June 20 — Today the  NYS Assembly passed Gov. Cuomo’s Women’s Equality Act (A.8070, which includes abortion expansion) by a vote of 97 to 47.

Republican Annie Rabbitt voted against the bill — and we are grateful to her for standing strong and speaking out against it on the floor of the Assembly.

The other three representatives from Rockland voted for the bill, which will expand late-term abortion:  Democrats Ellen Jaffee, Ken Zebrowski, and James Skoufis.

During the debate, the sponsors finally admitted that the bill would allow non-physicians to perform abortions.

Speaker Silver and Women’s Coalition groups then held a celebratory news conference to put pressure on the Senate to vote on the entire package. The Governor then sent out an email to add additional pressure.

The situation in the Senate is still not completely resolved.  There are reports that abortion advocates will try to use a procedural maneuver to bring the abortion expansion proposal to the floor of the Senate.  We believe that there are enough votes to defeat this effort, and to keep the bill from even being considered.  But it will be a close call, and the change of even one vote could be decisive.

PLEASE continue to pray — and call you senator one last time and ask him to oppose the abortion provision in the Women’s Equality Act.

If you live in Haverstraw or Stony point, your senator is William Larkin. 518-455-2770.

 If you live in any other part of the county, your senator is David Carlucci.  518-455-2991

June 19 — Gov. Andrew Cuomo and groups pushing a Women’s Equality Act have decided to split the omnibus legislation into 10 component parts, essentially unhooking a controversial tweak to the state’s abortion laws from measures that ensure pay equity and combat discrimination, human trafficking and domestic violence.

It’s unclear if this maneuver, which came less than 12 hours after Cuomo’s office released an updated version of the omnibus bill, would force a Senate vote on the abortion plank.

Who Blinked?

Officially, Gov. Cuomo, NY Senate GOP Dig in Their Heels on Women’s Equality Act.

June 18 — With the Senate still holding firm and blocking Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Women’s Equality Act (WEA), a revised version has been introduced in the Assembly.  Among its several co-sponsors are Rockland’s Ken Zebrowki and Ellen Jaffe.

Recent changes to this legislation do nothing to alter the dangerous substance of the bill. A reference to the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act is meaningless, since no state law can conflict with a federal law under the U.S. Constitution Supremacy Clause. The amendment to include a 24-week viability line is hollow as well, as the bill continues to add the “anything goes” health exception, legalizing abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy for virtually any reason.

Please call/email your Assembly representative ASAP and tell them to vote NO on A.8070. This vote will take place Wednesday or Thursday.

You can use this link to send an email to your representative.

Or Call:

Ellen Jaffe: 518-455-5118
Ken Zebrowski: 518-455-5735
James Skoufis: 518-455-5441
Annie Rabbitt: 518-455-5991

This week, Governor Cuomo and the abortion industry concocted a new scheme in which they would amend the abortion expansion bill to state that partial-birth abortions would not be allowed. Abortion advocates hoped that by taking this step, they would woo Republican senators to support late-term abortion expansion.

Because the Governor’s bill has nothing to do with partial-birth abortion and the proposed amendment would be meaningless, pro-life organizations moved swiftly to oppose this strategy.

Thankfully, it appears that state senators have not been taken in by the Governor’s latest ploy, and the Albany Times-Union (no friend of the pro-life movement) reported that an “attempt to make an abortion provision more palatable to Senate Republicans sputtered through the Capitol like a loose balloon Thursday before falling flat as lawmakers scattered for the weekend.”

Albany, June 14 — As we enter the final days of the legislative session, NY senators are still standing firm against Gov. Cuomo’s abortion bill.

Facing opposition, Cuomo has agreed to add additional language to try to make the abortion plank more acceptable, but a spokeswoman for Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos said in a statement that  “nothing has changed” when it comes to the conference’s position on the abortion provision in the 10-point Women’s Equality Act (WEA).

Meanwhile, women’s groups are taking aim at Independent Democratic Conference Leader Jeff Klein (D-Bronx) and blaming him for holding up the measure.

To keep up with the proceedings as things unfold, check out the website Capital Tonight or for real-time news as it breaks follow them on Twitter @CapitalTonight.

In these last, tense days of the Albany legislative session, Sen. Joseph Roback (R-Monroe County) has announced that he doesn’t support the portion of the Women’s Equality Act (WEA) that would bolster abortion laws in New York, eliminating a Republican vote women’s groups had hoped to lock down. Read the Albany Watch story here.