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Letter To The Editor: An Attack On Planned Parenthood Is An Attack On Women’s Healthcare
By Emily Klein
Last week, Congressman Mike Lawler voted to defund Planned Parenthood, jeopardizing access to basic healthcare for thousands of women across the Hudson Valley. His vote risks shutting down nearly 200 Planned Parenthood health centers nationwide, including the Spring Valley clinic right here in Rockland County.
These aren’t just talking points. For many women, Planned Parenthood is their only access point for cancer screenings, STD testing and treatment, birth control, and prenatal care. When I was 16 and my mother died, I too needed Planned Parenthood when I didn’t know who to ask for help and healthcare (as many young women do not for a variety of reasons). As Alexis McGill Johnson, President of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, put it, this bill is a “backdoor abortion ban.” But it’s more than that: it’s a direct attack on the healthcare women rely on every day, as I did.
What makes Lawler’s vote especially egregious is that in the past he opposed defunding these services. He knows how critical they are in our community. That’s why I’m proud to support Beth Davidson for Congress. Beth is a mom and lifelong reproductive rights advocate who battled infertility and survived cancer twice. She knows firsthand how vital reproductive and preventive healthcare is. In Washington, she’ll fight to protect and expand access to care because she’s lived what’s at stake.
Mike Lawler turned his back on women in NY-17. Beth Davidson never will.
