Tag: hayworth

Republicans Vote Unanimously (along with 16 Dems) – Pass “Stupak on Steriods”

This week, ALL House Republicans, with the help of 16 Democrats, voted successfully to pass the greatest assault on women’s health to date—H.R. 3, the “Stupak on Steriods” bill .  It is a horrific expansion of government insertion in women’s health though mandates and tax penalties for families and small businesses which use private funds to buy insurance plans that include abortion coverage. House Republicans were unanimous in their assault on women.

Note: Nan Hayworth (R-19 CD) voted in support of this direct attack on women. (Voters must remember that next Election Day!) (You can see a record of who voted how here.)
To Hear From Leaders who Believe in Women:
Click here to hear Congressman Engel’s (D-17 C.D.) and Congresswoman Lowey (D-18 C.D.) speak out in support of women and against H.R. 3.

H.R. 3 is actually an extreme attempt to eliminate access to and coverage of abortion services by: 1. Prohibiting federal and military employees from buying coverage (even with their own money); 2. Initiating rape audits if insurance is used to cover the procedure; 3. Limiting coverage of rape victims to only those who can prove forcible rape; 4. Allowing hospitals to watch women die if saving them means performing an abortion; and 5. Implementing financial barriers to cripple small businesses that offer employees health plans that include abortion coverage.

Only we–you and I–stand between Stupak on Steroids and the Senate. Click here to Support our Fight! We Must Fight Back with Everything We’ve Got!

In the Senate, extremist Republicans are already working to ensure H.R. 3 comes to the Senate floor.We, their constituents, must make our opposition to H.R.3 heard. CLICK HERE to contact your Senators. Tell them to oppose H.R. 3

New Yorkers:   To contact Senator Schumer:
Call 202-224-6542
To send him a message, click here.
To contact Senator Gillibrand:
Call (202) 224-4451
To send her a message, click here.

Top 3 Reasons To Demand Rep Nan Hayworth Recuse Herself!

Rep Nan Hayworth’s Conflict of Interest

If you believe earmarks are bad because they use tax payer dollars to indirectly feed a Congressional representative’s campaign coffers and to generate votes, then you must believe congressional votes cast to directly fuel a congresswoman’s own personal bank account are horrifically bad…maybe even criminal.

That’s exactly what it seems newly elected Republican Rep Nan Hayworth (NY– 19 CD) is doing.

Hayworth is apparently voting in such a way, on specific issues, that directly benefits her own personal financial bottom line, and her husband’s career as the head of a major health care lobbying organization.

Let me explain: Every time Rep Nan Hayworth votes on any aspect of health care that is exactly what she is doing!

Why? Because:
Reason #1:      Nan Hayworth is a founding partner of the huge, thriving Mount Kisco Medical Group which is a 235-physician multispecialty medical group;

Reason #2:      Hayworth’s husband, Scott, is also a founding partner and President and Chief Executive Officer of the Mount Kisco Medical Group;

Reason #3:   Husband Scott is also the Chair of the Board of Directors of the American Medical Group Association, “AMGA’  (perhaps so named as to be easily confused with the AMA, the American Medical Association…) In other words, he is the head guy at a major lobbying organization that-surprise-lobbies on health care.

The American Medical Group Association provides “a comprehensive package of benefits, including political advocacy [code for lobbying],…”AMGA “promote[s] policymakers’ and lawmakers’ awareness…”

“Through our efforts, members are assured that their interests are represented before many audiences, including Congress and federal agencies, in addition to other healthcare organizations and interest groups.”　These are direct quotations from the AMGA website, with italics added.

Translation: Nan Hayworth’s husband is the head lobbyist who has personal access to a congresswoman—his wife—on issues that directly benefit their/her pocketbook.

He’s not just making money for them as a lobbyist.
She—Rep Nan Hayworth—is making money for them personally each time…

***She votes for the Pence bill to cut all funding to Planned Parenthood and all of their cancer screenings, STI testing, birth control and more;

***She votes to cut all Title X funding and thus the family planning services provided to approximately five million women and men;

***She votes to overturn the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Those patients have to go somewhere…maybe to one of the more than 113,000 physicians who practice in AMGA member organizations or…to the Hayworth’s very own Mount Kisco Medical Group.

Hayworth keeps proving her husband’s power as a lobbyist and her ability as a founding partner to keep bringing money home, literally.

This must be illegal….no?

Pssst-Pass it On: University of Vermont Students Oppose the Pence Amendment!

Students at the University of Vermont Show They are Willing to Fight for What is Important–Women’s Health!

On February 25, 2011,  Senator Lederer-Plaskett  and Speaker of the Senate Chevrier sponsored a resolution in opposition to the Pence Amendment. 

They used the attached PowerPoint presentation to help make their argument. Click to view: PPHPWPT 

An overwhelming majority of the Student Government Senate then voted in support of the resolution.

Knowing the power of the vote, the University of Vermont Student Government Association will send the resolution to Vermont’s U.S. Senators, Patrick Leahy and Bernard Sanders, urging them to vote ‘nay’ on the Pence Amendment, in an effort to protect the health and well being of all Vermont Residents, including students at the University of Vermont.

Pass this on to the students you know. They can join forces with students at the University of Vermont and around the country.

Below is the text of the resolution:

Resolution in Opposition to the Pence Amendment

Whereas, the Pence Amendment and Proposed Budget Cuts passed the U.S. House of Representatives on February 17, 2011,

Whereas, the Pence Amendment and Proposed Budget Cuts will end all Federal Funding for Planned Parenthood and 102 affiliated organizations

Whereas, the current federal funding makes up approximately 37% of Planned Parenthood’s annual budget[1],

Whereas, Planned Parenthood provides life-saving cancer screenings and pap smears, STI and HIV Testing, and distributes Contraception and information about Family Planning free of charge[2],

Whereas, Planned Parenthood provides free health care services to those who cannot afford them,

Whereas, Planned Parenthood maintains that if the Pence Amendment passed in the Senate, 48% of their patients would be unable to utilize Planned Parenthood’s services and therefore would have no way of accessing their chosen form of health care[3],

Whereas, the Hyde Amendment prohibits any federal funding for abortion, excluding abortions due to rape or incest, or a threat to the life of the woman, eliminating the possibility of federal funding for Planned Parenthood from being used to fund abortion procedures[4],

Whereas, without Federal Funding Planned Parenthood would be unable to provide much needed services and would be forced to close as many as eight hundred clinics[5],

Whereas, Planned Parenthood serves 3 million Americans, and 21,000 Vermonters annually[6],

Whereas, the University of Vermont Student Government Association believes that the budget cuts to Planned Parenthood would have an extremely detrimental effect on the health and wellbeing of the UVM Student Body and the United States as a whole,

Be It Resolved that the University of Vermont Student Government Association demands the continued federal funding of Planned Parenthood and other Women’s Health Organizations,

Be it Further Resolved that the University of Vermont Student Government Association urges its U.S. Senators, Patrick Leahy and Bernard Sanders, to vote ‘nay’ on the Pence Amendment, in an effort to protect the health and wellbeing of all Vermont Residents, including students at the University of Vermont.

[1] http://www.plannedparenthood.org/files/PPFA/Pence_Fact_021111_vF.pdf

[2] http://www.plannedparenthood.org/

[3] http://www.plannedparenthood.org/files/PPFA/Pence_Fact_021111_vF.pdf

[4] http://www.factcheck.org/2010/04/the-abortion-issue/

[5] http://www.plannedparenthood.org/files/PPFA/Pence_Fact_021111_vF.pdf

[6] Ibid

Today’s Newly Elected Congress: No Jobs! Only Attacks on Women’s Health & Rights!

We Must Stop this anti-choice run-away-train Congress! There are lives at stake – those of the living, breathing women of this nation!

On Friday, the House passed the Pence Amendment (H.R. 217.)
This amendment—if it passes the Senate–will mean the end of federal support for an organization that each year provides more than 800,000 women with breast exams, more than 4 million Americans with testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, and 2.5 million people with contraception. Women will die.

What did newly elected Rep. Nan Hayworth (R – 19th C.D.) do when the pressure was on???

Hayworth Voted with Pence and AGAINST the Women of this Nation, and her District!

This new Congress has launched an unprecedented attack on women’s reproductive rights, and they have a powerful strategy.

Instead of going directly at overturning Roe v. Wade, they have launched a multi-bill assault. Right now, our pro-choice congressional representatives and advocates are fighting off three bills plus budget cuts all at once, and the anti-choice zealots promise that this is just the beginning.

H.R. 3 “is radically broad and is clearly intended to prevent all women from obtaining health insurance coverage for abortion services – even insurance paid for with private dollars or provided by employers in the private marketplace.  The bill would raise taxes on millions of American families and impose intrusive new government rules on private, personal medical decisions.” (*Italics added) Center for Reproductive Rights

Under H.R. 3, “women would no longer be able to use their tax-saver accounts to pay for abortions because, in Smith’s view, this would constitute a federal subsidy; nor could families with high health insurance expenses deduct those expenses from their taxes if the insurance they buy with their own money includes coverage for abortion — even if they never use the coverage to pay for one. Small businesses, though not large corporations, could no longer deduct the cost of their employee insurance plans if they cover abortion, as 87% of health plans now do.” (*Italics added)  Los Angeles Times

H.R. 358 “would allow hospitals that object to abortion (as some Catholic ones do, for instance) to make the appalling decision to withhold the procedure even in dire emergencies when it is necessary to save a woman’s life — a car accident, say, or a shooting. It also includes an objectionable provision — one that failed to become part of the healthcare reform  law passed last year — that would prohibit federal funds from being used toward the purchase of any health insurance that includes abortion coverage. Current law prohibits federal funds from being used for abortion but allows insurance companies to segregate federal money from private funds used for abortion.” Los Angeles Times

Pitts and his buddies are quite literally willing to let women, who are in need of emergency pregnancy termination to save their lives, die. This bill would allow hospitals to refuse to provide abortion care when necessary to save a woman’s life. “…they have written into the bill a new amendment that would override the requirement that emergency room doctors save every patient, regardless of status or ability to pay.  The law would carve out an exception for pregnant women; doctors and hospitals will be allowed to let pregnant women die if interventions to save them will kill the fetus.”

Pitts’ new bill would free hospitals from any abortion requirement under EMTALA, meaning that medical providers who aren’t willing to terminate pregnancies wouldn’t have to — nor would they have to facilitate a transfer.”

“The Pitts bill effectively turns all hospitals into arms of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.  In other words, your health care is now fully subject to fundamentalist religious ideology.” RH Reality Check

To read more, go to RH Realty Check
And the Center for Reproductive Right

H.R. 217 – Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act
PASSED IN THE HOUSE – 2/18/2011
The sole purpose of this act is to attack Planned Parenthood. It seeks to deny any federal funding to Planned Parenthood.

Friday afternoon, 2/18/2011, the House passed this horrific amendment revoking all  funding from Planned Parenthood.  The bill is  falsely advertised as saving tax-payer dollars and ensuring that no federal funds are used for abortion. False Advertising! It is already law that NO federal funds can be used for abortion, other than in cases of rape, incest and to save a woman’s life. Passage of this fiscally irresponsible amendment will ultimately cost lives, and tax payers more dollars in long term health related cost for the poor and most vulnerable. Any funds that a clinic uses for such services must be raised separately and outside of federal taxpayer dollars. More than ninety percent of Planned Parenthood services are non-abortion related.  Their work is focused on preventive care including  birth control and cancer screenings. The final vote was 239-185.

Where Does Newly Elected Rep. Hayworth (R) 19th NY-CD Stand on Redefining Rape and the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortions Act?

When running Nan Hayworth claimed to be—what was it again—on yea, pro-choice but now she doesn’t want to take a position. Now, she seems, shall we say, conflicted: Vote Party line (and platform) or support women?

FYI:
1. Hayworth has defended the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortions Act in letters to constituents.
2. Hayworth has failed to take a stand on redefining rape; and
3. Hayworth justifies tax penalties for abortion.
4. Nan Hayworth is Anti-Choice!

Ask Nan Hayworth Where She Stands!
Let’s remind Nan we’re watching.
Click Here
or Contact her at
In D.C.:
1440 Longworth HOB
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-5441
Fax: (202) 225-3289
In Goshen:
255 Main St., Suite 3232G
Goshen, NY 10924
Phone: (845) 291-4100
Fax: (845) 291-4164

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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