Tag: abortion

REP. ENGEL – ATTACKS ON WOMEN’S HEALTH THE WRONG MESSAGE

Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY-17) twice offered an amendment to the so called “Protect Life Act,” (H.R. 358) in an attempt to thwart attacks on women’s health resulting from the Republican bill.   Rep. Engel is a senior member on the House Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Health.  (To view the entire debate and vote on the amendment in the Health Subcommittee – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF8CpmEP57w)

Rep. Engel’s amendment, defeated Tuesday by the full Energy and Commerce Committee by a vote of 31-19, would maintain current laws which protect both doctors who do not practice abortion and those who do.  The so-called “Protect Life Act,” does away with basic protections except for those health care providers who oppose abortion.  The measure would criminalize anyone who would do the procedure or even educate a woman on her choices.  The House also voted on Friday to pass an amendment to strip funding for Planned Parenthood, a measure Rep. Engel voted against.

“If this irresponsible bill becomes law it would put the lives of women at risk.  It is ironic that a bill titled ‘protect life’ could result in the inevitable loss of life.  These bills are the Republican Majority’s opening salvo in their determined quest to dismantle the existing law protecting a woman’s right to seek medical assistance for her own body.  Make no mistake, this bill may pass the House and then go nowhere, but this is not going to stop the Republican’s attempts to pass more extreme legislation to advance their social agenda,” said Rep. Engel.

“I am sure that there are doctors and nurses who believe that they are morally required to provide a requested abortion to a victim of rape, or in an emergency situation,” said Rep. Engel. “However, the Republican leadership only wants to protect one group’s conscience, and no others.  This is wrong and it’s not fair.”

Unfortunately, pro-choice health providers are not protected by Roe v. Wade, as some claim.  “If a hospital fires a doctor because he performs abortions elsewhere, that’s not protected by Roe v. Wade.  Nor is it protected if a nurse is not given a job because she has provided counseling on abortion.  There are also cases where a hospital chooses to provide training on safe abortion methods and is denied a grant as a result.  This bill does not protect these care providers from discrimination for simply following the law.  I find it to be very disappointing that the Majority refused to protect these doctors and chose instead to advance a political agenda.”

Rep. Engel added, “This bill is not equal conscience-protection, instead it is a government advancement of a particular viewpoint—and we don’t do that in this country.  This is more of the Republican Right ill-advised plan to refight the culture wars of the past.”

“We should not protect one group’s conscience and criminalize another’s; it’s not fair and it’s not right.  We need the two-way protections that exist in current law and my amendment would have provided that.”

Rep. Engel is a longtime supporter of women’s reproductive rights and has a 100% voting record from Planned Parenthood, WCLA (Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion) – Choice Matters  and NARAL Pro-Choice America.  “For a party that rails against government intrusion in people’s lives, the Republicans want the federal government involved in one of the most personal decisions made by a woman and her family.  For me that is the height of hypocrisy,” added Rep. Engel.

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: Anti-Choice Extremists Work to Change Definition of Rape

Anti-choice crazy extremists in Congress—mostly Republicans but with some Democrats thrown into the mix—are fighting to redefine rape so as to limit any form of funding for victims (in this instance that’s definitely we women.)

They want to redefine it as “forcible rape.” One would think the definition of rape is forced sex, but not to these zealots. They want it to only constitute rape when the victim is pulverized.

Forget the rape where the victim is given a drug, passes out and  becomes an unconscious target. Forget about incest where a child is scared of her attacker. Forget about the wife who is raped by her husband and forced to succumb. Forget about the rape that occurs with a knife to your throat.

Why are they doing this? Because they believe in their perverted hearts that if they successfully change this definition and then apply it to the Hyde Amendment, they will eliminate the funding of abortions that are now permitted.

The Hyde Amendment, which is enshrined in federal law targeting poor women, prohibits the use of federal funds for abortion except in a very few specific cases, two of which are rape and incest.

Today’s Congressional crazies think that this rape and incest exception is too broad. If that child was not beaten when her father raped her, to them, it doesn’t count! My suggestion is let’s see how these zealots each fare after being raped. The men won’t end up pregnant but at least they’ll experienced forced intercourse—anal, with an object, or otherwise! Then, they can come forward, putting their entire lives on the line, testify and be told it wasn’t rape because they weren’t beaten.

They want to include this new definition in their No Taxpayer Funding for Abortions Act. Trust me and those in Congress who fight for our cause, there is NO funding for abortion in the Obama Health Care Law now. This is simply a vehicle to further destroy our right to choose. Passing No Taxpayer Funding for Abortions Act is a top priority of these anti-choice crazies.

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

Standing with Eric Schneiderman for NYS Attorney General

“We are thrilled to endorse Eric Schneiderman for Attorney General. From the frontlines at clinics to the courtrooms to the State Senate, Eric has proven his commitment to a woman’s right to choose. It is vitally important who the Attorney General is when it comes to freedom of choice. Across the nation, anti-choice attorneys general have abused their position targeting women’s reproductive rights: in Kansas harassing the late Dr. Tiller; in Virginia, working to close 20 safe clinics; and in Michigan trying to outlaw abortion. Eric will protect clinic access, stop harassment, and aggressively push for greater protections. New York needs Eric Schneiderman as our next Attorney General.” Catherine Lederer-Plaskett, President, WCLA – Choice Matters

Join Choice Matters in Endorsing Eric Schneiderman for NYS Attorney General – Click Here

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.)

Tell Dan Donovan: Stop Blaming Religion

Candidate for Attorney General Dan Donovan claims being Catholic made him anti-choice.

Fact: Many of the most ardent advocates for reproductive rights are Catholics.

Hasn’t he heard of Catholics for Choice? Or Frances Kissling and Jon O’Brien? (From the mouth of a pro-choice Catholic, click here.)

Fact: Donovan wrote on Choice Matters’ candidate questionnaire, “I believe life begins at conception.”

Fact: According to the New York Times, Donovan is “against abortion except in cases of rape or incest.”

Fact: Donovan claims he’ll represent New Yorkers and follow the law, but he kept his alliance with “crisis pregnancy centers” (CPCs) a secret. CPCs are anti-choice facilities that pretend to provide comprehensive reproductive-health clinics but in reality deceive women and spread misinformation about abortion and birth control.

The CPC of New York on Staten Island liked him so much they gave him an award in 2003. Why? Because Donovan got the CPC grants while he was working in the office of the Staten Island borough president, including when he was the deputy borough president. Imagine what he might do for them as Attorney General.

Women cannot trust Donovan!
Fact: A good attorney general can advance our reproductive rights. A bad one can take them away.

Across the nation, anti-choice attorneys general have abused their position targeting women’s reproductive rights: in Kansas harassing the late Dr. Tiller; in Virginia, working to close 20 safe clinics; and in Michigan trying to outlaw abortion.

Take a moment and watch: Dan Donovan: It Could Happen Here

Choice Matters is proud to endorse Eric Schneiderman for Attorney General. From the frontlines at clinics to the courtrooms to the State Senate, Eric has proven his commitment to a woman’s right to choose.

*********************************************
“… I am a prochoice Catholic because my Catholic faith tells me I can be. The Catechism reads, “[Conscience] is man’s most secret core and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths.” Even St. Thomas Aquinas said it would be better to be excommunicated than to neglect your individual conscience. So really, I am just following his lead. After years of research, discernment and prayer, my conscience has been well informed. Being a prochoice Catholic does not contradict my faith; rather, in following my well-informed conscience, I am adhering to the central tenet of Catholic teaching — the primacy of conscience.”

Excerpt from I am a Prochoice Catholic by Kate Childs Graham, writes for ReligionDispatches.org and YoungAdultCatholics-Blog.com. She also serves on the Women’s Ordination Conference board of directors and the Call to Action Next Generation Leadership Team.