Westchester Insider: Choice Matters: Westchester NEEDS safe access to clinics NOW!

 

Westchester Needs Guaranteed

Safe Access to Clinics
NOW!

Choice Matters is on the frontline fighting to pass much-needed legislation. Please support our work at this dire time. https://choicematters.org/donate-now/

Westchester clinics are not protected. After the invasion of the clinic in White Plains on November 27th, no further proof should be needed. We NEED a clinic access bill to protect those seeking abortion services right here in our home county. We need a local law designed specifically to meet the suburban needs of Westchester to ensure all women have safe access to reproductive health care facilities and health care centers, and without fearing for their safety—And that's why Choice Matters is leading this charge. Violent extremism is on the rise nationally. At the beginning of 2021, the nation was horrified to witness far-right extremists attacking the US Capitol. For abortion providers, the overlap between anti-abortion extremists and white supremacist terrorists’ movements is all too familiar.[1] There is a documented link between white supremacist and alt right groups with anti-abortion factions, including extremist organizations like Patriot Front[2] and Vanguard[3]. Two white power groups, Project Veritas and Proud Boys—both with local roots—clearly corroborate this.  Attacks on abortion clinics, patients, and providers have hit a record high, and have returned to the tri-state New York area, including Westchester County. The National Abortion Federation (NAF) which has been tracking violence against abortion providers and clinics since 1977, stated unequivocally that the violence that providers face today is "beyond anything we've ever seen before." Despite a global pandemic, and mandated shut-downs, abortion providers experienced a rise in targeted violence and disruption, “with a sharp increase in vandalism, assault and battery, death threats/threats of harm, stalking, and hoax devices/suspicious packages over 2019.”[5]      The attack on All Women’s Health and Medical Services in White Plains is, by all indications, just the beginning of the war on providers, patients, and reproductive health care facilities in Westchester. The anti-abortion agitators invaded the facility and swarmed the sidewalk in front of the building, the private parking lot, the driveway and private medical entrance located in the parking lot. On January 22, 2022 thirty activists returned. Their calls to organize can be found on social media and online papers. Warnings locally and nationally of their violence are issued by the National Abortion Federation.   Help us pass a clinic access bill here to protect the women of Westchester County.  Together we can make a difference!