contrast, Astorino refuses to mention the Agenda – as though if he ignores it, maybe all of us women will go just go away…?

It is time for the Women of Westchester to join the Women for Westchester forces and demand that Astorino make his position on the WEA clear.

To join Women for Westchester (W4W) write to: Catherine@WomenforWestchester.com

300 Bills working to ban abortion & we’re talking zumba… Why?

There are 300 bills out there, across the country, that would ban or severely limit access to abortion at a state level, and North Dakota’s Governor just signed into law a ban on all abortions as early as six weeks.

And I’m talking to you about zumba…why?

Because to fight back, we need to reach a broader base of people, people who don’t consider themselves political, but definitely believe women should have access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare – that includes abortion.

Newspaper articles tell us about these women: they don’t identify with the label “pro-choice,” but definitely support comprehensive reproductive rights.

These women vote and they are crucial to the protection of our rights.

So how do we reach them?

By going to them! We need to get up and go to them.
We need to involve people where they are, not where we are.

Choice Matters has decided to take on that challenge — of reaching out and involving the pro-choice public that does not come out to marches and rallies, and in turn stay under the radar.

Choice Matters is hosting Cardio Dance for Choice with Zumba Fitness, on Saturday April 6th at the YWCA in White Plains.

Why? Because people really do want to have a fun, and Zumba is the rage across the country, with women of all ages and demographics.

I invite you to look at our facebook page Cardio Dance for Choice with Zumba Fitness. Most of the people registered so far would never think of going to an event to hear a speaker or attend a rally.

We are focusing on where people are and they happen to be doing something that’s both fun and good for their health. Maybe that’s the key. After all, isn’t reproductive rights about healthcare and being able to make safe healthy choices?

What Zumba can teach us about healthy choices & reproductive rights

How many times have you been part of the handwringing conversation lamenting the lack of involvement in the fight for reproductive rights by a particular group of people –  the “why don’t _____ care” conversation? (Fill in the blank with whomever you want: young people, college students, young professionals.)

But isn’t that assuming it’s their fault, not ours? Maybe that’s wrong. Maybe we haven’t been thinking outside of our own little boxes.

The newspapers are full of articles about the decrease in the number of people who identify as “pro-choice,” but not in the number who believe a woman should have access to full comprehensive reproductive rights.

So, just maybe, we need to involve people where they are, not where we are.

Choice Matters has decided to take on that challenge — of reaching out and involving the pro-choice public that does not come out to marches and rallies, which results in them staying under the radar.

Choice Matters is hosting Cardio Dance for Choice with Zumba Fitness, on Saturday April 6th at the YWCA.

Why? Because people really do want to have a fun, and Zumba is the rage across the country, with women of all ages and demographics.

I invite you to look at our facebook page Cardio Dance for Choice with Zumba Fitness. Most of the people registered so far would never think of going to an event to hear a speaker or attend a rally.

We are focusing on where people are and they happen to be doing something that’s both fun and good for their health. Maybe that’s the key. After all, isn’t reproductive rights about healthcare and being able to make safe healthy choices?

But it won’t work without you!

We are the broke relative, the one willing to do the heavy lifting but without the funds to do so.

If everyone who reads this email contributed $25 we can make it!

Please click here and support this event.

If this event is as successful as it looks like it’ll be, we could do a Salsa dancing event later this summer, or a networking event at the new fondue restaurant in White Plains. We’re open to suggestions.

All I know is that if we are going to capture those that believe a woman should have access to full comprehensive reproductive rights, but don’t call themselves ‘pro-choice’, we must start thinking outside the box!

Contribute today! Let’s make it happen!