LifeNet

Video of the County Board public hearing on legislation to restrict pro-life free speech

UPDATE: This video feature at the County Legislature has been viewable inconsistently - it may or may not work. We leave it to your own opinions as to why it may not be running ...

Here is the full video of the Westchester County board meeting on Monday, December 12th, 2011. This contains all of the approximately (forty) 40 speakers who spoke against the so-called "Reproductive Healthcare Access Bill", as well as the four (4) who were in favor of it, including the local Director of Planned Parenthood.

The video is almost four hours long, and contains a good deal of material that is not relevant to the free speech issue, but we do want to enable people who wish to view the entire proceeding to do so. We will be posting excerpts from our own video and audio over the next several days.

County Board Meeting, December 12th, 2011

Pro-life activism stops pro-abortion efforts to quash free speech at abortion "clinics"

In this season of Advent, we are grateful for this small victory!

No one can deny that the pro-abortion lobby in Westchester County has political muscle. Since the spring they have been pressing through their supporters in the Wetchester County Legislature to muzzle the free speech rights of protestors outside Planned Parenthood, and other abortion chambers.

Up until now, we and other pro-life groups have been working quietly to stop these efforts. And we have been partially successful, having eliminated some of the absurd ideas (bubble zones, etc) that were originally being considered.

However - the legislation finally presented out of committee to the full legislative body still seriously infringed on the basic first amendment rights of peaceful, pro-lifers who go to protest abortion. More on this in future postings.

We're pleased to report that over 40 pro-life people spoke out at the County Legislative meeting last night (December 12th, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe), including lawyers, sidewalk counselors and victims of abortion. We conclusively demonstrated that the legislation was a disgraceful attack on American values of tolerance and free speech, and the bill was sent back to committee. So the bill should be dead for this year.

Over the next several days we will be posting video from the meeting, as well as letters from attorneys and other sources, which supported the right of pro-life people to speak out peacefully at abortion chambers.

 

 

URGENT! Public Hearing on proposed Clinic Access Law Monday, December 12, 7:30 p.m.

Re: Local Law adding Chapter 425 "Reproductive Health Care Facilities Access Act"

A Public Hearing has been called for Monday night, December 12, at the County Board of Legislators Michaelian Building, 148 Martine Avenue at Court Street, 8th floor, White Plains, NY.

Some of you will be receiving calls. We need your support to attend this hearing, to submit written or e-mailed comments, and to speak at the hearing on this attempt to pass a new "Local Law" that tries to initimidate pro-life, 1st Amendment-protected speech at abortion clinics. The proposed law threatens pro-life witness with the expanded ability for lawsuits by the clinics; exhorbitant fines and extended jail terms for protestors.

Remember, no laws have been broken in 15 years; no woman has been prevented from receiving an abortion, if she so wishes. There is no legal basis for this new law, a heavy-handed expansion of already existing state and federal laws to address abortion access concerns. Warnings about potential legal problems with this new law's constitutionality have fallen on deaf ears at the BofL in an attempt to get this passed quickly before the veto-proof supermajority of the current Board is ended.

The law's sponsors are Legislators Myers and Shimsky. This legislation also seeks to regulate a 200-foot area from parking lots and bus stops and limit to 25 feet any approach of individuals entering abortion clinics. No other group that legally protests or shares information on public streets in the County (think unions; think politicians handing out literature) experiences this type of regulation that is really "strangulation" and outright discrimination!

E-mail us at hvcljournal@gmail.com if you can come. Call your County Legislator or write and submit to the Board and Public Hearing your objections to this outrageous piece of legislation.

We'll give you details, and you can read the proposed "Local Law" yourself. Check out videotapes at joint Legislation and Community Service Committee meetings on this legislation at the County Board of Legislators' website, too.

Your action and support is critical!

 

A Pro-life Voter Guide for Tuesday, November 2nd

We have combined information from several sources and at the end is a link to the Right-to-Life Party website. Forward &/or copy - Spread this around!

NY Governor: Carl Paladino

 

NYS Comptroller: Neither

 

Attorney General:  Dan Donovan

 

US Senate

2 Year Term:  Joseph DioGuardi     

Full Term:  Jay Townsend

 

US House of Representatives

 District 17 (Mt. Vernon, parts of Green-burgh, Yonkers and the Bronx) - Anthony Mele

 District 18 (Pelm, Eastchter, New Rochle, Mamaronk, Rye, Harrison, Scarsdale, Wt Plains, Mt. Plesnt, No.Castle – Cortes DeRussy (Write in - MUST be spelled correctly!)

 District 19 (Peekskill, Yorktown, Cort-landt,, Somers, No. Salem, Bedford, Pound Ridge, Lewisboro, and Mt. Kisco; Putnam) - Neil DiCarlo (write in - MUST be spelled correctly!)

 

New York State Senate

District 34 (Eastchester, parts of Mt. Vernon, Yonkers, Pelham, New Rochelle, and the Bronx) - Frank Vernuccio, Jr.

District 35 (Towns of Greenburgh and Mt. Pleasant, most of Yonkers) - Liam McLaughlin

District 36 (Parts of Mt. Vernon and the Bronx) - Neither 

District 37 (Harrison, Mamaroneck, New Castle, No. Castle, Ossining, Rye, Scarsdale, parts of New Rochelle, and Wt Plains)  - Neither

District 40 (Northern Westchester, Putnam County, part of Dutchess County)) - Greg Ball

 

New York State Assembly

District 87 (Mt. Vernon, part of Yonkers) - Samuel L. Rivers

District 88 (Eastchester, Pelham, Scarsdale, part of White Plains and New Rochelle) - Rene Atayan

District 89 (Northeastern Westchester, Harrison, most of White Plains) - Neither

District 90 (Cortlandt, Ossining, Peekskill, Kent, Phillipstown, Putnam Valley) - Neither

District 91(Mamaroneck, Rye Town, Rye, part of New Rochelle) - Neither 

District 92 (Greenburgh, Mt. Pleasant, part of Yonkers) - Thomas Bock

District 93 (Most of Yonkers) - Mike Ramondelli

District 99 (Yorktown, No. Salem, Somers, part of Dutchess and Putnam) - Steve Katz

NY State Supreme Court

State Supreme Court: Matthew Byrne

State Supreme Court: James Burke

State Supreme Court: J. Emmett Murphy

Westchester County Court 

County Court: Douglas Martino

Westchester Family Court

West. Family Court: Mary Clark

West. Family Court: Raymond Belair

West. Family Court: Anthony DeCintio

Yonkers 

City Court: Richard Sweeney 

Putnam County

County Executive: Mary Ellen Odell

 Local Right to Life Party - www.righttolife-9jd.com 

U.S. Bishop's Conference offers final decision on politicians, abortion, and taking communion

And the decision is to leave it up to the local bishop. Bishops end debate over politicians, abortion

McCarrick said the task force met with Democratic and Republican politicians and consulted with Vatican officials and bishops in other nations on the "frustrating reality" of Catholics who seem to reject Catholic principles.

"Our concern is not politics, nor just particular policies, but their faith and even their salvation. These dialogues are not about winning votes, but saving souls," he said.

On the issue of communion, he said there was "no substitute for the local bishop's pastoral judgment and his vital relationships with Catholic public officials in his own diocese."

The task force has written a booklet of "Readings on Catholics and Political Life" that has been distributed to every Catholic politician in the U.S. Congress. Education and information sessions on Catholic teaching are also being arranged on Capitol Hill.