Archive for May, 2011
Westchester Magazine Perpetuates Rep Hayworth Deception
May 27th, 2011 by catherineNan Hayworth is not pro-choice. Prior to her election, she expressed support for restricting Choice, and support for the Stupak Amendment. After her election she has voted against reproductive rights multiple times:
- She voted for the Pence bill to cut all funding to Planned Parenthood and all of their cancer screenings, STI testing, birth control and more even though she knows that no federal funds go to abortion now because of the Hyde Amendment;
- She voted to cut all Title X funding and thus the family planning services provided to approximately five million women and men;
- She voted to overturn the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
The fact that she calls herself pro-choice would be baffling if we did not know she simply does it because the voters in her district (19 CD) would never have elected her if they had known she was anti-choice.
And another point, the Westchester Magazine article portrays Nan and her husband as this cute couple in a relationship where she goes to Washington and he stays home with the kids. The truth is that he is also a Washington player. He is Chair of the Board of Directors of the American Medical Group Association — a group that lobbies Congress, and thus his wife. I find the idea of a representative from our area being married to a lobbyist, voting on healthcare issues to be troubling.
Posted byJaney Lee, Board Member, WCLA-Choice Matters
(In Westchester County, WCLA-Choice Matters is the organization that actually does the homework to see if a candidate’s claim to be pro-choice is true or not. )
County Executive Astorino ‘Blesses’ Sexual Harassment Email
May 17th, 2011 by catherineThe Sequence of Events
**Tuesday, May 10th, George Oros, who is County Executive (CE) Rob Astorino’s Chief of Staff, and the CE’s Liaison to the Board of Legislators (BOL) and a former County Legislator himself, watched a live in-house broadcast of a BOL Committee on Community Services meeting at which closure of mental health facilities was being discussed. The closure of these centers affects thousands of Westchester residents and is being proposed by the CE.
**While Legislator Judy Myers, who is a Democrat representing Rye City, Mamaroneck Town, Larchmont, and parts of the Village of Mamaroneck, New Rochelle and Rye Town and is the only woman in a leadership position on the BOL, was discussing the impact the closures will have on mental health patients, Chief of Staff George Oros expressed his response to her comments with the following email:
“Judy sounds so breathless – “ooooohhhhh yeeeeesssss.”
**Oros, at 4:02 p.m., emailed the above to Legislator Myers. Some say he did this accidentally—maybe yes, maybe no.
Oros – Disrespecting and Insulting ALL Women
As Phil Reisman pointed out, George Oros’ email was “… practically a direct quote from Meg Ryan’s fake orgasm scene in “When Harry Met Sally.” (Click here to read Reisman’s comments.)
Oros was not responding to what Legislator Myers was saying. Oros was sexualizing Legislator Myers. He took away her mental capacity and saw only a sexual object.
Legislator Myers was elected by thousands of constituents in her district to represent them on the Westchester County Board. They thought of her as a bright, articulate individual capable of looking out for their best interests.
Chief of Staff Oros stripped away all of that respect and replaced it with nothing more than the Old Boys Club idea that women serve only as subservient sexual entities.
The Role Modeling of CE Astorino
CE Astorino’s response to this sequence of events was to laugh it off and call it “silly.”
His explanation was that at one time Oros and Myers worked together as legislators and that that somehow made this okay.
Clearly Mr. Astorino does not understand that “harassment in the workplace” means exactly that—harassment by a co-worker in the workplace.
The expression a fish rots from the head applies here and the head is CE Astorino. He has made it clear that in this administration women are to be second class citizens. There is not one woman—not a single one—in a decision-making position working in the County Executive’s Office.
Oros’ frat house behavior cannot simply be dismissed as boys-will-be-boys. It is not simply silliness, but instead a serious offense. No one should be permitted to refer to another individual in such a derogatory and demeaning manner.
If it is okay when it happens to an elected official, then it will be okay when it happens to our daughters, sisters, mothers, partners, or aunts. We must be outraged now, before it hits any closer to home.
Take Action
Contact CE Astorino’s office and say, “We will not tolerate that behavior.”
Demand Mr. Oros’s immediate resignation. Contact the County Executive’s office at 914-995-2800 or by email at ce@westchestergov.com.
Republicans Vote Unanimously (along with 16 Dems) – Pass “Stupak on Steriods”
May 7th, 2011 by catherineNote: Nan Hayworth (R-19 CD) voted in support of this direct attack on women. (Voters must remember that next Election Day!) (You can see a record of who voted how here.)
Click here to hear Congressman Engel’s (D-17 C.D.) and Congresswoman Lowey (D-18 C.D.) speak out in support of women and against H.R. 3.
H.R. 3 is actually an extreme attempt to eliminate access to and coverage of abortion services by: 1. Prohibiting federal and military employees from buying coverage (even with their own money); 2. Initiating rape audits if insurance is used to cover the procedure; 3. Limiting coverage of rape victims to only those who can prove forcible rape; 4. Allowing hospitals to watch women die if saving them means performing an abortion; and 5. Implementing financial barriers to cripple small businesses that offer employees health plans that include abortion coverage.
In the Senate, extremist Republicans are already working to ensure H.R. 3 comes to the Senate floor.We, their constituents, must make our opposition to H.R.3 heard. CLICK HERE to contact your Senators. Tell them to oppose H.R. 3
New Yorkers: To contact Senator Schumer:
Call 202-224-6542
To send him a message, click here.
To contact Senator Gillibrand:
Call (202) 224-4451
To send her a message, click here.
