PRESS RELEASES
National Organization for Women - New York State
Applauds Support for Governor Spitzer's Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection Act
May 8, 2007 |
Search Site With  |
|
|
|
Today, we the National Organization for Women-NYS thank Governor Spitzer, Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith and Senate Democrats for their leadership and support for the Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection Act. New York State has a long history of standing in the forefront, fighting for women’s rights. In a historic 1970 move, New York State guaranteed women the right to safe, legal abortions, 3 years before the US Supreme Court's Roe v Wade. And in 1972 another brave New Yorker, Bill Baird, went to the US Supreme Court to legalize birth control for single people in the United States.
But, today danger looms! Contrary to popular spin, the Supreme Court's recent Gonzales v. Carhart and Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood rulings do not confine themselves to restricting only one rarely-used procedure. In fact they dangerously erode women's health protection, even in the second trimester. And the 2008 Presidential debates reveal that almost all the Republican candidates are militantly anti-choice, in spite of the fact that the majority of United States citizens are pro-choice. It has become clear that women are not safe in any state.
But, we are proud to report that New York State has a Governor and a Senate Minority Leader, both of whom will stand firm to protect women's health. The National Organization for Women, it's half a million members and supporters, and millions of women across the country will be looking to New York State for leadership in these troubled times. Our Governor Spitzer is paving the way, by introducing this much needed legislation. Indeed, Governor Spitzer’s introduction of the Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection Act and the support for this legislation by Senator Smith has sent a message that will resonate around the country. And that message is that along with progressive women and men our key legislative leaders are not willing to sit idly by and watch the erosion of women's hard earned rights. So the time is NOW to pass this legislation.
The decisions that women make about their own bodies should be final and supreme. No longer can we permit the erosion of reproductive choice. As the world groans in plague and famine from overpopulation, theocratic institutions still mandate that women give birth against their wills. Great social and psychological ramifications result from biased gender laws. And that cost is a profound deterioration of civil and natural rights.
Because women must have the right to care for their bodies in the ways that they see fit, the National Organization for Women - New York State strongly urges NYS legislators on both sides of the aisle to support this legislation. In the long run, the lives of millions of women will depend upon it.
Marcia Pappas
President NOW-NYS
|
