Assemblymember Amy Paulin Speaks Out For Women’s Rights At Women’s March on October 2

Below are remarks from State Assemblymember Amy Paulin about the recent challenge to abortion rights in Texas:
For years anti-abortion states and “pro-life” politicians have tried to chip away at Roe v Wade and abortion rights for women. For years they have sought to shut clinic doors and make it difficult, if not impossible, for women to access the reproductive health care they seek. Now in Texas we have seen what a pro-life governor, coupled with a pro-life majority on the Supreme Court, can do.

We all know that it is not pro-life to have sky-high maternal and infant mortality rates, to incite violence with lies about abortion, and to strip reproductive healthcare away from millions of women. Which is what is happening in Texas, Mississippi and other states that may soon follow. What is pro-life is supporting women in making decisions about their own bodies and helping them gain access to the health care they need.

The governors of Texas and Mississippi should be ashamed at how they have wasted money and resources on a fight whose only goal is to take away a woman’s personal right to make the best decision for herself and her family.

Of course, these new anti-abortion laws won’t curb the need for abortion care. They will, however, make it much more difficult, costly, and dangerous to obtain one. And the people who will bear the brunt of the horrific effects of these laws are communities of color, low-income communities, and youth.

This story has been around since I was a teenager in Brooklyn. There I had friends and classmates whose lives were changed forever due to lack of abortion access. And it is why I have spent a lifetime fighting to protect women and their rights to privacy and to control their bodies. Which is really what this is all about – curtailing abortion rights is a way of controlling women.

We must help women in the states where their right to abortion is under attack. This encompasses the courts, legislation, massive outreach, donations – everything we can do to help women in states with these draconian laws gain access to the services they need.

I am using the courts. Last month, I signed an Amicus Brief with legislators from 45 states which challenges the constitutionality of the new Mississippi abortion law, which bans abortion after 15 weeks.

I am also working on this in the NYS Legislature. I’ve just authored a bill which directly opposes and undercuts the Texas abortion bill. My bill makes it so that no claims can be made on NYS property which stem from an “aiding and abetting of abortion” verdict under the Texas abortion law. If it passes we will be the first state in the country to have directly attacked the Texas bill with our state law.

I will continue to use every method possible to fight for every woman’s right - regardless of their zip code - to a safe and legal abortion.