Tag: abortion

2013 – What Lies Ahead

Wow, what a year 2012 has been. On the one hand, we had pro-choice victories across the country and in New York, with women’s rights candidates winning big. More women will serve in the US Senate in 2013 than ever before. You did this. We did this together.

But on the other hand, there was no time to enjoy our victories. With the elections barely over, zealots in Michigan and Ohio slashed access to birth control and abortion, and passed some of the harshest anti-choice legislation in the country.

Those actions were taken on a state level. On a local level, our rights are also far from safe.

Right here in Westchester County, we are facing very strong opposition to safe, comprehensive health care. Westchester’s local county government is headed by an anti-choice extremist who supports every anti-woman, anti-family idea voiced by former vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan. Westchester’s own County Executive opposes abortion in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the woman.

This County Executive has a great deal of power to adversely impact women’s health care – and he’s determined to do just that. He has already vetoed a bill that would have allowed women the most basic of rights – safe access to reproductive health centers – all of this while cutting funding for childcare, food pantries, afterschool programs, health centers, and much more. (Click here to read Westchester Budget Neglects County’s Most Vulnerable Residents by Rev. Noelle Damico, member of the United Church of Christ Metro Association.)

Take a good look at these budget cuts. They all directly and adversely impact women and the way we can care for ourselves and our families. These cuts are being made by an ideologue, and his cohorts, who claims to care about the fetus, but clearly spurns the child and the woman who raises it.

Unfortunately, County Executive Astorino and his gang of nine have brought the war on women home to Westchester.

We must organize our outrage and prepare now for the 2013 elections. We cannot go backwards again.

This is why I am asking you to make a special end-of-year contribution today. With your support, we will continue to move Westchester, New York, and our nation forward.

Please contribute for our critically needed work in 2013.

WCLA – Choice Matters together with our WCLA PAC are your local pro-choice advocacy organization. We protect women’s rights locally, state-wide, and nationally by making sure we elect pro-choice candidates who will fight for us. Choice Matters and WCLA PAC are the oldest and the only local organizations that send you a voting guide and tell it like it is.

We need your help.
Please, consider contributing today.
Thank you.

Westchester County Board Passes Paul Ryan’s Budget

Westchester County Board Passes Paul Ryan’s Budget
–Line items may be different but the effect is the same—

Protect the top 2% while trampling on the middle class and working poor, with a bull’s eye being placed squarely on the foreheads of working women.

One week ago, anti-choice County Executive Astorino with the support of nine minions passed a 2013 County budget.

This budget illustrates yet again the true meaning of the right-to-life agenda: care about the fetus when it’s in the womb, and the minute it’s born, it’s on its own. The cuts to Westchester’s public health care and childcare systems are of historic proportion, targeting the most vulnerable and least able to fight back among us.

Four of Choice Matters’ previously endorsed legislators voted with Astorino in support of his anti-woman anti-family budget. By supporting this horrific budget, these four legislators – Virginia Perez (17 CLD), Mike Kaplowitz (4 CLD), Jim Maisano (11 CLD), and Bernice Spreckman (14 CLD) – have publically declared their support for the County Executive’s priorities and his War on Women and our Families.

This is not hyperbole. Their votes to pass the budget rather than to fight for their constituents will have devastating affects on working women and their families.

– Astorino’s Priorities, and those of his minions who voted in support of the budget –

►Astorino clearly thinks protecting your friends and fans’ employment is more important than the good of the County.
Astorino has preserved 56 patronage jobs, at a cost of $5.4 million dollars to tax payers; and he is holding 44 positions vacant should he wish to fill them within the coming year,

while at the same time:
â–ºHe has cut 100 important jobs that serve the residents of Westchester.
Over half of these jobs are in social services, such as social workers and eligibility examiners who help those applying for assistance. The result is that the time between applying, receiving approval, and then actually getting the services, such as food stamps, aid to dependent children, public assistance, etc., will grow exponentially. And, as we all know after the past 5 years, the number of people needing help just simply to feed their families has grown at an unimaginable rate.

The other half of the jobs cut include probation personnel, paralegals, and over 80% of the engineering and architectural staff who are essential to overseeing infrastructure improvements—that means bridges, roadways, waterways, parks, anything and everything.

►Astorino, with the support of Perez, Kaplowitz, Maisano and Speckman, cut $3 million dollars in County funding to three neighborhood health centers. Let’s remember who uses the health centers. It is not Astorino and his cronies. It is the ever-growing number of working poor who cannot, just because funding is cut, go somewhere else. Many women rely on these clinics for contraceptives, pap smears, and cancer screenings, among other things. Their children go for check-ups, immunizations, and so much more.

This cut to neighborhood health centers is clearly a politically motivated action by a man who has done nothing to prepare the County for the implementation of the Affordable Care Act which starts to take effect here in Westchester in 2013.

Astorino’s attack on our health care is driven by ideology. Astorino opposes abortion even in cases of rape, incest or to save a woman’s life, and vetoed a law which would have provided women the most basic of rights – safe access to reproductive health facilities.

He opposes the Affordable Care Act and is against recognizing contraceptives as part of preventative care.

By supporting this Paul Ryan-like budget, Virginia Perez and Mike Kaplowitz, as well as Jim Maisano and Bernice Spreckman, have aligned themselves with Astorino’s ideological war on women and our families.

â–ºAstorino, with their support, cut funding for childcare programs that would have enabled women to work. The budget raised the family share for subsidized childcare to unaffordable levels.

The Astorino budget caps the number of Westchester kids ever to be allowed to be served by the Title XX program at a level reached last spring. Title XX is program that helps people earning less than the poverty level to have access to childcare funding. (As I said, Astorino is anti-abortion and anti-child, especially if they are the children of the working poor!)

This nightmarish budget also cut all funding to a program that has provided technical assistance to childcare providers and visits to legally exempt providers so there would be some reliable quality of services. Basically, this program has made facilities safer, and because of this administration, it can’t anymore!

â–ºAstorino, with the support of Perez, Kaplowitz, Maisano and Spreckman, cut all the funding to the Food Patch ($72,000) and to the Food Pantry ($72,000).

Women now won’t be able to work because of having no childcare; we won’t be able to access health care in real time; and we won’t be able to feed our families with the help from the pantries which we will now need more than ever because we can’t work without childcare.

This is the ideological agenda that Virginia Perez, Mike Kaplowitz, Jim Maisano and Bernice Spreckman support.

It is time to hold our legislators accountable. All of the County legislators and the County Executive are up for election in 2013. Let’s remind Perez, Kaplowitz, Maisano, and Spreckman that we do not vote for traitors!

You Did It! We Did It!

Last night was a great night for Choice!

Choice Matters had one heck of a great night. With only two exceptions, every single one of our endorsed candidates won!

Our bright yellow pro-choice voting guide, the WCLA PAC get-out-the-vote calls, and the rides to the polls all came together to make the difference.

We are particularly proud of the role Choice Matters played in the victories in the 37th NYS Senate District where George Latimer was victorious, despite being outspent by historic proportions for a state race, and in the 93rd NYS Assembly District where David Buchwald defeated an anti-choice incumbent.

Choice Matters’ winning endorsements:

  • Barack Obama (President)
  • Joe Biden (Vice President)
  • Kirsten Gillibrand (U.S. Senator)
  • Gerald Loehr, Maria Rosa, Sandra Sciorino (NYS Supreme Court Justices, 9th Judicial District)
  • David Zuckerman (Westchester County Court Judge)
  • Eliot Engel, Nita Lowey, Sean Patrick Maloney (US House of Representatives)
  • Jeff Klein, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Ruth H. Thompson, George Latimer, David Carlucci, (NYS Senate)
  • Amy Paulin, Gary Pretlow, Shelley Mayer, Steve Otis, Tom Abinanti, David Buchwald, Sandy Galef (NYS Assembly)

Choice played a vital role in the election again this year. We found ourselves defending our right to use birth control, and were repeatedly told by anti- choice extremists such crazy notions like pregnancy by rape never occurs but when it does it is a blessing from God.

Our bright yellow voting guide again proved its power. All over Westchester you saw people carry Choice Matters’ bright yellow voting guide in with them to vote.

Our mailed voting guide is still the best way to ensure that people vote for pro-choice candidates. Please help us continue our work! Contribute.

Full results can be viewed here.

George Latimer vs. Bob Cohen – The Facts

David vs. Goliath
George Latimer vs. Bob Cohen
– The Facts –

George Latimer (D, WF) and Bob Cohen (R, C, I) are running for the open seat being vacated by retiring pro-choice Senator Suzie Oppenheimer.

Choice Matters’ endorsements are made solely on the issue of Choice. We have, however, received a significant number of inquiries regarding the State Senate race in the 37th district. Therefore, we are sharing additional information.

On the issue of Women’s Reproductive Rights:
George Latimer is 100% pro-choice.
George Latimer has worked to advance a reproductive rights and health agenda in the Assembly since 2004, including sponsoring the Reproductive Health Act and voting to ensure women have access to emergency contraception.

As an Assemblyman and former Chairman of the Westchester County Board of Legislators, Latimer has been an outspoken advocate for legislation that ensures access to vital health care services for women.
Bob Cohen is anti-choice.
Bob Cohen refused to stand up for even the most basic of needs, safe access to reproductive health clinics – despite repeated requests addressed to Cohen and to his campaign.
Cohen also refuses to tell the public his position on the Reproductive Health Act – a bill New York desperately needs to pass.
To get the facts, click here and read our piece titled “Bob Cohen is anti-choice!  NO if’s and’s or but’s about it“
On the issue of New York State’s Fair Pay Act – Equal Pay for Equal Work legislation:
George Latimer is a supporter and voted in favor of its passage in 2011 and 2012. (www.assembly.state.ny.us Bill Search: A.06130).

Bob Cohen is silent on the issue. There is nothing on his website concerning the Fair Pay Act – Equal Pay for Equal Work legislation

On the issue of Cancer and Cancer Research:
The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) is the nation’s leading cancer advocacy organization. Its Cancer Votes initiative has produced a questionnaire to establish the candidates’ position on cancer. They distributed questionnaires but are not endorsing. (Click here to see the questionnaire.)
14 people are diagnosed with cancer each and every day right here in Westchester.

George Latimer returned his questionnaire promptly.

Bob Cohen was silent on the issue, refusing to answer the questionnaire despite repeated requests.

On the issue of Taxes:
George Latimer has: 1. Voted to cut State Income Tax rates to the lowest levels in 58 years (www.assembly.state.ny.us Bill Search: A.40001); 2. Voted to eliminate the MTA Payroll Tax for over 25,000 small businesses, and all public and private schools (www.assembly.state.ny.us Bill Search: A.40002); 3. Sponsored legislation to eliminate the 1989 tax surcharge on home sales (www.assembly.state.ny.us Bill Search: A.307); 4. Sponsored bi-partisan legislation for full elimination of the MTA Payroll Tax (www.assembly.state.ny.us Bill Search: A.5616 and A.8193); 5. Cut taxes for 3 straight years (1998-2001) as Chairman of the Westchester County Board of Legislators (Westchester County Board of Legislators, 914-995-2800).

Bob Cohen has no voting record.
Click here for more information on the race and particularly tax issues,  The Hottest Race for the NYS Senate: George Latimer vs. Bob Cohen, by David Singer, 10/18/2012.
N.Y. Board: “Slumlord” ad against GOPer is accurate, Salon, by Jillian Rayfield. 10/19/2012.

Anti-Choice Castelli Puts Religion above Women’s Health

Every year Choice Matters sends all candidates a questionnaire to establish her/his position on women’s reproductive rights.

This year Robert Castelli–the assemblyman for the 93rd district—used the New York State Catholic Conference’s language on his questionnaire to argue against the Reproductive Health Act.

Castelli claimed that “it [the Reproductive Health Act] would close Catholic hospitals.”

That’s patently false and Castelli knows it. Ask him to show you where in the bill it says anything about requiring hospitals to provide specific services. He can’t because it doesn’t exist.

The Reproductive Health Act has nothing to do with hospitals. It is a bill, that if passed, would bring New York’s reproductive rights legislation in line with 21st century medical practices and the protection of women’s health.
In fact, the bill specifically references existing state and federal law that allows hospitals to NOT provide reproductive services if it is against its religious or moral principles.

Many reproductive rights advocates have met with Castelli to educate him about the Reproductive Health Act. I have also spent a lot of time speaking with him about the issues raised in our questionnaire.

It should be noted, Castelli did not say, “it will close religious hospitals.” He said, “Catholic hospitals.”  Why? Maybe because that’s the argument with which he was provided.

On October 28, 2010, in a speech to the Bishops of Brazil, the Pope declared, “Bishops have the right to tell their citizens how to use their vote to promote the common good.”

And that is exactly what the public policy voice for New York Bishops, the New York State Catholic Conference, does.  Members meet with elected legislators, lay out the bills to which they object and provide the arguments legislators can use. (That is not separation of church and state!)

Castelli could have used other language like, “I oppose abortion” or “I oppose contraception.” But he didn’t because he wants to claim he is pro-choice. Castelli knows that if Westchester voters knew the truth, that Castelli is anti-choice, he never would have been elected.

“Pro-choice” has become a marketing term in Westchester because Westchester voters vote Choice. Candidates who don’t support women’s reproductive rights can be found announcing to a group of women, “I am pro-choice.”– even if they only believe in abortion in cases of rape and incest— and that we know is definitively anti-choice

Nan Hayworth claimed to be pro-choice. But once elected, Hayworth became a favorite of anti-choice groups.  Hayworth currently boasts an 80% approval rating from the National Right to Life Organization; she has co-sponsored two of their bills and voted to de-fund Planned Parenthood.  That sure doesn’t sound like someone who is pro-choice to us.  Does it to you?

Castelli has turned his back on Rockefeller Republicans and, instead, aligned himself with the far right agenda coming out of Washington.

Castelli has a record of voting against women.  In each of the last three legislative sessions, Castelli opposed the Domestic Violence Escalation Prevention Act — a measure that would prevent domestic violence incidents from increasing in frequency and intensity by making it more difficult for perpetrators with a history of domestic violence to obtain guns.

Castelli also voted against the so-called microstamping bill in June that would have required all semi-automatic pistols manufactured or delivered to any licensed firearms dealer in the State of New York to be capable of micro-stamping ammunition resulting in a unique alpha-numeric or geometric code appear at least twice on each cartridge case. The code would make it easier for authorities to identify the make, model and serial number of the firearm. This bill was strongly supported by law enforcement agencies and opposed by gun manufacturers.

Choice Matters 2012 Endorsements Are….

2012 Endorsements
(As of September 14, 2012, WCLA – Choice Matters has announced the following endorsements for the 2012 election cycle.)

Endorsed Candidates Appear in BOLD .

U.S. PRESIDENT/VICE PRESIDENT
►BARACK OBAMA/JOE BIDEN 
Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan (anti-choice)
Gary Johnson/James P. Gray (anti-choice)
Virgil Goode/Jim Clymer (anti-choice)

U.S. SENATOR
►KIRSTEN E GILLIBRAND  
Wendy Long (anti-choice)

(Please note that the following are the new districts which are the result of redistricting.)
U.S. House of Representatives
â–ºDistrict 16 – Westchester County: Eastchester, parts of Greenburgh, Mamaroneck, Mt. Vernon, New Rochelle, Pelham, City of Rye, Scarsdale; plus parts of the Bronx.
â–ºELIOT ENGEL
Joseph Mclaughlin (anti-choice)
JOSEPH DIAFERIA  (pro-choice)

â–ºDistrict 17 – Westchester County: Cortlandt, parts of Greenburgh, Harrison, City of Mount Kisco, Mt. Pleasant, New Castle, No. Castle, Ossining, Peekskill, Rye Town, parts of Yorktown; plus Rockland County.
â–ºNITA LOWEY
Joe Carvin (anti-choice)

â–ºDistrict 18 – Westchester County: Bedford, Lewisboro, parts of New Castle, parts of North Castle, North Salem, Pound Ridge, parts of Yorktown; plus Beacon, East Fishkill, Fishkill, Poughkeepsie (city & town),  Wappinger in Dutchess County; plus Putnam and Orange Counties.
â–ºSEAN PATRICK MALONEY
Nan Hayworth (anti-choice)

NEW YORK STATE SENATE
â–ºDistrict 34 – Westchester County: Pelham; plus parts of the Bronx.
â–ºJEFF KLEIN
Elizabeth Perri (anti-choice)
CARL LUNDGREN (pro-choice)

â–ºDistrict 35 – Westchester County: Greenburgh, Scarsdale, parts of New Rochelle, of White Plains and  of Yonkers.
â–ºANDREA STEWART-COUSINS

â–ºDistrict 36- Westchester County: Mt. Vernon; plus parts of the Bronx.
â–ºRUTH HASSELL-THOMPSON
Robert l. Diamond (anti-choice)

â–ºDistrict 37- Westchester County: Bedford, Eastchester, Harrison, Mamaroneck, No. Castle, Rye (city & town), parts of White Plains and Yonkers.
â–ºGEORGE LATIMER
Bob Cohen (anti-choice)

â–ºDistrict 38- Westchester County: Ossining; plus Clarkstown, Orangetown, Ramapo in Rockland County.
â–ºDAVID CARLUCCI
Janis A. Castaldi (anti-choice)

â–ºDistrict 40- Westchester County: Cortlandt, Lewisboro, Mt. Pleasant, New Castle, No. Salem, Pound Ridge, Yorktown; plus Beekman, Carmel, Patterson, Pawling,Southeast in Putnam County.
â–ºJUSTIN WAGNER
Greg Ball (anti-choice)

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
►District 88- Westchester County: Eastchester, parts of New Rochelle, Pelham, Scarsdale, parts of  White Plains.
â–ºAMY PAULIN

â–ºDistrict 89- Westchester County: Mt. Vernon, parts of Yonkers.
â–ºJ. GARY PRETLOW

►District 90- Westchester County: parts of  Yonkers.
â–ºSHELLEY MAYER

â–ºDistrict 91- Westchester County: Mamaroneck, parts of New Rochelle, Rye (city & Town.)
â–ºSTEVE OTIS
William Villanova (anti-choice)

â–ºDistrict 92- Westchester County: Greenburgh, Mt Pleasant, parts of Yonkers.
â–ºTOM ABINANTI

â–ºDistrict 93- Westchester County: Bedford, Harrison, Lewisboro, Mt. Kisco, New Castle, No. Castle, No. Salem, parts of White Plains.
â–ºDAVID BUCHWALD
Bob Castelli (anti-choice)

â–ºDistrict 94- Westchester County: Somers, Yorkstown; plus Putnam Valley, Carmel, Southeast, Patterson in Putnam County.
â–ºANDREW FALK
Stephen Katz (anti-choice)

â–ºDistrict 95- Westchester County:Cortlandt, Ossining, Peekskill; plus Phillipstown, Kent in Putnam County.
â–ºSANDRA GALEF
Kim Izzarelli (anti-choice)

WESTCHESTER COUNTY COURT JUDGE
â–ºDAVID S. ZUCKERMAN
Matthew J. Troy lll  (anti-choice)

NYS SUPREME COURT JUDGES
endorsements to be announced week of 9/24/2012

News Alert: There will be NO ProChoice Voting Guide This Year unless…

There will be no bright yellow ProChoice voting guide in your mailbox this election year unless we can raise $33,000 by September 30th.

The implications of this are huge, and all are negative for the pro-choice community.

Anti-choice candidates will win, and pro-choice candidates will lose, because you will not know one from the other.

Albany will not pass the Reproductive Health Care Act and all funding to Planned Parenthood could be cut — and that’s only for starters.
 
All because — for the first time since we began our mailing decades ago — you will not have received your ProChoice Voting Guide.
 
The most effective way to reach voters is the US Postal Service mail, not email.

Unfortunately, no one—not Planned Parenthood, not NARAL, not the League of Women Voters—mails guides anymore because it is simply too costly.

And emails are not the answer. Some people receive hundreds of emails every week, and some even hundreds each day. But, where an email doesn’t stand out, a Bright Yellow Voting Guide in your mail does.

Until now, WCLA – Choice Matters has always mailed because it is THE BEST WAY to communicate with voters.

We have over 90,000 pro-choice identified voters in our database!

Pro-choice voters rely on our ProChoice Voting Guide. They grab it out of their mail, read it in the car, or while having a quick cup of coffee, or even as they go to vote. With real-life schedules that start long before dawn and go late into the night, many pro-choice voters have no time to access a personal computer. Click Here to Help Save the Voting Guide

And don’t forget our seniors. Pro-choice seniors are the population most likely to vote, by a large margin. Many do not use computers. They value the mail, specifically the mailing of our Bright Yellow ProChoice Voting Guide, easy to see and to hold.

That is exactly why — despite the ever-growing cost of postage and printing — we have fought to mail the ProChoice Voting Guide every year.  Every year it has gotten harder.  And every year we’ve had to struggle to live within our ever decreasing budget going from mailing three newsletters a year, to two, to just the Voting Guide, cutting them down from 24 pages to 16 to now just 4.  There is simply just no where else to cut – except the Voting Guide itself.

Choice Matters trumpets the truth in its guide. We endorse only those candidates who are 100% pro-choice — and we expose the imposters. We endorse candidates based on their answers to our questionnaire, interviews, voting records, and who is best positioned to help protect and advance a woman’s right to comprehensive reproductive health care.
 
It has always been difficult to fund the newsletters and voting guide — and every year it gets harder.

And make no mistake about it, this comes at a terrible time.  There is an all out war being waged locally and nationally against women and the rights that we have fought for all these years since we won the right to vote.  From attempting to legislate forced vaginal ultrasounds, to battles to deny women contraception, to the veto of the Clinic Access Bill here in Westchester, to Albany’s failure to pass the Reproductive Health Care Act – everything is on the line.  Remember, if they win, we lose. We lose our control over our bodies and with it our  independence, socially and economically. This election –  with the state, congressional and presidential offices all up for grabs –  may very well decide our fate for decades to come.

This is not a story of the boy who cries wolf. It is a sad fact for the women of Westchester County and New York State, and the country.  This year, without your help, there will be no Bright Yellow ProChoice Voting Guide in thousands of mailboxes all over Westchester. We Need Your Help

We need your contribution to save our voting guide. Please donate today to help us mail the voting guide to all pro-choice households in Westchester County.

Abortion Stories: Coming Out of the Proverbial Closet & Sharing

From RH Reality:

The New Public Face of Abortion: Connecting the Dots Between Abortion Stories

by Steph Herold

Over the last few months, there’s been an electric energy around the sharing of abortion stories. We’ve seen  two  stories in the New York Times, a Jewish abortion story on  Kveller, a continuation of an abortion story on  Thought Catalog, an early abortion story on  Boing Boing, and a  piece by a woman reflecting on the consequences of telling her abortion story in the Texas Observer. One woman even documented her abortion in photos. And that’s just recently.

What’s going on here? Why are so many people “coming out” now? There are no simple answers to this question. Are women responding to the onslaught of anti-choice legislation? Has the uptick in media reporting on abortion policies eased some of the stigma around speaking about abortion? Are the calls to come out about abortion from pro-choice activists, politicians, and advocacy organizations actually working?

Without asking every person whos shared her story, we wont know the answers to these questions. By looking at what theyve decided to publish, we can consider more basic issues: what are women saying when they come out? What kinds of experiences are represented? Who is coming out about their abortion experience, and who is silent?

To map the patterns and gaps in these published narratives, I created a tumblr to collect these stories:  ihadanabortion.org. Here’s what I’ve found so far.

Continue reading The New Public Face of Abortion: Connecting the Dots Between Abortion Stories now…

Tuesday June 26th – A Very Important Democratic Primary

Pro-choice Congressman Eliot Engel is being challenged in the Democratic Primary by an anti-choice extremist.

An outspoken leader on the issue of women’s reproductive rights, Engel has been  endorsed by WCLA – Choice Matters and other major pro-choice groups.

After the onslaught of attacks in Congress, we must keep this seat in the pro-choice column.

**Many of you may not know it yet, but your congressional district may have changed because of redistricting which occurs every ten years after the census.

Call the Board of Elections (914) 995-5700 or Choice Matters (914) 946-5363 if you have any questions.

Clinic Access Bill Passes, But For How Long?

The Good News:
The Clinic Access Bill Passed

The Bad News:
Two Legislators Betrayed Us!

Let me start by saying thank you to those who came out. Because you were there, you gave force and conviction to our words.
The great news is that we won. The vote by our legislators on the Reproductive Health Care Access Bill, which came one week after the Public Hearing, was 10-7 our way.

Ten legislators voted to pass our bill which guarantees safe access for women to enter and exit reproductive health clinics while protecting First Amendment Rights to free speech.  This was a great victory. It has taken us more than 14 years to get this far.

Unfortunately, the bad news is that  our success will be short lived because the County Executive who is an anti-choice extremist will veto this bill.

-And because last November two pro-choice elected officials were replaced by anti-choice right-to-life zealots, we lost two important override votes.

-And, most importantly, because we have two turncoats in our midst, we will not be able to override the anti-woman County Executive’s veto.

Most disturbing to me in this is that these two turncoat opportunists –Jim Maisano and Bernice Spreckman — who would have given us our super-majority override against the County Executive’s veto, voted against protecting the women of Westchester.

Instead, turncoats Maisano and Spreckman decided to launch their own personal war on women in order to further their own political and personal agendas.

Maisano stated to pro-choice advocates that he had to choose between the women of Westchester and the Conservative Party endorsement.

Maisano chose the Conservative Party.

(Conservative Party Chairman Fox, who also works for County Excutive Rob Astorino on tax payer dollars, sat right in front of Maisano to cement the deal.)

To Maisano, the Conservative party is more important than the health care of, according to the census, 51.6% of Westchester’s population.

More precisely, Maisano does not care about the health care of young women and those who cannot afford a private doctor.

Maisano only cares about his own political career, and has concocted a list of fabricated arguments to explain why he did not vote for the bill. All of his arguments have been refuted by great legal minds who do not have a political agenda.

Bernice Spreckman’s reason for betraying the trust of Westchester’s women is different.
Spreckman’s son apparently now works for County Excutive Rob Astorino. This is Spreckman’s own form of job security. She knows that Astorino is an anti-choice extremist, so she decided to look out for her son and turn her back on the women of Westchester.
Some think that it is wrong that I tell you that – somehow family facts are to be kept private. I do not agree. When the facts affect an elected official’s abiltiy to make sound decisions that impact the of 51.6% of the population then I believe the public deserves to know.

Fact: Jim Maisano and Bernice Spreckman sought our endorsement for more than a dozen years, and received it.

Fact: They used our endorsement to get elected.

Fact: After all those endorsements, this was the first time that we sought their vote and their voice – as their two votes are critical.

Fact: NOW when their vote counts, they voted NO!

Fact: For political expediency, they  turned their backs on all of us who voted for them, slamming the clinic door in our faces.

At this juncture we must tell Jim Maisano and Bernice Spreckman we will not tolerate their empty words and empty promises.

Our endorsement and our votes do matter and we will not be used again.