The Rochester Chapter of NOW staged a protest in front of State Senator Joe Robach's office in Greece on Tuesday, April 22. At issue is the New York State Fair Pay Act (S.2936), which Robach (R,Greece) and his fellow Republicans are trying to scuttle.
As the new head of the Senate Labor Committee, Robach can keep the bill bottled up in committee so it can't be voted upon. And, that's just what he's doing.
On average women earn only 73% of what men are paid for comparable jobs. The New York State Fair Pay Act (S.2936) would end this discrimination by simply requiring equal pay for equal work. Not only is this important for the paychecks women receive now, but also for calculation of Social Security and pension ben
efits. The NY State Assembly has passed this bill every year since 2002, but it has been blocked in the Senate.
On Wednesday, women's rights heavyweight Gloria Steinem came to the Well of the Legislative Office Building in Albany to speak to union leaders, politicians and supporters about the importance of passing the Fair Pay Act. State Senator Joe Robach, R-Greece, also addressed the crowd, saying he supported the legislation. Then, Robach, who is the new chairman of the Senate Labor Committee, started backsliding, telling a reporter that he wouldn't actively commit to supporting the bill.
A letter to the editor from today's Democrat and Chronicle:
Unborn act should not be passed
Thank you, Willa
Powell, for bringing to the public's attention the dangers of passing
the Unborn Victims of Violence Act which Sen. Joe Robach, R-Greece, and
other anti-choice legislators are trying to propel through the state
Legislature. As Powell pointed out in her April 1 Speaking Out essay,
this bill is simply another thinly disguised attempt to chip away at a
woman's right to control her own body.
Unfortunately, well-organized lobbyists representing the religious right and anti-choice groups such as the Women's Health Collaborative have convinced Sen. Robach that he is on safe ground sponsoring such irresponsible legislation. Sen. Robach needs to hear from others who hold a different point of view on this issue.
LINDA STEPHENS
GREECE
The writer is a member of National Organization for Women, Rochester Chapter.
Who is Suzanne Topping, and why is State Senator Joseph Robach cozying up to her? Topping, who is pictured to the far right of Robach in his latest mailing to constituents, is the prime mover behind a local anti-abortion group which calls itself the "Women's Health Collaborative" (WHC).
Although it claims its mission is to educate women about their health choices, in reality, the WHC is akin to the fake abortion clinics which lure unsuspecting women in with false advertising, then use deceptive methods to try and talk them out of having an abortion.
The caliber of educational materials distributed by the WHC is questionable at best. For example, on its website is posted a research study published in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons (JPandS) purporting to show that abortion causes cancer, a claim that has been rejected by the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society, and the mainstream scientific community.
Further investigation reveals that the JPandS has been listed as "an untrustworthy, non-recommended periodical" by Quackwatch, the nonprofit corporation which combats health-related frauds, myths, fads and fallacies. The JPandS is not listed in the major literature databases of MEDLINE/PubMed nor the Web of Science. The World Health Organization has criticized research published in the journal.
The JPandS once published an article arguing that HIV does not cause AIDS and another criticizing humanists for conspiring to replace creationism with evolution.
Continue reading "Quackery & Junk Medicine: The Women's Health Collaborative Peddles Both" »
