Statement From BPCLC Regarding Assemblymember Katz’s Legislative Attack on Planned Parenthood & Other Reproductive Health Care Providers
Last week Assemblymember Steve Katz (R-Yorktown) launched an assault against women’s reproductive health by introducing legislation that would strip State funding from Planned Parenthood affiliates in New York, and any reproductive health care provider that performs abortions. As seen at the Federal level, and now in New York State, women’s reproductive health is facing a resurgence of dangerous attacks through the attempted denial of funding. A woman’s right to choice is no longer something we can take for granted. Here in New York, members of the Bipartisan Pro Choice Legislative Caucus (BPCLC) want to make it clear that such threats will not be tolerated in New York.
Throughout New York, over 200,000 individuals rely on Planned Parenthood for reproductive health services ranging from sonograms to cervical screenings to family planning. While Assemblymember Katz has chosen to attack Planned Parenthood on the basis of their abortion services, he has decided to ignore the many other life saving practices that Planned Parenthood offers. Over 70,000 women rely on Planned Parenthood for cervical cancer screenings each year. Evidently, these women were not considered when this legislation was drafted.
