'40 Days for Life' Plans Attacked on Day 1 by NYC City Council President
by Staff
September 29, 2008
NEW YORK, (christiansunite.com) -- "A vicious assault on the freedoms of speech, and assembly were launched against the peaceful and prayerful New York City pro- life community yesterday with the announcement of a new "Clinics Access Bill" on the first day of the nationwide 40 Days for Life campaign," charged Chris Slattery, founder and president of Expectant Mother Care-EMC FrontLine Pregnancy Centers, with ten alternative-to-abortion centers in New York City.The 40 Days for Life campaign, which Slattery is coordinating in New York City, is part of a 177 city, 45 state prayerful mobilization ongoing for 40 days from September 24th to November 2nd with volunteer led vigils at abortion sites across America.
Slattery, and a team of over 15 volunteer attorneys, led a successful effort to squash subpoenas and an investigation into New York City and geographically spread out New York State crisis pregnancy centers, by then Governor Eliot Spitzer, in early 2002. Spitzer lifted his investigation of close to 24 pro-life pregnancy help centers in late February, of that year, including Slattery's then five New York centers.
"The NYC Council President, Christine Quinn, NARAL, Planned Parenthood, and the NY Civil Liberties Union have designed a bogus law to empower NYC abortion facility staff to actually become rouge, vigilante prosecutors and persecutors of local pro-life life- saving, and life-changing sidewalk counselors," Slattery charged.
"These mostly volunteer street counselors, working with and for local pregnancy centers who compete with abortion mills, often hurt abortion businesses by successfully and peacefully dissuading abortion patients from entering their sites when offered free help, education, medical care, and housing, " Slattery said.
Slattery added that "Not only would this bill provide shocking new powers to harass pro-life activists with bogus charges, Christine Quinn and company want to employ unconstitutional draconian fifteen feet "no- speech" barrier or "bubble zones" in clear violation of the FACE (Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances) Statute, which protects pregnancy centers from being prohibited potential client access to their staff."
He further stated "This unAmerican bill will inhibit and chill all the free speech necessary to inform abortion clinic patients of their right to know the alternatives to abortion, not currently required by New York City or State law."
"Within minutes of learning of this new proposed bill on Wednesday I contacted David Bereit, national director of 40 Days for Life, and we have begun assembling a crack legal team and activist support network for a full scale counter-attack against this unfair, biased and blatantly unconstitutional bill," said Slattery.
He concluded that with "with God's help we will defeat this bogus bill, and bring out many women who have had their lives changed and babies saved by pro-life sidewalk outreach at abortion clinics."
