FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 30, 2018
Stephanie Reichin
E: [email protected]
M: 617.549.3745
Statement from Andrea Miller, President of the National Institute for Reproductive Health Action Fund
“When Governor Cuomo introduced a robust Women’s Opportunity Agenda as part of his executive budget – decriminalizing abortion, protecting and expanding contraceptive access, and creating a Maternal Mortality Review Board – things felt promising for women in New York. When the Assembly followed suit, and included the Reproductive Health Act (RHA) and the Comprehensive Contraceptive Coverage Act (CCCA) in their proposal, we cheered on the Senate to stand up and take action that would change the lives of women in this state.
And despite the fact that each of these pieces is urgently needed from Buffalo to Babylon, we saw no action from the Senate Republican Majority or Independent Democratic Conference.
New York State has one of the highest rates of unintended pregnancy in the nation and the federal government is not going to safeguard Obama-era contraceptive protections. New York’s outdated abortion law is more restrictive than the federal standard, and forces women to leave the state for some care. And finally, our maternal mortality rates are 30th in the nation, with black women dying at four times the rate of white women.
New York continues to disregard women’s reproductive health rights and justice. The State makes it harder for women to prevent pregnancy, access abortion care if they do get pregnant, and doesn’t take action to protect women from dying during childbirth.
It is an abomination— three of the four “men in the room” claim to support these policies. But – when it came down to making hard decisions, women ended up on the cutting room floor yet again. Not legislator can leave Albany and try to claim victory for women and their health in this budget.
They have all failed us, again.”
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The NIRH Action Fund is a 501(c)4 that does non-partisan issue advocacy and electoral engagement to advance reproductive health, rights, and justice in states and cities across the country. Just as NIRH invests in localities and states, the NIRH Action Fund is interested in building political power at the local and state level to advance reproductive freedom.