WCLA – Choice Matters requires ALL candidates to submit a completed questionnaire in each election cycle in which a candidate is running. As explained in the Endorsement Policy at wclapac.org and prochoicevoter.org, WCLA PAC and ProChoice Voter use WCLA – Choice Matters’ ratings of the questionnaires and/or interviews to make endorsement decisions. Other than candidates running for U.S. president or vice president, WCLA – Choice Matters has maintained this policy without exception for over 30 years. All candidates are informed that if they do not submit a completed questionnaire and/or participate in an interview if requested, he/she/they will be rated “anti-choice”. This requirement is essential for two very important reasons: 1.) It exposes anti-choice candidates who opt not to return the questionnaire or participate in an interview rather than tell voters where they stand; and 2.) Candidates’ positions change, as exemplified in the cases of Jeanine Pirro (2001) and Virginia Perez (2018.) Only because WCLA – Choice Matters required a completed questionnaire in each election cycle was the Organization able to expose the changes in these two candidates’ positions. NYS Supreme Court candidate John Sarcone, who was rated anti-choice by the Organization in 2000 and 1998 when he ran for NYS Assembly, categorically refused to participate this year in an interview and threatened WCLA – Choice Matters with a lawsuit if it shared its opinion, rating him anti-choice in 2022. WCLA – Choice Matters declines to alter its rating process because that would constitute special treatment. WCLA – Choice Matters is non-partisan and is not allied with any political party. The Organization’s sole mission is to fight for comprehensive reproductive healthcare for all women and to eliminate all inequities in accessing that care. The Organization holds all candidates to the same standards, and does not give any individual special treatment. Endorsements are made but not necessarily accepted. WCLA – Choice Matters has never and will never let its judgement and political opinions be compromised on any basis.
Filed under: Election 2022
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Below is his secret questionnaire for Life News which includes that if elected governor, Zeldin will support:
>Defunding Planned Parenthood.
>Requiring “Informed Consent for a woman seeking an abortion”. Informed Consent FROM WHOM? Her husband? Her father?
Zeldinco-sponsored a bill to implement a national abortion ban.
If Governor, Zeldin promises to appoint a “pro-life” [sic] health commissioner.* (Imagine all the damage that person could do.)
In April Zeldin held a virtual town hall with the New York State Right to Life Committee, Zeldin said he wants to have a state health commissioner who is opposed to abortion rights. “I do believe that it would be a great benefit to the state of New York to have a health commissioner who is pro-life [sic] instead of what we’re used to,” Zeldin said.
“…governors hold a lot of power over the state budget.Political observers have pointed to the possibility that Zeldin could restrict access to abortions by cutting state funding to reproductive health care providers and withholding funding for Plan B.**
Click for more about Lee Zeldin’s Extremist Record*The Commissioner directs, manages and regulates the Department’s delivery of public health services throughout the County, including environmental sanitation, communicable disease control, personal health services, preventive healthcare, and health education.The Commissioner directs, manages and regulates the Department’s delivery of public health services throughout the County, including environmental sanitation, communicable disease control, personal health services, preventive healthcare, and health education.
**Lee Zeldin’s campaign promises: What can he actually do if elected?, City & State, 9/28/2022
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We should all be able to agree that an elected official or candidate can “evolve”. They can decide that a position they held at an earlier time is no longer what they believe today. We can, in some instances, even applaud that transformation.
But we should also be able to agree that an elected official or candidate cannot “evolve” without owning their original position. Otherwise, it is all just words – a game of smoke and mirrors.
Two candidates running on the Democratic Party line for Governor of New York, Jumaane Williams and Tom Suozzi, have precisely that problem. They ignore, even deny, their anti-choice history.
Tom Suozzi and Jumaane Williams are mimicking the likes of Republicans Pataki and Romney. They purport to have one position on abortion that runs totally contrary to their previous words and actions, perhaps with the hope that voters will have no memory. But we remember!In our book, candidates must own their actions. Candidates that don’t, can’t be trusted.
(Please take the time to click on the links in this email. They appear underlined and in gray.)
Jumaane Williams – an anti-choice & anti-same-sex marriage legacy
Jumaane Williams has a long history of being anti-choice and anti-same-sex marriage.
In a 2013 article in the Observer, Jumaane Williams defended his opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion rights by saying he was only running for City Council and, therefore, his views would not impact votes. “The only thing I can tell you is to look at the issues that have come before the City Council. Perhaps it would be a different conversation if I was trying to go somewhere else, but I’m going to the City Council.” Well, now he is running “to go somewhere else”, for a different office, one that greatly impacts abortion and LGBTQ+ rights for all of New York– He’s running for Governor!
To highlight the absurdity of his claim that his personal views would not impact his vote on the City Council, look at his 2014 abstention. Williams abstained in a vote on a critical bill that would allow transgender New Yorkers to change the gender designation on their birth certificate. He actively chose not to vote. He abdicated responsibility. Not voting is a huge action. His personal opinion clearly impacted his decision to abstain.
In 2013, in an interview with Politico, Jumaane Williams declared, “You have to check off a box of pro-choice and you have to check off a box of pro-life [sic] and I don’t know that I’m comfortable in any of those boxes. I am personally not in favor of abortion” — again proving that he cannot be trusted as an advocate for abortion rights. In that same interview, Williams also stated that he believes the definition of marriage is between a male and a female.
In 2018, in an interview with Choice Matters, Williams stated that he believed he should have had a say when his girlfriend chose to terminate her pregnancy.
In 2019, Politico noted, “Williams has long insisted his position on abortion was a personal one, rooted in both religious conviction and his own personal experience involving a pregnancy that was terminated without him being consulted. He has said fathers should have more rights in making decisions about abortions.”
This man is anti-choice. He does not acknowledge, much less admit, his past anti-abortion and anti-same-sex-marriage history and, most definitely, cannot be trusted with our future.
Tom Suozzi – An anti-choice waffler
Tom Suozzi is no better. He is running away from his anti-choice record. He has refused to answer questions about his actions or his positions on reproductive health care.
In 2005, when serving as Nassau County Executive, Suozzi waffled about a woman’s rights to control her own body, her right to privacy, as a constitutional right. He dubbed it “a debate.”
As County Executive, Suozzi declared, “I want to try and convert the same energy, passion and resources that fuel the debate, into a common effort.”
For pro-choice advocates: Abortion rights are not a debate! Constitutional rights are not a debate!
He proposed that Nassau County use $3 million of their surplus money over three years to fund alternatives to abortion,dividing the money between homes for single pregnant women, promotion of adoption and family planning education. He called his initiative “Common Sense for the Common Good”. It was an array of programs — adoption and housing, sex education, and abstinence promotion — to reduce unwanted pregnancies and to help pregnant women who want to bring their children into the world.
What about support for access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare?
These proposed allocations were anti-choice initiatives. None went to funding comprehensive reproductive healthcare.
In 2017, Suozzi reiterated his support for the Hyde Amendmentwhich in particular blocks access to abortion for lower income and of-color individuals. He refused to support the EACH Woman Act, a House bill which would repeal the Hyde Amendment. In a letter, women in Suozzi’s congressional district called for him to reverse his position on the amendment. “Time and again, we have begged you to reverse course and join your colleagues in demanding for Hyde’s repeal—and you’ve refused. We are ashamed that our own representative refuses to stand up for the accessible right to choose. A future without Hyde will mean that every person in America can control their own reproductive healthcare. Enough is enough—reverse your position on Hyde now.” This is a fundamental and defining issue for pro-choice advocates, accessibility must be for all – not just the wealthy.
In March 2017, in front of a national audience, Suozzi laid outthe same case for his “Common Sense for the Common Good” agenda on the issue of abortion – just like he did in May 2005 as Nassau County Executive.
Now Suozzi is calling himself “the Common Sense Democrat for Governor”. Same tagline, different day.
We cannot let candidates rewrite the definition of “pro-choice”.
New Yorkers who support abortion rights and comprehensive reproductive justice cannot afford Suozzi. Especially not at a time when the US Supreme Court is on the verge of overturning Roe v. Wade. He is dangerous.
Jumaane Williams and Tom Suozzi are anti-choice and BAD for the people of New York State.
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“WCLA PAC is proud to endorse Kathy Hochul for Governor of New York State. At a time when the US Supreme Court is set to overturn Roe v. Wade and states across the country are banning abortion, New York needs a champion – and that’s Kathy Hochul. She is proving herself a leader of national proportion in the fight for reproductive justice for all. Hochul is committed to making New York a safe haven for all seeking abortion care.
A lifelong advocate of reproductive freedom, Hochul is the only pro-choice candidate in both the Democratic and Republican Primaries.
New York State voters have the opportunity to make history by making Kathy Hochul the first elected Woman Governor of the State of New York. It starts with electing her in the Democratic Primary on June 28th!”
–Catherine Lederer-Plaskett, WCLA-PAC
About Hochul
Kathy Courtney Hochul is a lifelong supporter of reproductive justice. She became governor of New York following Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s resignation in August 2021, and has committed herself to the reexamination and exposure of the culture of sexual harassment in Albany. Hochul was selected as Cuomo’s running mate in 2014. Before her election as lieutenant governor, Hochul won a special election for New York’s 26th Congressional District and served in the US House of Representatives, (2011 to 2013). She previously served as an Erie County Clerk, (2007 to 2011), at that time, the highest elected female official in Erie County; and as a member of the Hamburg Town Board, (1994 to 2007).
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NYS New Redistricting Maps Spell Disaster for Democrats Monday the new redistricting maps were released by the “Special Master” – otherwise called a Republican Tool.
These new Republican-favoring seats can mean doom for Democrats unless pro-choice voters get busy.
Volunteer for Choice Matters or Donate to WCLA PAC to get pro-choice candidates elected Governor, Senator and Assemblymember.
Volunteer for a 3-hour shift to identify pro-choice voters or donate $49.44 to cover the cost of a caller shift.
We need callers around the clock if we are going to change the playing field with pro-choice voters.
These NYS maps were released today.
We know we can change the outcome if we can turn out reproductive rights voters.
This is not complicated. Pro-choice voters cross party lines to vote for pro-choice candidates. Help us turn out pro-choice voters!
Volunteer or Donate!
Volunteer or Help fund a caller’s shift with a donation $49.44 (or whatever you can afford) to cover a 3-hour paid caller shift.
Can we count on You? Please say Yes!
Help Keep New York State Pro-Choice!
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Kathy Hochul (D)
Antonio Delgado (D)
Dana Levenberg (D)
MaryJane Shimsky (D)
