To the editor:

Rep. Elise Stefanik’s co-sponsorship of a national abortion ban is an assault on equal rights and an affront to New York’s history as a leader in reproductive justice.

In 1970, three years before Roe v. Wade was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, New York state’s legislature passed a bill that legalized abortion in the state. Co-authored by Republican Assemblywoman Constance Cook and Democratic state Senator Franz Leichter, the truly bipartisan bill paved the way for people’s equal access to reproductive healthcare, a right that Stefanik and Republicans like her are fighting to take away.

Because of these attacks on healthcare, and because of Stefanik’s blatant undermining of the American democracy, I’ll be casting my vote this November for Matt Castelli, who supports protecting and expanding people’s reproductive rights, including the passage of the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would codify the right to an abortion.

Castelli also supports passing term limits Supreme Court justices and for elected officials (which Stefanik once claimed to be in favor of). One of Castelli’s legislative priorities is to repeal the restrictive Hyde Amendment, which bans people in federally-funded health care programs from receiving abortion coverage; such restrictions unfairly target poor women seeking control over their own bodies and futures.

Ultimately, Castelli is in favor of greater freedom and justice, and Stefanik supports greater control over and more interference from the government in our lives. She wants New York and her constituents to have even fewer choices than they did in 1970, before the Cook-Leichter bill passed and paved the way for the kind of security that makes me grateful to live in New York.

Sara Schaff

Plattsburgh