Newsletter of Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion, Inc. Vol. 31, No. 1 Spring, 2002 Danger in Black Robes ush “is substantiating fears the 5th Circuit. He presently serves as Bible is not that he would attempt to turn U.S. district judge in Mississippi, having considered a the federal judiciary into a been appointed by Bush Sr. He is a controlling right-wing monster.” (Detroit staunch opponent of abortion rights legal author- FreeB Press) To do so he has committed who believes Roe v. Wade should be ity in Ameri- himself to packing the courts. Without overturned. As a state senator, he voted can jurispru- exception, all of Bush’s nominations are for a constitutional convention to dence, adamantly anti-choice. overturn Roe and he voted against Pickering, in Three candidates for the federal state funding for family planning one of his bench, which is a lifetime appointment, services. At the 1976 Republican Party few published have been nominated by Bush: Charles opinions, convention, while serving as a Missis- Sen. Chuck Schumer, cited Exodus. Pickering, Michael McConnell, and sippi Republican party official, he Senate Judiciary Carolyn Kuhl, each with frightening chaired the platform subcommittee that Unfortu- Committee member, track records on civil rights in general called for a constitutional amendment nately, this opposes the Pickering and reproductive rights in particular. banning abortion. promotion of nomination. • Charles Pickering is being consid- Charles Pickering also views the religion from ered for the U.S. Court of Appeals for federal bench as a pulpit. Although the Please see Judges on page 14 Attorney Playing Politics with Our Health his session of the NYS Legislature saw a major break- General Tthrough on the Women’s Health and Wellness bill — but the deal is not yet sealed. Women’s Health and Wellness has stagnated in Albany Investigates for the past four years due to the Senate’s insistence on a broad opt-out for religious institutions that do not support CPCs birth control. Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, after a long struggle, agreed to narrow the exemption, and, in risis Pregnancy Centers February by an overwhelming bi-partisan vote of 50 to 8, the C(CPCs) are now widely revamped legislation passed that chamber. recognized as the true houses of The differences between the Assembly and the Senate ill-repute. These centers, often versions must still be reconciled. The Assembly bill is still the strategically located near abor- better one; it eliminates deductibles and co-pays that may tion clinics, provide anti-abortion prevent women from getting life-saving cancer screenings. counseling and materials, along Attorney General Eliot Spitzer Also, there is no so-called “conscience clause” whatsoever. with pregnancy testing. Patients Any employer who provides insurance coverage for prescrip- are promised caring medical attention, but instead are shown tions must also cover prescriptive birth control. horror films about abortion and are told lies about the The biggest impediment to enacting into law Women’s psychological impact of the procedure. Health and Wellness had been the Senate’s gaping birth These business practices aroused the interest of Attorney control opt-out. Now the major obstacle is that the Senate General Eliot Spitzer who has been concerned that CPCs version includes deductibles and co-pays which pose a might be using deceptive advertising and/or practicing serious problem for lower-income working women. medicine without a license. In January the Attorney Advocates are unsure that the differences between the General’s office issued subpoenas to nine entities that Assembly and new Senate versions can be ironed out now th operate CPCs. On February 28 Spitzer announced an that the special elections of February 12th have passed. There agreement with the entity Birthright of Victor New York, Inc. was pressure on both chambers of the legislature to pass a

Please see CPCs on page 12 Please see Health on page 12 Patriot: On the That’s Me! Ex-President’s by Catherine Lederer-Plaskett WCLA Board Chair Mind hat does it mean to be By Polly Rothstein Wa good parent? Is it ne thing on my mind someone who accepts his or Ois the large envelope bulging from extraordinary her child’s behavior blindly, declaring that only unquali- letters and notes, an outpouring of compassion, affec- fied acceptance is the sign of true love? Is it the refusal tion, and gratitude. These kindhearted missives started to provide constructive criticism out of fear of being coming after I explained in two columns that sepsis labeled abusive and uncaring? No. It is facing the on- after back surgery left me permanently handicapped, going challenge of providing your child with structure, and continued coming after my stupendous birthday/ support and insights—shining a light on his or her retirement dinner on October 27, the articles in The actions and asking her or him to do better, reach higher, Journal News by David McKay Wilson and in The New to be the best person that child can be. We love our York Times Westchester section by Kate Stone children not because they are perfect but because they Lombardi, and my emotional final fund-raising letter in are ours. The goal is to enable our children to choose the December. I’d like to thank each person who wrote by right path, not the easy one. mail and email or phoned, but that goal is becoming Then why is it deemed unpatriotic to ask of our more remote. There are simply too many. I am more country what we ask of our children? Right wing zealots grateful than I can say to those who took the time to have reserved the term “patriotic” only for those who express themselves to me and say such memorable accept the Bush administration’s agenda blindly and things. without a sound. Those of us who hold up a mirror, who My health largely dictated my decision to retire, but decry the systematic dismantling of basic civil rights, those who predicted it wouldn’t be easy were right. who demand that our government live up to promises After building WCLA and running the show for nearly made long ago in our Constitution and Bill of Rights are 30 years, exiting is an emotional emery board. My head being labeled traitors. The basic rules of parenting are is still in issue politics: reproductive rights of course, but being replaced by the bully tactics of the playground. also gay rights, separation of government and religion, I criticize my country because that is my responsibil- and protecting the earth from human damage — to ity; I love this country and want it to be all that it can be. name a few. To close my eyes to its flaws would be unpatriotic. To If not for the Internet, I would be uninformed and succumb to the name-calling and intimidation of the not even know it; that is, I’d be restricted to what’s in fanatical conservatives who are trying desperately to The New York Times, The Journal News, and the radio, hold on to power is to allow terrorism to win. It is your mostly NPR. Online reports convinced me that George job and mine to be the very best parents that we can be and Jeb, Katherine Harris, their lawyers and thugs to our country—to shine a light on every action and illegally manipulated vote counting in Florida and stole reaction. There were founding fathers AND mothers; the election. The partisan Supreme Court majority then now there are legal guardians—us. gave the election to Resident Bush. I’m having fits over Dubya’s ultra-conservative Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion, Inc. © 2002 domestic policies, pandering to the religious right in 237 Mamaroneck Avenue, White Plains, NY 10605 914/946-5363 • www.wcla.org anticipation of the 2002 and 2004 elections. Take Executive Director: Nancy K. Montagnino reproductive rights: counting embryos as children under Office Manager: Fran Snedeker Medicaid, calling for spending for abstinence-only Assistant: Leonore Young Board of Directors: Catherine Lederer-Plaskett, Chair; Tamika Coverdale, education equal to spending for birth control (family Robert Fertik, Neil McCarthy, Joseph Melhado, Deena Weintraub, Eve planning) clinics, cutting off funds for international Widdows family planning and UNFPA. In his welfare reform plan, Editor: Catherine Lederer-Plaskett Editorial Contributors: Phillip Chonigman, Judi Lerman, Neil McCarthy, Bush is allocating $100 million to push poor women Nancy K. Montagnino, Polly Rothstein, Fran Snedeker, Deena Weintraub Circulation: 70,000 Founded in 1972 Please see Ex-Pres on page 18

2 ProChoice, Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion, Inc. Spring 2002 Book Review Editorials You Can Be Catholic and Pro-Choice by Neil McCarthy The Tycoons Club he Vatican and U.S. Conference of Bishops have he Guinness Book of World Records, 2002 edition, Tstrongly criticized Catholics who are pro-choice. This is Thad a disarming piece of trivia in the Influential bad politics by the Church but here’s something most People section. It turns out President George W. Bush’s Catholics don’t know: it’s also bad theology. cabinet is the wealthiest one in U.S. history. Of the 16 That’s the message two professors — Daniel A. full cabinet members, 13 are millionaires; seven of the Dombrowski and Robert Deltete — offer in their recent 13 own assets worth more than $10 million. They’re book, A Brief, Liberal, Catholic Defense of Abortion (U. of nicknamed the “Tycoons Club.” Illinois Press, 2000). This bit of trivia raises some interesting questions: The Church hierarchy says life (or personhood) begins at Whom does this cabinet represent? Can a multi- conception and that abortion is, therefore, murder. But two millionaire — or even a mere millionaire for that matter of the Church’s premier fathers — St. Augustine and St. — understand the financial constraints facing the Thomas — didn’t agree. According to them, the body and average working woman? On what basis have Bush soul of a fetus develops organically, and abortion never cabinet members decided that prescription birth control results in the death of a person until the later stages of a should not be covered by insurance? Have they, their pregnancy. wives or daughters ever been forced to start a pill pack Science and reason support this view. A fetus cannot feel late, or not at all, because there was no money to pay anything until neural paths are sufficiently developed to the pharmacist? What do they know of needing a transmit messages across synapses. This occurs at about the Medicaid card to deal with an unwanted pregnancy? third trimester. And most fertilized eggs are never implanted It seems safe to bet that Bush cabinet members have in the uterus. Thus, the biggest abortionist is Nature, not any never stood in a grocery check-out line searching their particular physician who provides abortions to many women. pockets for money with which to pay for food for their So why is today’s Church so opposed to abortion? Alas, as already born children. Maybe, instead of a Tycoons Dombrowski and Deltete point out, the answer is “politics.” Club we need a People’s Club. The view that abortion kills a human person is of recent vintage in Church history. It developed initially in the 17th and 18th centuries, when primitive microscopes saw fetuses Does It Look Familiar? which appeared to be, but in fact were not, miniature e at WCLA were curious about a certain sameness persons. It reached full flower in the mid 19th century, when W in the anti-choicers’ “Letters to the Editor” that the Vatican lost its papal states and substituted assertions of appear frequently in many of our local and out-of-town moral authority for the absence of political power. newspapers and magazines. It seems that anti-choicers The Church’s current position is a blend of ignored always have something to say about anything related to theology, bad science, and political jealousy. But Dombrowski women’s reproduction—especially abortion—and are able and Deltete offer pro-choice Catholics some good news: to tie it in to the most seemingly-unrelated news article. being pro-choice is not just consistent with our politics, it’s The points raised are always similar. also consistent with our faith. We wondered about this until we found their source: a website lists 430-odd suggested sample letters, sorted and organized by topic, making it all-so-simple to come Flash up with those “Letters to the Editor.” Pick one sentence ormer WCLA President Polly Rothstein will be honored or thought from column A, one from column B, and Fby the New York City chapter of the ACLU at a voilà—a real, live Letter to the Editor. The original letters reception May 21. The festivities will be held at a private residence in Manhattan from 6 to 8 p.m. Tickets are appear to be the work of Mark Crutcher, we think. He $150.00. Other honorees are Michaele White, who built includes a lesson on manipulating the media into allowing The Door into a national model for health care and these letters into mainstream print. Crutcher waives support services for young people, and Nairobi Shellow, copyright permission for use of his letters if you’re anti- who is a New York City youth leader in HIV/AIDS preven- choice. It’s on the Priests for Life website (www.priestsforlife.org). tion. The ACLU will also honor their peer educators. For They call it a “resource.” When we were in high further information or ticket reservations, please call the school, we called it something else. ACLU at 212-344-3005.

Spring 2002 ProChoice, Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion, Inc. Editorial 3 Merging and Submerging Westchester Medical nder the guise of public service those mergers which are palatable to Center and St. Agnes Uand a mission of charity, reli- people of any faith. In their recently giously-sponsored hospitals are using published study entitled “No Strings Share Facilities public funds to practice sectarian Attached,” MergerWatch carefully medicine. documents public funding of religiously- he Westchester Medical Center Until recently it seemed palatable for sponsored hospitals in the United States. Thas recently finalized a contrac- religious hospitals to practice faith-based It has always been assumed that tual relationship with St. Agnes medicine in institutions supported by Catholic hospitals, for example, are Hospital (White Plains) to relieve church funds. A patient disagreeing with financially backed by the Church, giving overcrowding at the Medical Center. those policies could, after all, go to weight to their claims of self-determina- The 1000-bed WMC facility will another hospital. However, the recent tion. Not so. “No Strings Attached” remain the County’s principal trend toward merging religious and presents 1999 national data which show tertiary and Level 1 trauma center, secular hospitals (with both hospitals that 56% of inpatient days at religious but under the terms of the agree- then practicing sectarian medicine) may hospitals were paid for by Medicare or ment, patients needing care for non- force patients to lose their access to full Medicaid. The other 44% included life-threatening ailments may be health care services. Denominations that commercial insurance, private pay, and admitted to St. Agnes by their WMC have been known to limit health care on other third parties. physicians. St. Agnes has historically religious grounds include Catholics, In fact, religious hospitals receive been underutilized and plagued with Baptists, the Church of Latter Day only limited funding from church money problems. The partnership is Saints, and Seventh-Day Adventists. sources. In California, the analysis found not a full-fledged merger of WMC Using public funds, faith-based that in 1998 only .0015 percent of with St. Agnes. hospitals (or merged hospitals that limit religious hospitals’ operating revenues St. Agnes remains an indepen- treatment on religious grounds) may came from unrestricted contributions, dent, Catholic-owned institution, deny HIV prevention counseling. such as charitable donations from church governed by the Ethical and Reli- Catholic hospitals have also chosen to members. gious Directives for Catholic Health compromise reproductive health care for Using public funds, they may limit Care Services. Since these Directives women. Women wanting reproductive medical or clinical research and clinical prohibit the provision of some services such as contraception, abortion, trials (which are often the “cutting reproductive health services, pre- voluntary sterilization, and emergency edge” of cancer treatment) because of a clude the provision of “safer sex” contraception for rape victims may not religious attitude towards certain kinds and condom information for HIV/ find it at Catholic hospitals. Faith-based of research, most notably stem cell AIDS patients and limit patients’ directives may also limit end-of-life care research. Adventist hospitals, which use end-of-life options, it is anticipated for the terminally ill. public monies, have a religiously moti- that there will be limits to the kinds MergerWatch in Albany monitors vated proscription against bargaining of patients who will be admitted or hospital mergers and presses for only with employee unions. While religious in transferred from the Medical Center name and official sponsorship and to St. Agnes. Edward Stolzenberg, Farewell committed to carrying out their faith- chief WMC administrative officer, to based directives, many religious hospitals asserts that the contractual arrange- rely almost entirely on non-religious and ment will result in no loss of services Frankie! public sources of funding for day-to-day to the public. The Medical Center, Frankie Stein operation, with OR without mergers he says, stands on its record of retired at the with sectarian hospitals. provision of comprehensive repro- end of 2001. Two key bills approved by the NY ductive care, including abortion At the 25th Assembly Health Committee would services, and will ensure that annual Family provide citizens greater information reproductive rights are not in any Planning about pending hospital mergers or way abrogated by its business Advocates takeovers that result in restrictive relationship with St. Agnes. conference Meanwhile, St. Agnes and held in religious rules limiting health care January in options in a community. One bill (A.118) several other ailing hospitals around Albany, Stein, would require the Department of Health the state have been targeted for an former CEO of Planned Parenthood of to notify the public of any proposed infusion of cash through an interest- Hudson Peconic, received the Alfred F. hospital mergers, affiliations, or consoli- free loan from the state’s Health Moran Public Advocacy Award. This dations. The other bill (A.2674) would Care Restructuring Pool. St. Agnes prestigious award recognizes her many ensure state oversight when a hospital will receive $5.5 million, according years of promoting public policies to planned to eliminate any services. to Crain’s Health Pulse (2/19/02). guarantee reproductive rights.

4 ProChoice, Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion, Inc. Spring 2002 Eliot Spitzer Uses FACE NYS Comptroller Promotes to Keep Protesters Women’s Rights Out of Yours A Message from U.S. Department of Justice speaker at the Family H. Carl McCall, APlanning Advocates legislative conference in Albany in January thought that his audience might not realize that a Comptroller, state attorney general can bring a lawsuit under the federal State of New York Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances law (FACE). But the speaker underestimated his well-informed audience, who n January we marked the knew that New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has used I 29th anniversary of the FACE to keep anti-abortion protestors in line. Supreme Court decision Roe v. In 1998, Spitzer defeated incumbent Attorney General Wade which affirmed women’s Dennis Vacco with the strong support of abortion rights right to choose. Over the last groups. WCLA-PAC made 86,000 get-out-the-vote calls for Comptroller H. Carl McCall generation, women have made him, and he remembers it. Shortly after taking office, Spitzer significant strides in every area. Laws to combat discrimina- created the first Reproductive Rights Unit, and recruited tion have led to tremendous progress in education and in the Jennifer Brown, a Yale Law graduate then in the U.S. workforce — including the legal profession, medicine, and Attorney’s Office, to lead it. government. But our work is not done yet. Spitzer works to balance patients’ rights to unimpeded My career has been dedicated to creating opportunity for access to abortion and birth control with the free speech all. As a state senator in the 1970s I was a reliable pro-choice rights of protesters. He saw his first opportunity in late 1998 vote, and frequently met with Polly Rothstein of WCLA. I when anti-abortion leaders announced plans for massive was honored to speak at her birthday-retirement dinner in protests. This was just weeks after an abortion foe allegedly October. murdered Dr. Barnett Slepian, a Buffalo ob/gyn who per- For the past eight years, as your State Comptroller, I have formed abortions. Spitzer’s attorneys, working with counsel worked with organizations throughout the State to shore up for several providers, won a temporary restraining order that the eroding commitment to a woman’s right to choose. As permitted the protests to go forward but prevented disrup- sole trustee of the $112 billion State pension fund, I initiated tion of medical services. Observing the unflagging obstruc- a policy to oppose all shareholder resolutions that seek to tion of medical offices, the legal team went to trial and end corporate support for Planned Parenthood or other showed that blocking clinic driveways, holding huge signs family planning service organizations. I have been a frequent that impede access to clinics, and blocking patients as they critic of the New York State Department of Health’s policies approach doorways, violate FACE by making clinic access that separate family planning services from the rest of the “unreasonably difficult or hazardous.” They won a prelimi- health care package offered to women. nary injunction that is unprecedented in scope, creating Recently I released two reports on women’s access to fifteen-foot buffer zones in seventeen counties in western family planning services in New York. These reports empha- New York. In a landmark ruling issued in December 2001, size that family planning is a basic health care need for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit agreed that women and that certain State policies have adversely obstructive protest activities outside clinics violate FACE. affected women’s reproductive health choices. The State’s The next FACE case built on the first. The attorneys current policies in public programs can frustrate access to obtained a permanent injunction against a family of protest- these important services and the private market often fails to ers who habitually harassed patients and staff at Planned provide adequate insurance coverage. My reports offer Parenthood clinics in Utica and Lowville. The judge imposed specific recommendations that I believe would support the thousands of dollars in penalties and damages against the rights of New York women to easily access the full range of defendants for violating FACE. health services including all forms of family planning. Spitzer supports clinic access beyond the courtroom. The These recommendations include the passage of the Reproductive Rights Unit has prepared and distributed a Women’s Health and Wellness Bill which would require pamphlet explaining FACE, and Jennifer Brown has met with insurance companies to include prescription contraceptives in clinic staff and law enforcement to explain how the law their prescription drug benefits; ending the practice of applies to particular protests. Spitzer was a vocal supporter of automatically assigning women of childbearing age to the 1999 New York clinic access statute, which gave local Medicaid managed care plans that do not provide family and state officials the same powers as their federal counter- planning services; allowing women enrolled in Child Health parts to prosecute persons who commit acts of force, Plus or Family Health Plus to obtain family planning services

Please see FACE on page 12 Please see McCall on page 12

Spring 2002 ProChoice, Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion, Inc. 5 Bush Defunds What changed between November and January? Abso- lutely nothing, if you consider the merits of the UNFPA Family Planning program. But the Administration is not considering this issue on its merits. Instead, the President may decide to endanger for World’s the lives of the poorest women around the world to appease anti-choice activists. Poorest Women All the anti-choice rhetoric in the world cannot distort the by Rep. Nita M. Lowey facts. 600,000 women around the world die each year of preventable, pregnancy-related causes. An estimated 40 hile the Bush Adminis- million or more unintended pregnancies end in abortion each Wtration has focused year - many due to lack of access to safe, reliable contracep- most of its attacks on a tion. Some 70,000 women die each year as a result of woman’s right to choose here unsafe abortion. The UNFPA works to erase all of these at home, it has lost no ground tragic statistics. in undermining the rights and The UNFPA estimates that basic reproductive health care health of the poorest women costs as little as $30 per woman per year. At that rate, the Rep. Nita M. Lowey around the world. In fact, $34 million frozen by the President could prevent 77,000 one of President Bush’s first child and infant deaths, 60,000 maternal infections and official actions upon taking office was to reinstate the global injuries, 4,700 maternal deaths, and 2 million unintended gag rule — a Reagan-era provision prohibiting U.S. funding pregnancies. for international family planning organizations that talk about Many of my colleagues in Congress understand this, and abortion with clients or government officials. more than 120 of them joined me in writing a letter to the As if that were not enough, the Administration has now President, urging him to release these funds immediately. gone after the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), an You can be sure I will continue to fight to restore U.S. organization that provides life-saving family planning, safe support for the UNFPA. motherhood, and HIV/AIDS prevention services to poor women in 156 different countries. As Ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Availability Is the Key— subcommittee that provides foreign assistance, I helped in Canada and France negotiate a groundbreaking bipartisan agreement late last year to substantially increase the U.S. commitment to mergency contraception (EC) is now available from international family planning. The deal provided a total of EQuebec pharmacists without a doctor’s prescription. $446.5 million for bilateral family planning programs, an EC is highly effective against pregnancy if taken within increase of $21.5 million over the previous year, and a total 72 hours following unprotected sexual intercourse. As of $34 million for the UNFPA, an increase of $12.5 million reported in the Canadian Press, EC was previously avail- over the previous year. This agreement was made with the able on a walk-in basis at some Quebec community clinics full knowledge of the Administration and was signed by the and hospitals. However, as in New York, clinics are President in early January, 2002. sometimes closed and the wait in an emergency room can But almost immediately, the President took aim at the last many hours. Now that pharmacists are allowed to UNFPA. Spurred on by Rep. Chris Smith, the President froze serve as an alternative source of EC, these potentially current funding to the UNFPA and proposed cutting all dangerous delays can be avoided. Under the new regula- UNFPA funding for next year. UNFPA funds remain in limbo, tions pharmacists must undergo additional training prior to pending an Administration investigation into charges that the being approved to dispense the time-sensitive drug and fund supports coercive abortion practices in China. must also consult with the woman prior to providing EC. This recycled canard has been used for years by UNFPA In France access to EC has been extended to minors as opponents to discredit the fund’s lifesaving work. UNFPA well. Earlier this year the French government issued a has refuted these allegations time and again, stressing its decree stating that minors will now be able to obtain EC opposition to coercive practices in China. In fact, the UNFPA from a pharmacy, free of charge, and without the neces- program in China works to overturn these practices, helping sity of a doctor’s prescription or authorization from a Chinese women to enjoy the freedom of choice and access to parent. As in Quebec, the pharmacists will be required to family planning services that Americans value so highly. consult with the recipients. The French already allow EC to The Administration’s current attack on UNFPA is puzzling be distributed by nurses in both junior and senior high for other reasons, as well. In 2001, the Secretary of State schools. released $21.5 million to the organization without incident. The President specifically requested $25 million for UNFPA for 2002. Finally, last November, the Administration gave the Protect your right to UNFPA $600,000 in emergency funds to provide birthing kits and sanitary supplies to women in and around Afghanistan. choose — VOTE! 6 ProChoice, Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion, Inc. Spring 2002 The Cloning Controversy YES for Research; NO to Produce Babies by Polly Rothstein o many, “cloning” is making exact Bush’s Appointees Make the Wrong Choice Tcopies of humans, an unacceptable he United States is participating in the U.N. Committee on an International scientific pursuit. That idea is clouding TConvention Against the Reproductive Cloning of Human Beings. There is and delaying the debate over basic widespread support throughout the U.N. for a ban on reproductive cloning, but embryonic stem cell research. It is not for a ban on therapeutic cloning. The European and Asian conference important for lawmakers and the public delegates have made clear they are against a comprehensive ban on cloning to understand the fundamentals. research because it would close the door to future scientific breakthroughs. The • Therapeutic cloning does not Japanese representative Yoshiyuki Motomura has supported that position. produce an individual; it produces stem Many scientists have attempted to persuade Congress and the Bush administra- cells – master cells that have the poten- tion to allow therapeutic cloning for research while maintaining a ban on tial to turn into any type of cell in the reproductive cloning. The U.S. delegation (specifically the Bush appointees), body – for research and to cure disease however, wants a “global and comprehensive ban.” Sean Tipton, spokesperson and injury. for American Society for Reproductive Medicine summed it up, “It’s bad • Reproductive cloning would create enough that the administration would seek to impose its views [on cloning a genetically identical being. Human research] on the American people, let alone the entire world. We need to keep cloning is opposed by nearly everyone these avenues of research open.” and is headed for political defeat in Congress. We can still sing, “There will never be another you.” on Bioethics agreed to oppose reproduc- accurate name for the process used to Advanced Cell Technology of tive cloning. There was less agreement create stem cells — in which the nucleus Worcester, Mass., claims it can create about therapeutic cloning because from a cell is extracted and then trans- human embryos by tricking an ovum to abortion politics elbowed out serious planted into an egg that has had its begin to develop without help from debate. Conservative columnist Charles nucleus removed, is “nuclear transplan- sperm. But the company declared that it Krauthammer called a cloned embryo “a tation” — and nuclear transplantation is intends to create new sources of stem human being” deserving of the “highest not cloning. cells, not to create a person. ACT plans respect.” Michael Sandel, a Harvard to use a person’s own DNA to make an professor, stated that an embryo is Congress weighs in embryo or, in the case of a woman, her “something in between a thing and a Religious conservative Sen. Sam own egg to make an embryo. The stem person – deserving of respect but not as Brownback (R-Kan.) and the Bioethics cells extracted from these embryos could much as society affords humans.” Paul Project, a conservative think tank, will be used to grow cells or tissues the McHugh, a Johns Hopkins psychiatrist, launch a lobbying and advertising person might need – even whole organs said that the cloned embryos in question campaign to pressure the Senate to for transplantation. This procedure were “fundamentally different” than follow the House’s lead and ban all would prevent organ rejection because embryos created for reproduction and forms of cloning. However, there is the replacements would come from an should not even be called “embryo[s].” strong support for federal funding of embryo created from the recipient’s own embryonic stem cell research, which DNA. Therapeutic Cloning Is Not would benefit all of us. Therapeutic cloning has widespread ‘Cloning’ support. The National Academy of Reuters reports that a group of Sciences wants to ban reproductive scientists said that the scientific process cloning, but favors therapeutic cloning WCLA’s Believe It or Not used to create human embryonic stem for disease research. Thirty-three Nobel cells for medical research and treatment ore than 50 Catholic students laureates argue that funding therapeutic “should not be called ‘cloning’ – Mfrom Archbishop Wood High cloning for such research is “a moral therapeutic or otherwise.” In an editorial School in Pennsylvania earned extra imperative” because of its “enormous in a February issue of the journal class credit for protesting outside a potential for the effective treatment of Science, they stated that “precise suburban Philadelphia Planned human disease…” and that the cells terminology is important” because of Parenthood clinic. Their religion used for research “are not embryonic the proposed ban on therapeutic cloning teacher said she granted the extra cells because they cannot become a in the United States. They explained that credit because she wanted to reward human being, nor can they undergo cloning means trying to create a carbon students for “giving of their time.” embryological development.” copy of an individual organism. A more In February the presidential Council

Spring 2002 ProChoice, Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion, Inc. 7 8 ProChoice, Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion, Inc. Spring 2002 All photographs ©2002 by Mark Stephen Kornbluth

Spring 2002 ProChoice, Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion, Inc. 9 ACTION These elected officials represent you. ALERT! Hold them accountable. ACTION Urge them to support only those judicial nominees ALERT! who respect women’s reproductive rights. Your Elected Officials: Keep For Future Reference U.S. President NYS Senate AD 89 Naomi Matusow [+] D, I President George W. Bush [-] R Hon. ______914/241-2649; 518/455-5397 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. New York State Senate [email protected] Washington, D.C. 20500 Albany, New York 12247 AD 90 Sandra Galef [+] D, I Opinion phone: 202/456-1111 Switchboard: 518/455-2800 914/941-1111; 518/455-5348 [email protected] Fax 202/456-2461 SD 33 Ruth Hassell-Thompson [+] D E-mail: [email protected] 518/455-2061 Speaker: Sheldon Silver [+] D, L [email protected] 212/312-1420; 518/455-3791 SD 34 Guy Velella [-] R,C, I ◊ U.S. Senate [email protected] 718/792-7180; 518/455-3264 Hon. ______Health Committee Chair [email protected] U.S. Senate Richard Gottfried [+] D, L, W SD 35 Nicholas Spano [+] R,C, I ◊ Washington, D.C. 20510 518/455-4941 914/969-5194; 518/455-2231 Switchboard: 202/224-3121 [email protected] [email protected] Hon. Hillary Rodham Clinton [+] D,L,W SD 36 Suzi Oppenheimer [+] D 202/224-4451 914/934-5250; 518/455-2031 County Executive [email protected] [email protected] Andrew Spano [+] D, I, C, L, W Hon. Charles E. Schumer [+] D,L,I SD 37 Vincent Leibell [-] R,C, Michaelian Office Building 212/486-4430; 202/224-6542 845/279-3773; 518/455-3111 White Plains, New York 10601 [email protected] [email protected] Phone: 995-2900 [email protected] Majority Leader Joseph Bruno [-] R,C, I U.S. House of 518/455-3191 Westchester Board of Legislators Representatives [email protected] Hon. ______Hon. ______Health Committee Chair Michaelian Office Building U.S. House of Representatives Kemp Hannon [-] R,C, I White Plains, New York 10601 Washington, D.C. 20515 518/455-2200 Switchboard 995-2800 Switchboard: 202/224-3121 [email protected] CBL 1 George Oros [-] R,C ◊ CBL 2 Ursula LaMotte [+] R,C, I CD 17 Eliot Engel [+] D,L NYS Assembly CBL 3 Suzanne Swanson [+] R,C 718/796-9700; 202/225-2464 Hon. ______CBL 4 Michael Kaplowitz [+] D, I, W www.house.gov/writerep New York State Assembly CBL 5 William Ryan [+] D, I, W CD 18 Nita Lowey [+] D Albany, New York 12248 CBL 6 David Hall [+] R,C,I 914/428-1707; 202/225-6506 Switchboard 518/455-4100 CBL 7 George Latimer [+] D, W [email protected] AD 84 Gary Pretlow [+] D, I CBL 8 Lois Bronz [+] D, W CD 19 Sue Kelly [+/-] R,C 914/667-0127; 518/455-5291 CBL 9 Richard Wishnie [+] D, I, W 914/241-6340; 202/225-5441 [email protected] CBL 10 Vito Pinto [+] D, W [email protected] AD 85 Ronald Tocci D, C [+/-] CBL 11 Jim Maisano [+] R, I, C, W CD 20 Benjamin Gilman [+] R 914/235-7900; 518/455-4897 CBL 12 Thomas Abinanti [+] D, W 845/343-6666; 202/225-3776 [email protected] CBL 13 Clinton Young, Jr. [+] D www.house.gov/gilman AD 86 Richard Brodsky [+] D CBL 14 Bernice Spreckman [+] R,C,I, W 914/345-0432; 518/455-5753 CBL 15 Louis Mosiello [+] R,C,I,W Governor [email protected] CBL 16 Andrea Stewart-Cousins [+] D,W CBL 17 Jose Alvardado [-] D, W Hon. George Pataki [-] R,C AD 87 Michael Spano [+] R,C, I Executive Chamber 914/779-8805; 518/455-3662 Key State Capital [email protected] + Pro-choice I Independence AD 88 Amy Paulin [+] D,W - Anti-choice L Liberal Albany, New York 12224 +/- Mixed, qualified RTL Right to Life Phone: 518/474-8390 914/723-1115; 518/455-5585 D Democrat W Working [email protected] [email protected] R Republican ◊ Has run on RTL C Conservative This list keeps improving because YOU elect pro-choice candidates. The New York Times The Journal News Weekly papers: To write rd 229 West 43 Street 1 Gannett Drive Check the mastheads letters to New York, NY 10036 White Plains, NY 10604 for addresses and fax the editor Fax: 212/556-3622 Fax: 696-8396 numbers. e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected] 10 Westchester ProChoice, Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion, Inc. Spring 2002 Emergency Contraception: Two NYS Bills To Watch

mergency contraception has leapt from relative obscurity EC — Over the Counter Eto common parlance in the New York State legislature. Westchester County’s Familiarly known as EC, it is the subject of two high-priority Amy Paulin has introduced bills. One bill was introduced in the 2001 session; the other an EC bill which would was introduced as the 2002 legislative session commenced. enable women to obtain pills “over the counter,” i.e., EC in the ER without prescription. Similar Assemblywoman Susan V. John and Westchester’s legislation has been in place Senator Nick Spano have again introduced legislation for in Washington state for rape survivors requiring all hospital emergency rooms to offer several years and more Assemblywoman Amy Paulin EC immediately and on-site. The Assembly overwhelmingly recently in Alaska and passed this legislation last year and again in the opening days California. Paulin stated, “We want to reduce the high rate of the 2002 session. EC in the ER attracted strong bi-partisan of unwanted pregnancies and abortions in New York. My bill support. gives women access to a less invasive method to be in charge Spano promoted his companion bill for the Senate at the of their own bodies.” 2002 Family Planning Advocates conference, and again Polls conducted in New York show that EC’s time has when appearing with FPA’s CEO JoAnn Smith at a press come. More than 90 percent of women and over 84 percent conference. Spano’s position as a leader in the majority in the of men, regardless of age or political party, favor the reduc- NYS Senate gives pro-choice advocates hope that rape tion of barriers to EC. survivors may finally get the medical attention they deserve. As discussed in last summer’s issue of ProChoice, EC is Emphatic opposition to easing access to EC comes from often confused with RU-486 (“medical abortion”). EC pills religious hospitals, particularly those run by Roman Catholic taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex prevent fertilization groups. The Catholic Conference, asserting that any provi- and implantation. In other words, EC does not cause an sion of contraception contravenes church doctrine, insists abortion; it is a contraceptive which, by definition, prevents that EC should be provided only if it has been medically pregnancy. proven that the rape victim was not ovulating when she was Each year, more than 25,000 American women become raped – in other words, when it is highly unlikely that she pregnant as a result of rape. According to the American could have become pregnant. They demand a “conscience Journal of Preventive Medicine, 22,000 of those pregnancies clause” which would exempt all Catholic hospitals from the could have been prevented if emergency contraception had obligation to offer EC to their patients. been used within 72 hours of the sexual assault.

Pro-choice NYS Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson enjoys a visit with WCLA’s Nancy Montagnino and other members of the Westchester delegation to the 2002 Family Planning Advocates (FPA) conference in Albany. More than 90 pro-choice advocates represented Westchester County at the FPA meeting held in January. Besides attending highly informative workshops on key reproductive health care issues, they also took the opportunity to visit members of the State Senate and Assembly. For other articles related to the conference please see pages 4 and 12.

Spring 2002 ProChoice, Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion, Inc. 11 Health from Page 1 Pataki Counts Women Out women’s health bill prior to special hen Governor Pataki presented TANF – Temporary Assistance to Needy elections. This race included a high W his budget in January he either Families – but that infusion scarcely profile contest between two pro-choice did not know or did not care that: makes up the difference. candidates to fill the seat vacated by • NYS ranks 38th in the country in Family Planning Advocates of NYS Sen. Roy Goodman, a Manhattan serving women in need of family testified at the state legislature’s joint Republican. The seat fell into Demo- planning and contraceptive services; public budget hearings on Health and cratic hands with the victory of Liz • Only 37 percent of the more than Medicaid in early February. They urged Krueger. Now that the elections are one million women in need of services legislators to: restore the $3 million in over, a spokesperson for Bruno sees are getting them. state funds for family planning that was nothing more to negotiate, as reported That means there are thousands of cut in the executive budget; invest an in The New York Times (2/28/02). The unintended pregnancies in New York additional $2 million for family plan- prime sponsors in the Assembly, each year that could be prevented. ning; and add to the funds in TANF Deborah J. Glick and Speaker Sheldon As in his 2000 budget, Pataki has allocated for pregnancy prevention. Silver, both Democrats of Manhattan, once again cut $3 million in state For each year an adolescent don’t agree with that assertion. They money for family planning funding postpones having her first baby, the want the issue of deductibles and co- from his executive budget. Out of an odds that her family will NOT live pays addressed. $88.6 billion budget he only allocated below the poverty level improve by 22 If neither chamber is willing to $18.3 million in state money for percent — a significant statistic for us accept the other’s version, women will funding for family planning. Ten million all to remember. lose once again. federal dollars will be provided for CPCs from Page 1 In a related development the Attorney Who’s Raising $$ for Whom? General’s office has withdrawn the alph Reed, former executive director of the Christian Coalition and chair of the other CPC subpoenas, as settlement RGeorgia Republican Party, has refused a request by Republican National discussions with the centers have Committee officials to nominate Lewis Eisenberg to the post of national finance commenced. chair. As reported in the Washington Times, Reed rejected Eisenberg because he is To avoid investigations like that founder of the Republican Leadership Council — a group that supports abortion pursued by Spitzer’s office, many crisis rights. Conservative RNC member Michael Retzer offered to make the nomination pregnancy centers have resorted to instead. Retzer said the objections of the conservatives were “misplaced because purchasing expensive medical equip- it’s the proper role for liberals in our party to raise money to support the goals and ment, hiring physicians and expanding achievements of the conservative wing of the party.” their services in order to qualify as actual medical facilities. Alarmingly, but not surprisingly, CPCs have found allies FACE from Page 5 McCall from Page 5 at the federal and state levels who are working to provide funding for these threaten force, or physically obstruct from any willing provider; and evaluat- business expansions/conversions, using clinic access. ing the impact of State contracting with our tax dollars. In Congress, Rep. Cliff Also in 1999, Spitzer’s office filed a managed care plans that do not cover Stearns (R-FL) proposed legislation friend of the court brief on behalf of family planning services. which would put $3 million of HHS New York and 17 other states, urging The reports point out that when funds in federal grants for ultrasound the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold a women do not receive family planning equipment to “community-based Colorado law that established an services there are economic implications pregnancy help medical clinics.” Some eight-foot “no approach” zone outside as well as serious social consequences. I states are using the proceeds of license reproductive health offices. Last year, have urged the Governor and Legisla- plates reading “Choose Life” to fund Brown testified for Spitzer in favor of a ture to change State policies and CPCs. similar proposal in New York City. improve health care for all women. In addition to taking cases that We face important challenges. We fulfill the promise of the Freedom of can meet these challenges together. You Please donate! Access to Clinic Entrances Act, Attor- can count on me to work with you to ney General Eliot Spitzer’s Reproduc- create a New York where every woman Use the coupon tive Rights Unit engages in advocacy has what she needs to achieve her own and analysis on a broad array of vision of a happy, healthy, successful pertinent issues on behalf of the life. page 19 people of New York State.

12 ProChoice, Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion, Inc. Spring 2002 New York Plays Finding Yourself Major Role In Protecting in Westchester by Phillip Chonigman Choice Partner - GeoPolitical Strategies by State Senator Suzi Oppenheimer e’ve all heard about how redistricting can affect the Woutcome of elections, but do you know why it’s such hen the United States an important piece of the political process? First, let’s start by WSupreme Court issued clearly defining the terms. Redistricting is the changing of its landmark 1973 decision in legislative district lines to equalize the population in each Roe v. Wade, decriminalizing district; reapportionment is the changing of the number of abortion services throughout State Sen. Suzi Oppenheimer seats in a legislative body and modifying the district lines to the nation, it was undoubt- reflect that change. Redistricting and reapportionment must edly the most important victory in the history of the fledgling be completed as soon as possible after release of the decen- abortion rights movement. Finally, a woman’s right to choose nial Census of Population. had been affirmed by the highest court in the land. In New York State, we are required to reapportion our It is only natural, then, that many of us think of Congress Congressional Districts since we lost two seats (we are going and federal and state courts as the ultimate battlegrounds in from 31 to 29 representatives) due to slower population protecting this right. But in truth, the struggle to maintain growth here than in the rest of the country. The NYS Senate reproductive freedom for all women is being waged over and appears to be considering the addition of one seat (going to over again, year by year, in state legislative chambers across 62 senators) and therefore would need to reapportion, while the United States. the NYS Assembly must hold at 150 seats and hence will just Our state is no exception. Although New York is consid- redistrict. ered one of the more progressive pro-choice states, having The change of district lines that result from this process legalized abortion three years prior to the Roe v. Wade ruling, can often change who your representatives will be. For we must remain ever vigilant in protecting a woman’s right to example, the current proposal put forth by the Legislative choose. Throughout my years in the State Senate, and before Task Force handling NYS redistricting calls for shifting that as a long-time pro-choice advocate, I have actively Eastchester from the current Senate District of Nick Spano to opposed countless legislative efforts to erode abortion rights. one where Guy Velella would be the incumbent; while on the For example, a number of proposals to restrict access to Assembly side, Willis Stephens would become the incumbent abortion – including bills to outlaw all abortions under the in Somers and North Salem, currently represented by Naomi guise of banning late-term abortions, end Medicaid funding Matusow, and in Yorktown, which Sandy Galef now repre- for abortion services, and require young women seeking sents. Changes such as these will be occurring in many areas abortions to obtain parental consent – continue to come of the county. before the State Legislature from time to time without The significance of such changes cannot be underesti- success. While it is disturbing that these proposals continue to mated. Many incumbents will be faced with campaigning in enjoy a measure of support and attention from anti-choice unfamiliar territories among voters that are unfamiliar with forces, it is also important to note that pro-choice advocates them. This effectively removes some of the inherent advan- do not sit idly by. We have successfully advanced a number tages of incumbency. On the other hand, the redistricting of progressive measures in recent years, including the 1999 process can be used to manipulate likely results by drawing clinic access law which protects patients and workers from district lines that benefit incumbents of one political party harassment and violence. We have mobilized grassroots over those of another, and sometimes even eliminating support to defeat some restrictive bills. incumbents by putting them in the same district. During this legislative session, debate is continuing on at Incumbent representatives are likely to be more vulner- least two important issues affecting reproductive freedom, if able to challenges in the election following a redistricting. not specifically access to abortion. I hope both will be re- Supporters may need to turn out in force to help protect a solved this year, with the help of advocates from throughout favorite legislator, or perhaps seek to oust a foe of important New York. Requiring insurance coverage for prescription causes, such as reproductive choice. 2002 is a critical year in contraceptives is highest priority. The Senate has passed a which to be politically active and to encourage voter educa- Women’s Health and Wellness bill that includes this provision, tion. albeit with an exemption for religious institutions if they employ and service primarily members of their own faith. The Protect your right Assembly version of this legislation provides no exemptions, Please see Suzi on page 18 to choose

Spring 2002 ProChoice, Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion, Inc. 13 Thompson Proposes Judges from Page 1 the bench was not an isolated incident. Pickering’s ability to Care for Pre-Persons separate his private religious beliefs from his public sector duties was questioned at his 1990 confirmation hearings for Circuit s Brian Lehrer of National Public Radio has observed, the Court. The Senators’ cause for concern stemmed from a 1984 ABush administration may be pro-life, but they’re not address Pickering gave while serving as President of the stupid. Under the guise of a simple regulatory change, they Mississippi Baptist Convention. He said that the Bible should be are now cleverly pretending that they want to grant health “recognized as the absolute authority by which all conduct of care benefits to the needy when they are in fact engaged in man is judged….” yet another boldfaced attack on abortion rights. On February 14th U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer announced On January 31, DHHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson his opposition to the Pickering nomination. Sen. Schumer, a announced his plan to issue a regulation allowing states to member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Chairman of extend the State Children’s Health Insurance Program the Courts Subcommittee, said his decision to vote against the (SCHIP) to pregnant women for their “unborn children” [sic]. nomination stems from concerns over Pickering’s judicial record According to Thompson, this is an altruistic effort to “help on issues like civil rights and women’s rights, as well as the high poor mothers be able to take care of their unborn children number of reversals in cases where the Fifth Circuit Appellate and get the medical care they absolutely, vitally need.” Court found Pickering’s opinions to be extremely flawed. But watch that language: “unborn children.” If the • Professor Michael McConnell has been nominated to the administration were really interested in helping the needy Court of Appeals, 10th Circuit. McConnell has signed a petition families, there are several straighter paths they could have asking Congress to outlaw all abortions, including those in cases followed. But by allowing embryos to qualify for SCHIP, the of rape or incest. He also opposed the Freedom of Access to administration has made its intent clear. Forget that poor, Clinic Entrances Act. pregnant women are people; simply convey “personhood” • Carolyn Kuhl has been nominated to the Court of Ap- to the unborn. Pretend to talk about prenatal care when the peals, 9th Circuit. At present, she is a Superior Court Judge for true focus is an all-out attack on abortion. Los Angeles County, having been appointed by former Gover- If extension of prenatal care coverage were the real nor Pete Wilson. As a Deputy Solicitor General during the objective, they could provide it directly to pregnant women Reagan administration, Ms. Kuhl was outspoken in calling for by obtaining waivers to existing rules limiting coverage of the reversal of Roe v. Wade, which she called “flawed.” In prenatal care. In New Jersey and Rhode Island, these waivers private practice she was also a proponent of the infamous have been granted and women are receiving the care they “domestic gag rule.” need. This is a complicated procedure but far less tangled The nominations of both Professor McConnell and Judge with red tape than the new regulations proposed by Thomp- Carolyn Kuhl will come under closer scrutiny after the Pickering son. nomination has taken its course. Alternatively, Bush could work to convince Congress to Nominations made by the President are examined by the change the SCHIP statute in order to allow states to cover Senate Judiciary Committee which conducts hearings. If a pregnant women without a waiver — AND to provide the candidate is approved by a majority, the nomination is then concomitant increase in funding. But Thompson has not passed on to the full Senate which votes after conducting chosen to do that either. investigatory hearings. Imagine the complications of the fetal personhood plan. Republicans may attempt to bring all three of the Bush As Lehrer noted in his radio broadcast February 2, “unborn judicial nominations before the full Senate even if the children” would probably need a Social Security number to committee votes to reject them. “I’m concerned that what get government money. But to get their Social Security card, we have with Judge Pickering is a warm-up for a later battle wouldn’t they need a name? Before a name can be chosen on the Supreme Court,” Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said. Sen. the sex of the fetus must be determined; hence amniocente- Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) said he thought the White House was sis appears to be necessary. Don’t forget that the moment of “testing” Senate Democrats to determine whether they conception must be pinpointed so that the government could would confirm conservative nominees (Petrocelli, Houston figure out the date that the zygote starts to be eligible for Chronicle, 3/7/02). health care. The role of the U.S. Senate is to see that nominees to the Many have said that the Thompson plan, scheduled to be federal courts hold views within the constitutional published in May, is nothing more than a political payoff to mainstream…not the arch-conservative fringe. the Bush administration’s anti-abortion supporters. Certainly, increasing access to prenatal care could be achieved far more easily without redefinition of a fetus as an “unborn child.” If you want to get e-mail Bottom line: Don’t delude yourself for a moment into thinking that the Bush administration cares in the least about from WCLA, see the financially distressed pregnant women. The tycoons of the instructions on page 19. Bush regime have other matters on their mind.

14 ProChoice, Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion, Inc. Spring 2002 Help Wanted: Independent Thinkers Need Not Apply ritical health positions in the Bush administration are new institute at the university to help advance that work and Cnow vacant. Filling these spots will be difficult because has promised to ‘intensely pursue this research because of its credentials are taking a backseat to abortion politics. huge potential impact on human health.’” Zerhouni, how- Nominations are expected to be a landmine for President ever, has perhaps had a change of heart. It is reported that in Bush. He has made his views on abortion, abstinence, stem order to gain the necessary conservative support for his cell research and cloning known. The conservatives who nomination Zerhouni has signed a document stating his played a major role in his election expect all nominees to be support for Senator Sam Brownback’s legislation. This of a similar ilk. proposed legislation bans all cloning including therapeutic. • The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is leaderless. Dr. (According to Congressional sources, Brownback led the fight Anthony S. Fauci had been the presumptive nominee, against Fauci.) especially since he had garnered strong support from • The nation is also without a Surgeon General. Dr. David Secretary Tommy G. Thompson of Health and Human Satcher, whose term has now expired, left the administration. Services. Fauci now heads the National Institute of Allergy Satcher, a Clinton appointee, will not be missed by the Bush and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). He had asked to serve White House. Prior to his departure, he released a report concurrently as both head of NIAID and the NIH. Fauci was extolling the benefits of comprehensive sexuality education. told he was “highly unlikely to be nominated.” Officials This report put him at loggerheads with the religious right claimed the White House did not wish to grant his dual role who believe in abstinence-only education. request. However, speculation amongst beltway pundits • Dr. Jeffrey P. Koplan, the director of the Centers for was that Fauci was out of the running because of his Disease Control, resigned at the end of February, leaving steadfast refusal to state his position on abortion. Conserva- another vacancy to be filled. tives have noted that in 1988 Fauci made remarks support- • The post of commissioner of the Food and Drug Admin- ing fetal tissue research. istration is also vacant. As ProChoice went to press, both The Baltimore Sun and The need to fill these positions is great but the likelihood The Washington Post reported that the nomination of Dr. becomes increasingly remote. “If the Bush administration Elias Zerhouni, executive vice dean of Johns Hopkins Univer- disqualifies all candidates with a record of supporting re- sity School of Medicine, was imminent. The New York Times search using the tissue or embryonic stem cells beyond the had previously stated, “A potential complication, though, is limits set by President Bush last August, it could end up with that Hopkins has been a pioneer in embryonic stem cell a depleted pool of contenders.” (Boston Globe editorial, 2/ research, and Dr. Zerhouni was instrumental in creating a 28/02) Portugal’s Back Alleys NYC Reinstates the Necessary he back-alley abortion business in danger; or the pregnancy is the result of YC Mayor Michael Bloomberg Portugal was spotlighted during T rape. has revised the current patch- the trial of a nurse charged with N However, like the United States prior work training curriculum given to OB/ illegally performing the procedure. to Roe v. Wade, the law in Portugal has GYN residents at the City’s 11 public The nurse, Maria do Ceu Ribeiro, not stopped women from getting hospitals to include thorough abortion was tried along with 42 co-defen- abortions. Abortion advocates put the training. The new policy will be dants, including 17 women charged number of women having illegal enacted at all public hospitals in New with having abortions. Most were abortions at somewhere between York City. However, students will be acquitted by the four-judge panel due 20,000 and 40,000 per year. Portugal able to opt out of that training if they to lack of evidence. has approximately 10 million people. have moral objections to abortion. Maria do Ceu Ribeiro was sen- Patricia Muller, a journalist for Elle, Abortion rights advocates hailed tenced to eight years in prison for explains, “In Portugal, everyone has the change in policy, noting that one performing abortions and for stealing them. If they’re rich, they go to Spain, in seven American-trained doctors the equipment, drugs and prescription and if they’re not, they go to midwives, receives instruction in a New York City forms she used from the hospital often in really bad conditions.” hospital. As a model for other medical where she worked. Sound familiar? schools nationwide, the Bloomberg With the exception of Ireland, plan has enormous potential impact. Portugal’s abortion laws are the The New York State Right to Life strictest of the European Union Committee is considering a legal countries. Abortions are permitted Visit wcla.org! challenge to Mayor Bloomberg’s only when the fetus is congenitally policy. deformed; the woman’s health is in Spring 2002 ProChoice, Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion, Inc. 15 The Violence Continues ust so we wouldn’t think that street violence at women’s women’s clinics when he was finally arrested. Jhealth clinics was a thing of the past, Operation Save Waagner said that he had threatened to kill abortion America (previously known as Operation Rescue) carried out providers, and planned to shut down every women’s health a tenth anniversary siege in Wichita, Kansas last summer. We clinic in America with a bogus “government” fax mailing. recall the summer of 1991, when anti-choice protests Each clinic would be told it contained a bomb. Workers paralyzed Wichita, and 2,700 anti-choicers were arrested in would be instructed to flee immediately without using the 45 days of demonstrations. In 2001, Operation Save phones because the phones could activate the bombs. America fielded a lesser number of protesters, but they were Waagner was arrested at a Kinko’s store in Ohio in no less fervent in attempts to close Dr. George Tiller’s clinic. December. He had been a fugitive from justice after he On the anthrax scene, Clayton Lee Waagner, who escaped from an Illinois jail ten months earlier where he was admitted to mailing over 500 supposedly anthrax-laden being held on charges of bank robbery. In January, 2002, he letters to women’s health clinics, also admitted that he was was sentenced to 30 years on charges unrelated to his anti- about to launch a nationwide bomb scare against 900 abortion activities.

PAS — An Anti-Choice Sickness Florida De-FACES abloid headlines read: “Women on the choice movement. Since legal Again Tsuccumb at alarming rate to post- abortion is a safe surgical procedure abortion stress syndrome.” “Dramatic David C. Reardon, director of the anti- n anti-abortion activist has increase in incidents of breast cancer - choice Elliot Institute, and his allies have Aturned the Freedom of Access suicide among women who have invented mental pain as a repercussion to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act on its abortions.” There is not one shred of of abortion. Reardon trumpets a head. FACE is the federal statute scientific evidence to back up any of forceful anti-choice message: “Abortion intended to protect medical clinics, these claims. The articles are authored hurts women.” He explains, “By doctors, patients, and staff from by well-recognized anti-choice leaders demanding legal protection for women intimidation and harassment. Now, intent upon instilling fear through lies. forced into unwanted abortions and an anti-abortion activist is claiming Post-abortion stress syndrome (PAS) greater rights for women to sue for that a pro-choice clinic employee is not an official syndrome or diagnosis post-abortion trauma, we force our threatened to kill him at an anti- recognized by the American Psychiatric opponents to side with us or to be abortion office – and that he can Association, the American Psychological exposed as defending the abortion therefore sue under FACE. Association, or any other mainstream industry at the expense of women.” As reported by the Tallahassee authority. Even such noted anti-choice Organizations such as SafeHaven, Democrat, the decision by the 11th advocates as President Reagan’s Sur- Healing Hearts Ministries and Victims of U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals “is the geon General C. Everett Koop deter- Choice prey upon the emotions of latest in a long line of politically mined that there was insufficient women at a vulnerable time. While charged rulings generated by evidence of trauma related to abortion. claiming to offer compassionate care intense protests at Florida clinics.” Psychological problems were “minus- these organizations impose a three-step The court, in this instance, ruled cule from a public health perspective.” process on their victims to alleviate the that an anti-abortion volunteer can The American Psychological Association “psychological damage” from abor- bring his cause of action under has concluded that terminating an tions. To be forgiven for the abortion, FACE. The attorney representing unwanted pregnancy poses no hazard women must open their hearts to Jesus the clinic noted that the decision to women’s mental health and that the Christ, speak out against abortion and, only affected the ability to sue, not predominant sensation following the whenever possible, lobby for anti- whether or not the plaintiff can termination of an unwanted pregnancy choice legislation. Final absolution is prove the allegation. The Circuit is relief. The only groups subscribing to the promised outcome if the woman Court also said the activist’s allega- the existence of PAS are the dozens of sues the abortion provider for malprac- tion that the incident occurred in anti-choice organizations that have tice. With frightened women doing January, 1998 was adequate for the sprung up to produce literature about their dirty work, these organizations pleading. this fictitious ailment. They also ma- believe they can put abortion providers The other contention of anti- nipulate statistics to fabricate relation- out of business by making it too risky choice activists, that FACE gave ships between breast cancer or suicide and too costly to continue functioning. them a right to engage in sidewalk and abortion but cannot provide counseling, was rejected by the documentation. Circuit Court. This PAS approach is a direct assault VOTE!!!

16 ProChoice, Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion, Inc. Spring 2002 Bush’s Appointments: From the Distressing to the Alarming resident Bush and his administra- married approach to public health and for blaming most, if not all, of society’s Ption appear determined to serve their outspoken opposition to condom ills (academic failure, emotional and only America’s anti-choice population. education and distribution programs, behavioral aberrations, juvenile crime Pursuing the worst inclinations of the even to stem the AIDS epidemic. Sadly, and teenage pregnancy, to name a few) Reagan-Bush years of the ’80s, our rather than taking the opportunity to on the absence of a father figure in the current President is increasingly alienat- give new energy to a Clinton-era AIDS home. ing members of his own party. A long- initiative, Bush has crammed PACHA • Far and away the most disturbing standing WCLA donor recently wrote, with anti-choice/anti-birth control Bush appointment was his naming of “I’ve been a Republican for 50 years, devotees. (PACHA advises the White John Ashcroft as Attorney General. but just can’t vote Republican any House and federal agencies on HIV/ Staunchly anti-choice, Ashcroft’s more because of their stand on the AIDS-related programs, policies, pronouncements range from the social issues – except for the all too rare research, prevention and treatment dangerous to the ludicrous. He has Republican who’s unabashedly pro- strategies.) recently been widely lampooned for choice.” • Dr. Wade Horn, one of the founding spending nearly $9,000 to cover statues Prominent presidential appoint- members of the Marriage Savers Board, of naked women in the Justice Depart- ments illustrate the extent to which was named by Bush to be Assistant ment building because, presumably, the Bush is going to align himself with Secretary for Children and Families in sight of certain marble body parts made arch-conservatives, leaving people like the Department of Health and Human him uncomfortable as he made his way our contributor exasperated and…in Services. Founder and President of the to his office suite. This action is remi- search of a party. National Fatherhood Initiative, Wade niscent of another renowned leader, • Ron Haskins, former congressional relentlessly pursues an anti-choice, Benito Mussolini, who ordered the staffer, is now coordinator of the abstinence-only agenda for the nation’s Black Shirts to do the same. administration’s activities on “Welfare welfare program. Horn is best known Reform.” Haskins became a true conservative Republican party favorite John Ashcroft at Work after authoring the abstinence educa- ttorney General John Ashcroft is more concerned with enforcing his personal tion section of the 1996 welfare bill. A“life” philosophies than the tenets of the U.S. Constitution. Congress used his copious writings to • 2/15/02 John Ashcroft’s Department of Justice (DOJ) has intervened in an justify spending $50 million per year on abortion-related case. The DOJ has filed an amicus brief asking the U.S. Circuit Court abstinence-only education. of Appeals to uphold the Ohio ban on so-called “partial-birth” abortion. • New Bush appointees to the Presi- The Ohio ban was previously struck down as being too narrow. Doctors, by law, dential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS would not have been able to use a specific procedure even if, in their medical judg- (PACHA) include Representative Tom ment, it was the safest option. A Nebraska ban was held unconstitutional by the U.S. Coburn (R-OK) as PACHA co-chair, Supreme Court last year in the case, Stenberg v. Carhart. Patricia Funderburk Ware, a Bush Sr. • 11/6/01 John Ashcroft instructed the Drug Enforcement Administration to pursue bureaucrat, as the new executive disciplinary action against doctors who prescribe lethal doses of drugs to terminally ill director and Joe McIlhaney, M.D., a patients under Oregon’s “landmark” physician-assisted suicide law. self-proclaimed sexuality expert from Oregon is the only state that permits physician-assisted suicide under the Death Texas. The common thread of these with Dignity Act. Ashcroft’s directive overturns a 1998 decision by former Attorney appointments is the three individuals’ General Janet Reno. insistence on the abstinence-unless- Responding to Ashcroft’s actions, Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber said, “This is an unprecedented intrusion of Oregon’s ability to regulate the practice of medicine.” The spirit of Ashcroft’s naked statues decision is aptly captured by Darby Conley in “Get Fuzzy” on February 14:

©Darby Conley/Distributed by United Features Syndicate, Inc. Spring 2002 ProChoice, Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion, Inc. 17 Life Congress: Multiplying and Dividing et another anti-choice organization! also condemn the President for capitu- call for “an immediate dismissal of all in YThe National Congress for the lating to scientists on the subject of government who are ultimately respon- Protection of Human Life (aka Life stem cell research. “Lifers” view his so- sible” for abortion, although they don’t Congress) asserts that it is a “no called compromise, permitting research- specify what kind of “dismissal” compromise” coalition of groups who ers to make use of already extant stem (Electoral? Firing?) they have in mind. are “100 percent, no exception pro- cell lines, as evidence that he does not How would that reflect on President life”; translation: They allow NO merit a “100 percent” grade in the Bush? One can only hope… exemptions — not for a woman’s life or anti-abortion grade book and thus Meet them at http://www.lifecongress.org health, rape or incest. Further, “Lifers” deserves condemnation. “Lifers” also

Polly from Page 2 into marriage, requiring even more people work at a time “Fauxgate,” a phony scandal usually invented by FOX News when jobs are tight, backing an effort to revive an Ohio ban to smear Democrats. Tamara Baker shined light on Maureen on partial-birth abortion, permitting hospitals and health Dowd’s baseless anti-Hillary and Bill Fauxgate involving insurance companies to “opt out” of providing abortion perfectly legal gifts (americanpolitics.com, 2/16/02). The services on the grounds of religious or moral objections. As Fauxgate was exposed, but the RNC and their media syco- he did when governor of Texas, Bush will sign any anti- phants, and not only Dowd, shamelessly revived it and kept abortion bill that hits his desk. it going. The mainstream media, including NPR and the Hypocrisy is embodied in the Bush budget, balancing Times, wouldn’t run stories such as Democrats.com’s pro- more tax cuts for his rich friends and corporations with deficit gram on the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s gift of the spending (!), starving Social Security and Medicare, and presidency to Bush. Cable networks feature daily briefings by cutting programs for the poor. He wants to privatize Social Ari and Rumsfeld, but rarely cover Democratic press confer- Security. As he whines about our need for oil, he’s pressing ences. If not for the Internet, much news would stay hidden. for an insane plan to drill for oil in the pristine Alaskan I’ve had a thing about archives since 1970, despite no ANWR, at the same time letting automakers maintain high inkling that abortion would be a political issue in 2002. I was fuel consumption levels. He’s throwing money at the military assiduous about cutting-and-pasting clippings, neatly in a for such wasteful programs as the sure-fail missile shield. He standard way, and keeping WCLA papers. This treasure trove plays favorites with corporations and media giants. He wants is in file cabinets and the computer. It includes The New York to give tax dollars to churches via vouchers and funds for Times story when the state legislature voted to decriminalize social services, a way of ending separation of church and abortion in 1970; the Times front page announcing Roe v. state. His hard-right appointments are epitomized in Attor- Wade; the first National Right to Life News; folders for ney General John Ashcroft, the most Christian-right of all elected officials; candidate questionnaires; and the storied senators ever. Ashcroft spent nearly $9,000 to veil statues in “nonsupportive correspondence.” This archive junkie still the Justice Building that show women’s breasts. takes information off the Internet, gets rid of the pesky ¶’s Onto the national media, overpopulated with gutless and >’s with a macro named “DelJunk.” They’re filed in my wonders and Bush partisans. I learned a new word: hard drive — for WCLA.

Suzi from Page 13 and negotiations are needed to reconcile Learn to Lobby Effectively this difference before a bill can be sent to he Women’s Campaign School at Yale University, in partnership with Pace the governor. TLaw School and the Westchester Women’s Bar Association, presents a The second issue is the need to provide special one-day training session, “LOBBYING, WORKING THE CORRIDORS OF rape victims with immediate access to POWER.” The session will be held at Pace Law School, White Plains, New York, emergency contraception (EC) when they Saturday, April 6. Registration at 8:30 a.m.; Class 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. seek medical attention related to the Learn how to: attack. Studies have shown that this • Influence and change public policy at local, state and national levels; option is not available in many hospital • Understand the legislative and political process; emergency rooms throughout New York. • Define your issues; We must keep our attention focused • Develop an action plan; on the State Legislature as well as • Get your message out. Congress and the courts as we wage the The tuition is $95 and includes training materials and luncheon. However, seemingly endless battle to protect and we have been told that professional courtesies are being extended. If you advance reproductive freedom for New mention WCLA on your registration, you will be charged only $85. There is an York women. We must be on our guard online application at: www.wcsyale.org. all the time, in Albany and in Washington. Citizen advocates, take advantage of this learning experience! 18 ProChoice, Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion, Inc. Spring 2002 No way to celebrate… Fetal Homicide — Bush on Roe anniversary resident George W. Bush used the The New Wave of Legislation Poccasion of the 29th anniversary of f you cause a woman, 13 weeks pregnant, to miscarry, can you be the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision Icharged with murder? Yes, if you are in the handful of states which have to underscore his administration’s loathing enlarged their homicide statutes to cover fetuses. of a woman’s right to choose abortion. He In a frontal assault on Roe, some legislators are looking to criminal law to proclaimed the Sunday prior to the anniver- elevate embryos and fetuses to a status equal to that of a woman. By making sary “National Sanctity of Life Day.” the embryo a second victim, with rights separate and apart from those of the Bush spoke to those participating in the woman, personhood is granted - and a dangerous precedent set. annual anti-choice demonstration at the The House of Representatives, in 1999 and again in 2001, passed the Washington Monument via a telephone “Unborn Victims of Violence Act.” If this bill becomes law, the federal criminal hookup. It was the first presidential address code would be amended to create a separate offense for causing the death of, to the gathering since Bush, Sr. was in or bodily injury to, an “unborn child” (which includes a fertilized egg) during office. the commission of a federal crime. The bill has not yet passed the Senate. One- In his speech, Bush went through his third of all U.S. Senate seats are up for election, however, in 2002. administration’s anti-choice, anti-family The anti-choice members of the House did not fool the editorial boards of planning agenda. Items mentioned in- The New York Times or Washington Post with their crime-fighting claims. Both cluded: opposition to so-called partial-birth exposed the Unborn Victims of Violence Act as a means to chip away at abortion, opposition to public funding of abortion rights. The Times on April 25, 2001 said, “Lawmakers who care for abortion, support for abstinence-only sex Roe v. Wade have no business voting for this disingenuous legislation.” education, crisis pregnancy centers, The Utah Supreme Court is now defining “unborn child.” Roger MacGuire adoption programs and parental notification is charged in the killing of his ex-wife who was 13 to 15 weeks pregnant by her laws. Bush also called upon the Senate to new boyfriend. MacGuire is facing two counts of capital murder. A lower court pass a ban on all forms of human cloning. judge, upholding the charges, ruled that, “Reproductive rights cases are simply While the organizers of the March for inapplicable to restrict the state’s interest in protecting unborn life.” He deter- Life claimed to have 100,000 people mined that the Utah legislature intended “unborn children” to mean that life present, the Capitol police initially estimated begins at conception. the crowd at 5,000 to 8,000, and, later in Right to Life organizations in other states are lobbying for similar legislation. the day, increased their estimate to 15,000. New York is not immune to these proposals. In both 2000 and 2001, a coalition Abortion-rights advocates also marked of NY legislators and Right to Life activists urged the state legislature to pass a the Roe anniversary. Supporters gathered fetal homicide proposal; the legislation has not passed the Assembly. outside the Supreme Court building for a candlelight vigil. E-mail users: We would like to contact you. We won’t inundate you, but we send inter- esting items from time to time and it saves us money on thank-you notes for contribu- tions. Please e-mail us at [email protected]. Include your name and, if you can, the 5- or 6-digit code on the left of the line above your name on the mailing label.

Where would we be without WCLA? My view: “Without WCLA, ”

Therefore, I will contribute to WCLA: $35 $50 $100 $150 $250 $500 $1,000 Other $ ______Visa, MC, AmEx Expires Signed Name E-mail Address I will volunteer for WCLA. Send me a form. I will contact my legislators when notified. By e-mail. City/Zip I will do phoning. I won’t vote for candidates who would restrict abortion. Political Party Phone Checks are payable to WCLA. Mail with this coupon to 237 Mamaroneck Ave., White Plains, NY 10605. Contributions to WCLA are not tax deductible. To phone in a charge, please call (914) 946-5363. Spring 2002 ProChoice, Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion, Inc. 19 Lest We Forget… he clandestine nature of illegal abortions, even if women were performed. A nineteen-year-old from Madison, Tsurvived them, sharpened women’s awareness of the Wisconsin, went to Chicago where she “waited on a street danger and illegality of abortions. corner, was picked up, blindfolded, and driven to a motel in a …A woman who went to Tampa for an abortion in 1963 Cadillac.” She commented later, “I know the person who did recalled being examined by the doctor, then being put in a the abortion was not a doctor. I went through with it be- van with several other women, the entire group blindfolded, cause I was desperate.” and then driven to an unknown location where the abortions When Abortion was a Crime by Leslie J. Reagan Reliable Listing Colin Powell Defends His Position of Abortion Providers on Condom Education listing of bona fide clinic-based espite criticism from conservative groups, Secretary of State Colin Powell Aabortion providers may now be Dhas urged condom use as a way to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. He found online at a new site run by the asserts, “[W]e have to do everything we can to teach people that, if they’re National Coalition of Abortion Provid- going to be sexually active, they have to protect themselves.” Since his views on ers. Point your browser to: http:// condom education differ strongly from the statements made by most of the www.abortionclinicdirectory.com or other members of the Bush administration, Powell has been asked to defend his http://www.ru486.com to see a list by position. He states that although U.S. policy rightfully starts with abstinence, state or by services provided. According “[F]or us to say that we shouldn’t encourage people to use the protection that to the information on line, this Abor- we know is there is irresponsible.” tion Clinic Directory is a product of the Foundation to Preserve Access to Abortion, a non-profit organization WCLA appreciates our many volunteers. which is the educational arm of the National Coalition. We can always use their help. (And yours!)

Inside Patriot: That’s Me...... 2 Salute to Polly: Photo Montage...... 8,9 Anti-Choice Sickness...... 16 Ex- President’s Mind...... 2 Your Elected Officials; Action Alert.....10 Bush Appointments...... 17 Editorials ...... 3 EC: Two NYS Bills ...... 11 Ashcroft at Work...... 17 ACLU Honors Polly Rothstein...... 3 NYS Budget...... 12 A Cartoon Statement...... 17 Merging and Submerging...... 4 Suzi Oppenheimer...... 13 Life Congress...... 18 St. Agnes and WMC...... 4 Westchester Redistricting...... 13 Fetal Homicide...... 19 FACE and Protesters...... 5 Pre-Person Care?...... 14 Roe Anniversary...... 19 H. Carl McCall ...... 5 OB/GYN Training...... 15 For up-to-date information, Nita Lowey...... 6 Bush: Help Wanted...... 15 please point your browser to The Cloning Controversy...... 7 Portugal’s Back Alleys...... 15 WLCA’s website, www.wcla.org. Believe It or Not!...... 7 The Violence Continues...... 16

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