Tag: cuomo

Call to Action-HELP Minors in Post Sexual Assault Circumstances

We need your help.  An important bill that allows minors in post sexual assault circumstances to consent to the full course of HIV preventive medicine is at risk of veto in Albany.

THE ACTION: (by Monday morning)
Please contact the Governor’s office and urge the Governor to sign this bill, A.1204-A (Peoples-Stokes) / S.2279-A (Hoylman).

THE MESSAGE:
Please tell Governor Cuomo:
>We need Governor Cuomo to sign Bill A.1204-A (Peoples-Stokes) / S.2279-A (Hoylman).
>Minors in post sexual assault circumstances need Governor Cuomo’s help.
>These minors need to be able consent to the full course of HIV preventive medicine
>They have already been the victims of sexual assault. Let’s Help Them, not victimize them again!
>Sign Bill A.1204-A (Peoples-Stokes) / S.2279-A (Hoylman).
>The budget should not be balanced on the backs of sexual assault victims!
Remember to tell them your name and if you are with an activist organization, the name of the group. Please add this information to your emails also.
(The greater our number the more powerful we become!)

PLEASE EMAIL the message above to the following people, AND ALSO CALL: (518) 474-8390, and tell them
Chief Counsel Elizabeth Garvey  at Elizabeth.garvey@exec.ny.gov
Executive Counsel Jill Starishevsky directly working on this bill at Jill.Starishevsky@exec.ny.gov.
Director of Women’s Affairs Emily Kadar at Emily.Kadar@exec.ny.gov
Counsel Rebecca Wood at Rebecca.Wood@exec.ny.gov

Click here to read more about the bill.

I believe that you can only veto a bill that allows minors in post sexual assault circumstances lifesaving treatment if you think no one is watching. And while the executive has stated concern about the fiscal impact, they have the ability to keep the status quo on the fiscal cap through chapter amendments.

I urge you to make your voice heard here.
These minors need our help.
Thank you.

40 NYS-Based Organizations Join Choice Matters Demanding Passage of RHA

Groups Call For Immediate Passage Of The RHA
January 2019

We, the undersigned, ask that you vote for the Reproductive Health Act (RHA) of 2019 during this legislative session. The RHA secures and protects our health and reproductive rights by updating New York’s outdated abortion law passed back in 1970, prior to Roe v. Wade.

According to current state law, New York regulates abortion as a homicide in the penal code. The law as it stands fails to meet the constitutional standard of Roe and is out of step with modern medicine. With the Trump administration determined to limit abortion access and a new anti-Roe majority on the Supreme Court, time is of the utmost importance. This is why we ask that you pass the RHA NOW.

The Reproductive Health Act is important because it:

Updates our laws, securing and protecting the right to abortion in New York. The RHA enshrines in state law the constitutional standard of Roe, affirms reproductive freedoms, and allows New Yorkers to get safe and legal abortions.

Protects health care professionals who provide vital care. The RHA ensures that qualified health care providers with appropriate training and expertise can provide abortion services. This improves access to health care, especially for low income women, women of color and women in rural areas.

Treats abortion as health care, not a crime. The RHA moves the regulation of abortion from the penal code into public health law and repeals a Civil War-era law that criminalizes women who terminate a pregnancy without a medical provider.

Nearly eight out of 10 New Yorkers support protecting a woman’s right to have an abortion. Additionally, one in four women will access abortion care in their lifetime. We want to make sure that New York offers the fullest protections when it comes to reproductive health care.

The policies of the Trump administration and the new Supreme Court make it unsafe and irresponsible for New York to rely on federal protections to ensure our basic rights. ​We need state protections, and we expect our elected officials to show real leadership in defending abortion access.

With your support, New York State can be a national leader when it comes to abortion access and the reproductive rights of women. We strongly urge members of both houses of the legislature to support the Reproductive Health Act of 2019.

WCLA – Choice Matters, the oldest ongoing pro-choice advocacy organization in the nation, proudly joins with the following forty (40) New York State-based organizations, together representing thousands upon thousands of NYS residents, to ask NYS Governor Cuomo, the NYS Senate and the NYS Assembly to pass the Reproductive Health Act into law NOW.

WCLA – Choice Matters stands with the following 40 NYS-based Organizations
Action Together – Northern Westchester
American Muslims Indivisible
Briarcliff Ossining Indivisible
CCoHope Indivisible (Cortlandt, Croton-on-Hudson, Ossining, Peekskill)
CD17Indivisible
Coalition New York
Concerned Citizens for Change
Cortlandt Democratic Committee
Croton Democratic Committee
Croton in Action
Greenburgh Democratic Town Committee
Indivisible New Rochelle
Indivisible Pawling
Indivisible Districts 6 & 7
Indivisible New York
Indivisible Rivertowns
Indivisible Scarsdale
Indivisible Westchester
Indivisible Yorktown NY
Irvington Activists
LarchForward
Left of Main Street
Lower Hudson Valley Progressive Action Network
March on Peekskill
New York Progressive Action Network
Northern Westchester Indivisible
Philipstown Women Are Watching
Progressive Women of New York
Progressive Women of Pelham
Putnam Progressives
Rockland Citizens Action Network
Rockland United
Up2Us
Uptown Progressive Action
WE PERSIST
Westchester Black Political Conference
Westchester Black Women’s Political Caucus
Westchester for Change
Westchester Young Democrats
Westchester Women’s Democratic Alliance

A Constitutional Amendment? Not with the IDC!

Governor Cuomo has proposed a New York State constitutional amendment codifying Roe v. Wade in State law.

That sounds great. But here’s the problem: this process would take four years at the very least. (And that’s only if we get rid of the IDC!)

Why? Because passing a constitutional amendment into law is a very lengthy process.  **Each house of government, the Senate and the Assembly, must pass the legislation twice – one time in two different elected sessions; **Then, and only then, the proposed amendment can be put on the ballot for a public vote.

But here’s the reality and the truth.  This constitutional amendment will NEVER make it to the floor while the 8 rogue Democrats of the Independent Democratic Conference (IDC) remain aligned with the Republican Party of Trump and govern with them. The IDC has deliberately turned the duly elected Majority Party, the Democratic Party, into the Minority Party, and have catapulted the Party of Trump, the Republican Party, into the majority. Because of these 8, our New York State Senate has failed to do the business of the People for which they were elected. In a nutshell, these 8, who are more concerned with personal power than party and principle, sold out their constituents and  including and specifically the women of New York State.

Given Trump’s nomination of Judge Neil M. Gorsuch, the original author of the Hobby Lobby decision, to the Supreme Court, we need Governor Cuomo to demand these 8 rogue Democrats return to the Democratic Caucus. There is no time to waste!  Trump is doing everything in his power to turn the clock back on women.

If these 8 “Democrats” did their jobs and put women first, here’s how we could get this done immediately: NY State Senate Minority Leader, Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, rightfully be the Majority Leader, has sponsored a law — the Reproductive Health Act — that would do immediately what the Governor is proposing to take years to do. The Senate would then go on to make the Comprehensive Contraceptive Coverage Act (CCCA) law, and pass a budge that would provide for Planned Parenthood and neighborhood clinics.

It is not too late to fix this. Call the IDC members and tell them to:

  1. Return to the Democratic Caucus;
  2. Pass the Reproductive Rights Act; and
  3. Make the Comprehensive Contraceptive Coverage Act law!

If Not Now, WHEN? If Not Here, WHERE?

As we enter 2017, we must demand that Governor Cuomo STAND with the women of New York State.

Governor Cuomo used his powers: 1. to pass the Marriage Equality Act; 2. to pass Sensible Gun Legislation, and 3. to pass Anti-Fracking Legislation.

Governor Cuomo must use those same powers to make New York a Reproductive Rights Sanctuary State.

To do so, he will need to oppose the IDC (so-called Independent Democratic Conference) comprised of 7 rogue members who work with the anti-choice Republican Senate at the expense of their constituents, simply for their own personal power grab.

Cuomo is up for re-election in 2018.
Tell him the TIME is NOW.

We must tell Governor Cuomo that he cannot turn a deaf ear to the women of New York. He cannot win without us.

Help us keep women’s reproductive rights on the front burner for Governor Cuomo.

Remind Cuomo, Donald Trump intends to overturn Roe v. Wade, take away funding from Planned Parenthood, cut Obamacare which will take away contraception from millions, appoint over 100 anti-choice federal judges plus U.S. Supreme Court Justices – and the list goes on.

This is the time for Governor Cuomo to stand up for women!

———————-
Anti-Abortion Groups Expect Quick Action from Trump

Trump to Inherit more than 100 Court Vacancies, Plans to Reshape Judiciary

The Abortion Conversation We Need to Have

States Enacted 60 Abortion Restrictions in 2016

Abortion Foes, Emboldened by Trump, Promise “Onslaught” of Tough Restrictions

Tell Gov. Cuomo, “Words are NOT enough!”

Governor Cuomo is not abiding by his own campaign promises of standing up for equality for women!

In January 2013, Governor Cuomo announced a sweeping ten-point Women’s Equality Agenda (WEA) for New York that included protections for abortion rights, pay equity, against housing and pregnancy discrimination, and more.

The WEA never made it to the floor of the Senate for a vote because a group of five Democrats, led by Senator Jeff Klein, split with their party after it won a majority in the 2012 elections. These five rogue Democrats empowered the Republicans by creating a power-sharing deal that basically allowed the GOP to decide what bills should come to the floor for a vote. Republican leader Dean Skelos made it perfectly clear that the 10-point WEA would never to come to the floor for a vote.

According to RH Reality Check, 7/30/2014, “Gov. Cuomo gave his blessing to the deal that put two men in charge of the Senate, rather than the pro-choice [duly elected majority] leader of his own party, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the first Black woman to lead a New York State legislative caucus.” But we don’t know that for sure!

What we do know is that in the 2014 New York gubernatorial election, Cuomo unveiled a brand-new Women’s Equality Party complete with a commercial starring himself and his family. The commercial made clear that the passage of the WEA was of utmost importance to Governor Cuomo. Women deserved nothing less. But then the Republicans won control of the Senate in the 2014 elections, and Klein and his buddies, despite pre-election promises, joined forces with the Republicans, again, and Andrea Stewart-Cousins became the New York State Senate Minority Leader.

Fast forward to today. It is budget time in Albany. Sheldon Silver is no longer Assembly Speaker. The Governor and everyone else in Albany has declared it a time for transparency.

Governor Cuomo has the opportunity to make his championing of Women’s Equality mean something. After all, that is what he ran on: equality for women.

Instead, Cuomo invited into the behind-closed-doors budget negotiations Senate Leader Republican Dean Skelos, Assembly Speaker Democrat Carl Heastie and JEFF KLEIN. WHERE IS SENATE MINORITY LEADER ANDREA STEWART-COUSINS? WHY WASN’T SHE INVITED IN?

Cuomo invited Jeff Klein who represents 5 Senators in but left Senate Minority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins who represents 25 Senators outside. That is not equality and this is disrespectful. Klein has no business in the room. He does not represent any recognized political party, while Andrea Stewart-Cousins represents the Democratic Caucus.

Sign this petition and let Governor Cuomo know what you think: Let Her In!
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/let-her-in.fb52?source=s.icn.fb&r_by=5603782

Remember, it’s Women’s History Month! Let’s make some Good Herstory!

GOP’s top candidates fail women

The Republicans’ top two candidates, for governor and attorney general, are anti-choice candidates who have shown true disdain for the well-being of New York women. No longer is the standard bearer for the Republican Party pro-choice governor Nelson Rockefeller, who signed New York’s abortion-rights bill into law. Instead, today’s New York Republican Party has sought out extreme anti-choice politicians to run.

Their gubernatorial candidate, Rob Astorino, has made his anti-choice position a cornerstone of his campaign. He promises to do to the state what he has done to Westchester County. That means vetoing legislation guaranteeing women safe access to reproductive health care, eliminating funding for health centers, gutting funding for sex education and more. If elected governor, he would be able to do unimaginable budgetary and legal damage to women.

Astorino and John Cahill, the Republican candidate for New York attorney general, have taken aim at the Women’s Equality Act. This act is a 10-point plan that ensures women are treated fairly in the workplace, helps protect survivors of domestic violence and preserves access to reproductive health care. Calling the reproductive health component of the act “ghastly” and “hideous,” Astorino has declared he will “guarantee” never to sign it into law. Cahill, the candidate whose legal mind the public is supposed to trust, dismisses it as unnecessary.

The truth is that New York’s current laws do not give women the full constitutionally recognized protection of Roe v. Wade and do not incorporate the medical advances that have been made in reproductive health over the past 44 years. New York women deserve reproductive legislation that does both, and the vast majority of New Yorkers want the reproductive component of the Women’s Equality Act enacted into law. But Astorino and Cahill don’t, and so they work to mislead the public about the Women’s Equality Act and the status of New York’s abortion rights.

In recent years, anti-abortion forces have chipped away at that constitutionally protected right state by state, driving women’s clinics out of operation and making it impossible for many women to obtain reproductive health services of all types – including contraception and abortion. In New York, 53 percent of our counties have no abortion clinics, and every year anti-choice bills, like the defunding of Planned Parenthood, must be beaten back in Albany.

It’s easy to say the denial of women’s health services couldn’t happen in New York. But unless the rights guaranteed by Roe are codified in state law, New York women will remain vulnerable to attacks from anti-abortion extremists – and Cahill has a history of undermining the right to choose.

Despite not holding public office, Cahill has an anti-choice record. He was Gov. George Pataki’s chief of staff and stood with his administration as it promoted policies that denied New York women access to reproductive health services and empowered abortion opponents. His administration also vetoed expansion of access to emergency contraception and denied reproductive health care to thousands of women by contracting with health maintenance organizations that refused to provide these essential services. This practice was not disclosed to women before they enrolled – imposing an undue burden by forcing them to find out-of-network providers after the fact.

Astorino and Cahill pose a sharp contrast to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Cuomo has always stood strong as an advocate of women’s reproductive rights in theory and in reality, as seen in all 10 points of the Women’s Equality Act. Schneiderman’s record of advocating for women is legendary, both as a state senator and now as attorney general. As a senator, he led the effort to pass the Clinic Anti-Violence Act to protect abortion clinic workers, doctors and patients from violence and harassment – a bill that Astorino would have vetoed. It was signed into law in 1999, and was the first piece of pro-choice legislation enacted in New York in more than a decade.

Voters need to know that these four candidates are diametrically opposed when it comes to women’s rights. The fact that Astorino and Cahill do not care about what is in the best interest of 51 percent of the state population means they do not deserve to hold office in New York.

The writer is president of Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion – Choice Matters.

What They Think About Women

Please read our op-ed that appeared in the Journal News today. It takes a hard look at New York’s new Republican Party and its views on women. Sadly, there seem to be no Nelson Rockefellers.

Governor Nelson Rockefeller signed New York State’s abortion rights bill into law in 1970. When vetoing the 1972 attempt to overturn that law, he declared, “I do not believe it right for one group to impose its vision of morality on an entire society.”

That is, unfortunately, not the view held by anti-choice extremist gubernatorial candidate Astorino or his running mate candidate for Attorney General John Cahill.

Please read What’s at Stake (This is our op-ed.)

Calling All Women for Westchester

We are proud to announce the formation of Women for Westchester (a.k.a. Women 4  Westchester.)
And we need you!

Women for Westchester (W4W) is an alliance of our county’s residents committed to advancing legislative bills, social policy, and actions that enable women to participate more fully and equally in society.

W4W’s first focus will be the Women’s Equality Agenda.

Introduced by Governor Cuomo, on January 29, 2013, the Women’s Equality Agenda will “break down barriers that perpetuate discrimination and inequality based on gender.”  The Women’s Equality Agenda will help ensure that all of New York’s 10 million women, including Westchester’s 496,016, get a fair deal.

The Women’s Equality Agenda’s 10-Point proposal is:

  • Equal Pay for Equal Work
  • Stop Sexual Harassment in All Workplaces
  • Ensure Just Restitution for Victims of Discrimination
  • Strengthen Laws Against Human Trafficking
  • End Discrimination Against Families
  • End Discrimination Against Tenants
  • Stop Housing Discrimination
  • End Pregnancy Discrimination
  • Protect Domestic Violence Victims Seeking Orders of Protection
  • Protect Reproductive Health Care Decisions

Women are discriminated against in almost every aspect of their lives and, sadly, these inequalities only increase throughout a woman’s life. Did you know that women are twice as likely to live out old age in poverty than men?

Click Here to Read More Details about the Agenda

Join Women for Westchester as we move forward.

W4W will ask every elected official and candidate for office throughout Westchester to sign our petition in support of the Women’s Equality Agenda 10-point proposal. The principles are clear.

As Lt. Gov. Duffy said, “Over the years, New York has fallen behind on important women’s issues, and for this reason, it is essential for the Women’s Equality Act to become law this year. With the commitment and support of passionate advocates like all of you,”… “our voices will be heard and we can make New York a fairer, more equal state for women in 2013.”

W4W is looking for volunteers from throughout the County.

Please email us at: Catherine@WomenForWestchester
so that we can get organized!

Women for Westchester is affiliated with WCLA – Choice Matters.

Alert: Tell Gov Cuomo, Now is the Time to Stand Strong for Women’s Health!

Tell Governor Cuomo,
“The Reproductive Health Act is in Your Hands!”

Pro-Choice Activist, Your action is needed!
The national dialogue about women’s health has become an outright war against women. Despite this horrific onslaught—from Congress to state legislatures to the GOP presidential candidates—New Yorkers have felt protected by the belief that Governor Cuomo would stand with us and help pass the Reproductive Health Act.

The Reproductive Health Act is our best hope for strengthening New York’s protections for women’s health care and turning the anti-woman tide that is sweeping the country.

With the Governor’s support, we have a real chance to pass it this year! Without it we don’t.

But we must act quickly.

Make Your Voice Heard – Email the Governor a Message!

This week the national attack on women’s health has come to New York. The state’s Catholic Conference has descended on Albany in strong opposition to this crucial legislation. Anti-choice legislators have maneuvered to stall the bill in committee.

But they don’t speak for the vast majority of New Yorkers who want to secure and strengthen reproductive freedom. Three-quarters of all New Yorkers and 70% of all Catholics support the passage of  the Reproductive Health Act. It would explicitly recognize a woman’s right to reproductive-health care, including abortion and contraception. It would also fix a troubling gap in current law that fails to protect a woman’s access to care when her health is endangered later in pregnancy.

That’s why the governor needs to hear from you.

Let Governor Cuomo know that you’re another New Yorker for the Reproductive Health Act.

Alert White Plains: Special Election March 31st – Right to Life Candidate Targets Mayor’s Job!

ALERT!
SPECIAL ELECTION
THURSDAY, MARCH 31
ST !

If you live in the
City of White Plains
and
you care about
Choice, Women, Children, and Families
YOU NEED TO KNOW

Tom Roach is the good guy running for Mayor of White Plains in a Special Election being held on March 31, 2011. He is running on the Democratic, Working Families, and Independence party lines.

Former President of the City Council, and, now, acting Mayor of White Plains,Tom Roach is a 100% pro-choice advocate who will protect our women, children, and families.

Roach understands the importance of our clinics, childcare, health centers, and the importance of protecting access to our reproductive health care centers.

His opponent, Bob Hyland, has a history of being endorsed by the Right to Life party.
A high profile former football player and sports bar owner, Hyland has no experience in elected office. His claim to fame is that in 1988 he tried to register to vote as a member of both the Republican and Right to Life parties.

According to the anti-choice zealot website LifeNet, Hyland has a record of helping the [Right to Life] cause.

Astorino, His Puppets & Imitators, & 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 and in its towns and cities like the County’s capital–White Plains.

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.

Hyland is an Astorino impersonator who will do to White Plains what Astorino is hard at work trying to do to the County!

Tom Roach stands with Governor Cuomo
for Women’s Reproductive Rights!


The Message Here:

VOTE FOR TOM ROACH

THURSDAY, MARCH 31st!
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
TOM ROACH!