We Need A Roe of Our Own.
The Reproductive Health Act: It’s New York’s Roe. 
On April 18, 2007, the United State Supreme Court, in a 5 – 4 decision, threw out years of precedent and upheld President Bush's Federal Abortion Ban. With this decision, the Court deserted its long standing commitment to protecting women’s health and has opened the floodgates for further state and federal abortion restrictions. Six states have already introduced measures to further restrict abortion since the decision came down; however, New York is fervently working to safeguard a woman's right to access safe and legal abortion by introducing the Reproductive Health Act. Check out our Fact Sheet on this bill that will take the principles of Roe v. Wade and put them squarely into New York Law. We must secure the freedoms we have now before any further federal or state legislation is passed. We need a Roe of our own.  It’s time for NY Senators to Make a Choice on Choice. Now that the RHA is being circulated within the state assembly, NARAL Pro-Choice New York is launching a statewide campaign, and it’s not going to be pretty. Through this summer, we’ve been putting the pressure on state senators who have consistently been anti-choice, forcing them to make a final decision on whether they support women’s reproductive freedom. We need to remind them of where they are; New York is a leading state on reproductive rights and it’s going to stay that way. Our message to them is clear: If you don’t support this bill, you don’t support Roe. We targeted our first round of senators this summer by placing ads in local papers, leafleting at train stations and knocking on doors in their district to inform people about how their legislators are failing to stand for choice in New York: - Sen. Caesar Trunzo (3rd S.D., Suffolk)
- Sen. Kemp Hannon (6th S.D., Nassau)
- Sen. Carl Marcellino (5th S.D., Nassau/Suffolk)
- Sen. Serphin Maltese (15th S.D., Queens)
- Sen. Joe Robach (56th S.D., Rochester)
Stay tuned for our fall campaign! Take Action. Here are some ways that you can support the RHAPP Act: 3. Urge your assemblymember to support the Reproductive Health Act. 4. Download our petition. Have 10 of your friends, colleagues, etc. sign the petition to urge our assemblymembers and senators to support RHA. Join the Campaign While you’ll have plenty of opportunities to take action on the Reproductive Health Act through our action alerts, we’ll be doing serious groundwork, and would love your help. There will be many volunteer opportunities available over the summer for our campaign, including: If you’re interested in helping us target these senators and give them a piece of our pro-choice minds, sign up to volunteer today! RHAPP Pioneers and Supporters New York State Senate Democrats On May 8th, a number of Senate Democrats, particularly Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith and his colleagues, came together with NARAL Pro-Choice New York and other reproductive rights organizations to publicly announce their support for RHA. We praise them for standing up for women’s health. Click here for the press release. Memos of Support Here is a list of organizations' and groups’ memos of support for the Reproductive Health Act: - NARAL Pro-Choice New York Memo of Support [pdf]
- Family Planning Advocates of New York State Memo of Support [pdf]
- The New York Civil Liberties Union Memo of Support [pdf]
- WCLA - Choice Matters Memo of Support [pdf]
- Reform Jewish Voice of New York State Memo of Support [pdf]
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