Your Help Needed Now on Abortion Legislation
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YOUR HELP NEEDED NOW ON ABORTION LEGISLATION 0< Even before the opening of the 1971 session of the New Yol""k legislature, a number lots of letters--and we must show that we are wtlltng to work as hard as they of reactionary bills o n abortion h ave been filed, a nd influential support for these do to express our opini~But this doesn't mean that our letters have to be bills is being organized. Long o r elaborate- a quick, brief note is fine. So dash off a couple r ight now They include a bit I to exc tude abortion from 1\1\edicaid coverage , except when (use either the home addresses g iven here, or: NY State Capt tol, A lbany 12224). abortion is necessary to p r eserve life (introduced by Sen ator Don ovan, 44th Senate If you wonder what to say, here are some ideas that may he-lp: District); a bill to impose a 12-week time limit & a 90- day residency requirement, & a E ven if you don't say anything else, be sure to tell each legislator that you to limit abortions to hospitals or clinics, and to allow institutions & individuals to want him** not only to oppose all regressive abortion bills, but to co-sponsor refuse to provide abortio,, care (Griffin, 56 SD); bills to restore the old "necessary and to v..ork hard for the passage of the Ohrenstein-Le i. chter and von Luthe r- to preserve life" abortion taw (Donovan, 44 SD; Hausbeck, 144 AD; T. Bro....... n, 102 Solarz repeal bills. --- AD); and bills to impose a 6 - month residency requirement for abortions in state b If your legislator is new this year, say you have higr hopes for him and ex funded hospitals, a~ requirement, & a 12-week time limit (Speno, 4 SD). pect him to improve on his predecessor's record by working to get Nev.. York State's contraception & abortion laws off the books entirely. BUT: Two important progressive birth-control bills are being introduced c If your legislator voted FOR the 1970 abortion bill, praise his progressive that would finally make the prevention & termination of pregnancy real record and remind him that his work will not be done on this issue until the individual choices and put them in their proper health-care context: legislature finally gets itself out of the business of practicing medicine and repeats our contraception & abortion taws. A To repeal all special restrictions on the availability of contraception d If your legislator voted AGAINST the 1970 abortion bi II, telt him you under (Sen. von Luther, 27 SD, Assemblyman Solarz, 45 AD, & 12 other stand his reluctance to support a bill that tells women & doctors when an senators and assemblymen--so far;) abortion is "justifiaole," and you are sure he agrees that such ethical and B To repeal att references to abortion in state law (Senator Ohrenstein, medical decisions can only be made by the people involved, rather than by 25 SO, Assemblyman Leichter, 69 AD , & 13 other legislators so far.) the legislature. (Note: one assemblyman who voted against the 1970 bill is already a sponsor of these tv..o repeat bills.) This unique pair of bi. \ls shows a concern for the Vv h ole range of birth- control if your legislator expressed support for repeal on one of the questionnaires needs of people of all ages. They provide a positive rallying-point for those referred to in this folder, praise him for being so forthright and make it who care about insuring the availability of birth-control services to all who clear that you now expect him to back up his words with action , want them--and for those who want to put an end to the yearly debates! If your legislator answered questionnaires unfavorably, or introduced retro grade bills, stress the fact that neither he nor any other legislator has the (Our present contraception taw needlessly restricts the sale & distribution of contra medical training to decide, for every possible individual case, whether an ceptives, and flatly forbids their advertisement, dis play, & distribution to anyone abortion is indicated and how it should be carried out. under the age of sixteen. Under our present abortion law, the legislature still g If your legislator is at ready co-sponsoring the repeat bills, it would be good dictates when & hOV'v a pregnancy may "justifiably" be terminated, rather than letting to write him a brief note of thanks (be sure to urge him to work actively for physicians and their patients make these decisions in each individual case with the their passage). But then con centrate on the next step: --- same freedom--and the same legal sa~eguards--th at apply in other areas of medicine.) 4 WRITE THESE IMPORTANT STATE POLITICAL LEADERS: Other related health- care legislation is being drafted , the complete detatts of which Governor Nelson A Rockefeller (Executive Chambers, State C apitol, are not yet available .* This includes bills to prevent local boards of health from Albany, New York 12224) imposing certain restrictions on abortion that go beyond state taw; to provide for • Assembly Speaker Perry Duryea (1 AD) J Use e ither their state-supported public birth-control services; to allow minors to receive medical Senate Majority Leader Earl Brydges (52 SO) home addresses or: - care in certain cases without the consent of parents; a nd to expand health personnel Assembly Minority Leader Stanley Steingut (41 AD) NY State Capitol, by establishing the c ategory of "physician's assistant. " • Senate Minority Leader Joseph Zaretzki (28 SD) Albany, NY 12224 These men's opinions and w i shes carry the heaviest v..eight in the legislature . For any of these progressive proposals to be fully effective, however, it wilt be They will be hearing from the opposition on a regular basis: they must hear necessary not only to block the reactionary abortion bilts that have been introduced, from you , too, that you want the two repeal bills passed and restrieti'Ons blocked. but to pass the contraception & abortion taw repeal bitls, (These letters could be virtually the same as the letters you have just written A forward surge of public opinion made passage of the 1970 abortion law to your own legislators. ) possible. Now--perhaps more than e...:e r--CONCERNED C ITIZENS MUST TAKE 5 As soon as you've written, fill out & return the form that appears in this folder- STRONG, IMMEDIATE, STATEWIDE ACTION to show support for the Ohrenstein so that the extent & location of support for these bills can be kept on record and Leichter and von Luther-Solarz l"epea\ bills, and opposition to all restrictive pro the information shared with other concerned organizations. If you get a firm posals. It is only by demonstrating massive back~tinued PROGRESS in commitment from a legislator, please be sure to report this at once: a commit this area that we can hope to keep the legisla ture from moving BACKWARD in 1971 . ment from a grOV\I'ing number of legislators can be used to attract still more e Action must be strong--because the opposition is pO\verful, v..ell-funded, and support. high ty-organized. THESE ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS FOR YOU TO DO NOW. Remember: e Action must begin immediately--because many important legislative decisions letters need not be long, but they should be strong and clear, Other things to do: will be made early in the 1971 session, and it must continue to grow throughout o If the answers legislators send you don't satisfy you, write again! the session, o Talk about the issue with your friends--and get them to v..rite , too (more copies e Action must be statewide--because traditionally liberal downstate areas, though of this folder are available at cost; see the coupon). important, do not control the legislature. o Letters to your local newspaper and calls to local talk shov..s are other ways to publicize the issue and rally support behind good legislation. WHATCAN YOU DO NOW? Always m ake it very clear w hat it means to say "repeal": some people think we have already repealed our abortion taws; some don't know the anti- contraception taw Find out whO your own state senator & assemblyman are . If you don't recognize exists. The opposition is even trying to co-opt the v..ord rerteal and use it to describe your legislators' names in the list below , ask your local Board of Elections, their attempts to go backward! --- Republican or Democratic headquarters, or League of Women Voters ( LWV in If you need detailed information on a particular legislator, NYALR may be able New York City: 674- 8484--1 0 am-4pm, Monday through Friday). to supply it. If you have special information, please senditin at once so others can 2 Check your legislators' record on abortion & contraception issues (see key below use it. January 1 , 1971 and list that follows). 3 WRITE YOUR SENATOR & ASSEMBLYMAN. For most of us, writing a legis lator is a difficult task that we keep putting off. That is exactly why every letter a state legislator gets really counts i the opponents of abortion v..ill be ""riting Key to symbols in follov..ing table: Birth- control questions asked in three September 1970 candidates' questionnaires: SO, AD: Senate District, Assembly District NYALR: Do you favor legislation D, R, C , L: Democratic, Republican, Conservative , Liberal endorsement 1 to remove a ll remaining references to contraception & abortion from address: All given are home addresses (your legislator may a lso have an New York State' s taws , so that contraceptives ....-..i\1 be l"egulated in the office: check this in your local phone book).