NARAL Pro-Choice New York Announces Support for NYC Mayor Bloomberg's Re-Election Campaign

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 26 Jul 2005 - 5:00 PDT

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NARAL Pro-Choice New York on Thursday announced its support for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's (R) re-election campaign, saying his record on abortion-related issues is "unparalleled in the city" and outweighs his affiliation with a political party that opposes abortion, the... New York Times reports (Rutenberg, New York Times, 7/22). NARAL Pro-Choice New York Executive Director Kelli Conlin made the endorsement during a press conference in Brooklyn and praised Bloomberg as a strong advocate for women's rights, including abortion rights (Gaskell, New York Post, 7/22). In 2001, Bloomberg was reported to be "furious" when NARAL Pro-Choice New York endorsed his Democratic opponent even though he had donated to the organization's national foundation and supported its positions, according to the Times. In spite of this, Bloomberg continued to donate to the foundation and in one of his first acts as governor issued an executive order requiring abortion training to be included in all OB/GYN residency curricula at the city's public hospitals, which Conlin said was a "real show of character." As governor, Bloomberg also began a $3 million campaign to help prevent unplanned pregnancies and increase access to emergency contraception and publicly encouraged New York Gov. George Pataki (R) to sign legislation that would allow EC to be sold without a doctor's prescription. "We have to remove ourselves from ... partisanship and really look at a person's record and what they've done," Conlin said.

One Condition: Oppose Judge Roberts
NARAL Pro-Choice New York's endorsement of Bloomberg seemed to have one condition: that Bloomberg issue a statement opposing President Bush's nomination of Judge John Roberts for the Supreme Court. In response, Bloomberg said he would support the nomination only if Roberts makes clear that he accepts Roe v. Wade -- the 1973 Supreme Court decision that struck down state abortion bans -- as established law (New York Times, 7/22). "This is not a partisan issue, this is an issue of basic human rights for women, and it transcends party line, and I support elected officials who believe as I do that women have a right to choose what to do with their bodies," Bloomberg said (Kugler, AP/Long Island Newsday, 7/21).

NARAL Pro-Choice New York

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