---

When Catholic New Yorkers participate in the annual "Catholics at the Capitol" lobby day in Albany March 20, they will have a clear priority: Stop a bill they say would expand abortion and threaten religious liberty.

While the lobby day includes a slate of issues of concern to Catholics, with the abortion bill, "we're talking about innocent human life and a bill that can have long-lasting effects," said Dennis Poust, communications director for the New York State Catholic Conference, which advocates on behalf of the state's bishops on public policy concerns.

"Respect for the dignity of all human life is the fundamental aspect of Catholic social teaching," he added.

The bill in question is the Reproductive Health Act, which has been introduced by governors every year since 2007. In his January State of the State address, Gov. Andrew Cuomo grouped it with his proposed Women's Equality Act, which prioritizes nine other women's equality issues the bishops support, like equal pay, zero tolerance for sexual harassment and human trafficking laws.

Bill must change
"All these laudable initiatives for women are being held hostage by this Reproductive Health Act," Mr. Poust said.

During Catholics at the Capitol, hundreds of Catholics from across the state will request that the abortion piece be separated from the rest of the bill.

Opponents of the bill say it would insert a broad health exception into state law, which currently allows late-term abortions to protect the mother's life. Opponents also note that the bill could allow healthcare professionals who are not physicians to perform abortion procedures, could undermine maternity and prenatal care programs and could be used to compel all hospitals to allow abortions. They say the bill's religious exemptions are vague.

Press conference
Last week, a group of pro-life family doctors, obstetricians, psychiatrists and mental healthcare providers from across the state gathered in Albany for a news conference where they expressed their opposition to the bill. They argued that late-term abortion is dangerous and never medically necessary to preserve the health of a woman.

"Not all women and not all healthcare professionals support changing New York law to expand abortion in New York State," said Dr. Anne Nolte, director of the National Gianna Center for Women's Health and Fertility in New York City. "As physicians, we have very serious concerns about the legislation.

"We believe that it devalues what we consider to be our second patient: the child in the womb," she explained. "We're also concerned about defining abortion as a right. Will doctors and institutions which refuse to provide abortion be charged with discrimination? Will we lose our licenses? Will we be fined?"

The Governor's counsel has defended the bill, claiming it would not change existing state law but codify existing federal law, and accusing opponents of mischaracterizing its intent.

Mr. Poust countered, "Federal law tends to restrict abortion, rather than expand it. [The bill] goes well beyond judicial rulings or federal law.

"They won't show us how we're wrong," he added.

Survey results
Recent public opinion polls have fueled opponents. In a January survey by McLaughlin and Associates, more than 60 percent of New York respondents agreed that access to abortion in the state is sufficient; the number rose to almost 80 percent when survey respondents were informed of the number of recorded abortions performed each year in the state.

"There's no real constituency for [the Reproductive Health Act]," Mr. Poust said. "Nobody in their right mind is saying there's a problem with abortion access in New York State."

Public policy day participants will also advocate for Catholic schools, Medicaid redesign, affordable housing and humane treatment for the incarcerated.

Catholic education
Last year's state budget included full reimbursements for the state's religious and independent schools in return for meeting state mandates; the budget had previously fallen short or not offered funding at all for the 10-year-old Comprehensive Attendance Policy.

This year's budget again underfunds the reimbursements, raising the state's debt to the schools to more than $210 million. But Mr. Poust said the Catholic Conference is grateful that the state acknowledged it has used a faulty formula for calculating the compensation.

At the lobby day, Catholics will remind lawmakers that religious and independent schools save taxpayers more than $8 billion a year and push for the Education Investment Incentives Act to help keep Catholic schools affordable.

"We're at a breaking point," Mr. Poust said of Catholic education, noting that two dozen schools of the Archdiocese of New York will close this June: "If the state had paid what they owe us, some of these schools would not have closed."

Poor and vulnerable
Participants at the lobby day will seek to ensure that Medicaid redesign doesn't cut services to its users and doesn't discriminate against the sick, elderly or uninsured. They also want to push for affordable housing for low-income and vulnerable populations. Mr. Poust said that funding cuts have stabilized, but more funds should be invested.

"Funding of federal housing programs, including Section 8 for low-income families, has not kept pace with demand, generating ridiculous waiting lists," states the Catholic Conference's background material on the issue. "New York State can and must play a significant role in the development of affordable housing."

Lobby day attendees hope to advocate for "compassion in the criminal justice system," Mr. Poust added, by opposing special housing units that confine incarcerated individuals for 23 hours a day - a process that often results in self-harm or suicide.

The Catholic Conference will also present a new request for the compassionate, controlled release of certain incarcerated individuals who are elderly or sick. Such people, they note, have a low chance of reoffending and drain state resources.[[In-content Ad]]

---