Mayor-elect and self-proclaimed socialist Zohran Mamdani ran on a platform that included "protecting" city residents from possible deceptive information from pregnancy centers.
Based on that assertion, one would think the pro-life community was out pestering every pregnant woman in Manhattan. You'd wonder if these rabid pro-lifers were just waiting to distribute red Handmaid's Tale-style robes to the unfortunate who crossed their path.
You might think that, listening to Mamdani. However, Feminists Choosing Life New York shows only 11 pregnancy care centers across the five boroughs of New York City. Residents have at least 45 options of in-person or telehealth abortion providers in the city.
Rev. Jim Harden, the CEO of Compass Care, which runs three of those pro-life medical pregnancy centers in Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Staten Island, shared his fears about the mayor's statements in an op-ed for LifeNews: "Mamdani's campaign trail threats notwithstanding, what can pro-life Christian pregnancy centers realistically expect from Mayor Mamdani? The answer all depends on which of Mamdani’s fundamentalisms shows up for work. Either one is lethal to America’s Constitutional Rule of Law, rooted in Judeo-Christian beliefs, beliefs that are the basis for pro-life words and work in the public square."
During his run, Mamdani's team issued a "Trump-Proofing NYC" Google doc position paper that includes a section devoted to "defending reproductive rights." The document asserted:
The Mamdani administration will protect New Yorkers from false or deceptive information spread by Crisis Pregnancy Centers, including lies about abortion safety and medications, and enforce Local Law 17 forcing these centers to disclose whether they have licensed medical professionals. It will also strengthen the city’s Abortion Access Hub by doubling funding to $2M, which confidentially helps New Yorkers find abortion providers and supports people living outside of New York through the process of scheduling appointments and finding financial assistance. It will also double funding to the New York Abortion Access Fund, which will provide essential funding to ensure New Yorkers get the medical care they need as New Yorkers face cuts to Medicaid.
Harden also questioned the way that Mamdani will strengthen Local Law 17. He noted that rules about notifications will force pregnancy centers to add cumbersome language in large fonts to advertisements, which may include "a list of what we do not provide, such as abortion, to a phone number referring women to an abortionist."
The three centers in New York City, along with others that Compass Care runs across the state, offer services including pregnancy testing and ultrasounds, STD testing and treatment, abortion pill reversal, and after-abortion care. Theirs is the only organization in the city that does not have a profit motive in encouraging women to abort.
Harden's organization is already fighting a lawsuit from New York Attorney Letitia James, New York City, and New York State. If it is this difficult to stay in business and offer pro-life counselling and services now, what will women in crisis do after Mamdani is inaugurated in January?
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