December 1, 2020
Dear FCLNY Supporter:
New Yorkers are in trouble. Of all the States that report on abortion, New York continues to have the “highest rate, ratio and overall number of abortions,” according to the most recently published reports by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Rather than reduce NY’s abortion rate, NY legislators passed the Reproductive Health Act (RHA).
* The RHA promises to increase violence against women and children. The RHA’s lethal impacts are becoming fully visible. Only weeks ago, another pregnant woman in NY was killed along with her unborn child, and again the killer was not charged for the death of the child. Why? The RHA. Tragically, domestic violence has increased against women in NY since the passage of the RHA.
* The RHA fails to make the abortion procedure less dangerous and harmful for women. Ambulances and 911 calls from abortion clinics continue. The stakes have never been higher. The RHA allows for surgical, later-term abortions to be performed by individuals other than physicians. The RHA also permits later-term abortions to occur in facilities other than hospitals and out-patient ambulatory centers. Couple NY’s negligible abortion clinic oversight with the RHA’s allowances, and NY is indeed at risk for a repeat of the atrocities committed by the abortionist and convicted serial killer, Kermit Gosnell.
There is more trouble brewing for New Yorkers, particularly for (a) poor pregnant women and girls, (b) vulnerable college women, and (c) females facing unplanned pregnancies, who often turn to pregnancy resource centers for support.
The same legislature that voted to pass the RHA
* wants to require SUNY colleges and universities to have abortion pills available at all of their campus healthcare centers and for tax dollars to help fund this effort;
FCLNY educates the public on these pressing issues. We raise awareness about the impacts of policies that dehumanize. We influence legislation.
FCLNY challenges mainstream feminism. We are one of the only organizations that acknowledges the destructive consequences of pro-choice feminism, a philosophy held by many of our friends in feminist circles.
FCLNY acknowledges that the pro-choice world view allows humans to be seen as burdensome, as property to be disposed of, or exploited, bought or sold.
In this era of hostility towards individuals and organizations who diverge from the accepted mainstream narrative, civil conversation and action is often difficult. Not everyone is comfortable speaking and acting against pro-choice interests.
We are not afraid! FCLNY is reclaiming feminism! We are taking back and moving the feminist movement forward to its original purposes, designed by our feminist foremothers. Few voices today dare to recognize that feminism fights to protect the lives of all humans. Feminism does not contain the right to decide who should live or die or who among members of the human family are worthy of protection. The consistent life ethic informs our mission. This ethic actively opposes violence against every member of the human family and embraces the principles of non-discrimination.
People are listening. Our voice is secular and non-partisan. Our 2020 campaigns reached nearly five million people.
FCLNY educates on pro-life feminism, while challenging mainstream feminism through a myriad of activities, (1) Community Encounters (2) Scholarly Events (3) Film Involvement (4) Media Outreach (5) Grassroots Initiatives (6) Projects that Empower and (7) Legislative Advocacy.
Please see our website www.fclny.org for a detailed outline of our accomplishments. Please also read our latest article published in USA Today (Domestic and International Editions).
We’ve collaborated with other effective nonprofits on many projects, including Feminists for Nonviolent Choices, Feminists for Life of America, the Consistent Life Network, Americans United for Life, Peaceprints of WNY and the Thomas More Society.
We have big plans for 2021:
i. launching a laser focused RHA educational
campaign;
ii. lobbying for restored funding for prenatal and
perinatal programs and against SUNY medication
abortion (A.8743) and the proposed law that
seeks to tie up NY pregnancy resource centers,
(A. 8212);
iii. distributing thousands of our NY Pregnancy
Resource Center Guides and promoting and
expanding our NY Women’s Guide to Healthcare Brochure and Phone App. (The first
ever created.);
iv. implementing a pro-life feminism billboard
campaign, and finally;
v. executing our (now virtual) Symposium on
Contemporary Feminism, An Unsafe Space, with the country’s leading pro-choice and pro-life feminist scholars.
FCLNY cannot do any of this without you. We are fueled and propelled forward by your generosity. There are many ways to give, to help us. You can give financially or with your time, by volunteering.
New Yorkers need you. We need you. Please help. Every donation counts, whether of your finances or time. No amount is too small, $10 or 10 minutes.
It all adds up.
With Deep Gratitude,
Carol Crossed, Board President
& Michele Sterlace, Executive Director
