Constance Cook

More than 50 years ago, our grandfather’s act of courage ended his political career. We’re still grateful.

BY ANNA MICHAELS-BOFFY AND BECCA MICHAELS KORNET
JUNE 08, 2022

On April 9, 1970, our grandfather, George Michaels, was an assemblyman in the New York State Legislature. That day, the body was set to vote on legislation that would lift New York state’s abortion restrictions and legalize the procedure. If you listened to this week’s episode of Slow Burn, you know the drama that unfolded that day. At first, the vote was a tie. Our grandfather had voted against it. But then he made a surprising choice that changed history.

A legislator representing a conservative Catholic district, our grandfather was not interested in risking his seat by voting for a new abortion rights bill. He knew his constituents weren’t in favor of the liberalization effort, and he had voted against two previous bills to expand access to abortion.

Continued: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/06/george-michaels-new-york-abortion-vote-courage-granddaughters.html

Book excerpt: Unhelpful Arguments That Downplay the Importance of Abortion on Demand

Jenny Brown
Sept 30, 2019

The first shot in the feminist abortion wars was fired in 1969 in a New York City Health Department auditorium, where a panel of male psychologists, doctors, clergy, and lawyers (and one woman, a Sister Mary Patricia) debated exceptions to New York’s law forbidding abortion. They were discussing whether a woman should be allowed to have an abortion if her health was in danger, or if she had been raped, or if she had already given birth to four children.

A shout came up from a woman in the audience: “Now let’s hear from the real experts on abortion!” Then, “Repeal the abortion law, instead of wasting more time talking about these stupid reforms!” Then, “We’ve waited and waited while you have held one hearing after another. Meanwhile, the baby I didn’t want is two years old!” More women stood to object and testify. “Why are fourteen men and only one woman on your list of speakers—and she a nun?” The committee members “stared over their microphones in amazement,” wrote Edith Evans Asbury in the New York Times. The chair tried to shush the women, arguing that everyone was really on the same side: “You’re only hurting your own case.”

Continued: https://jezebel.com/5-unhelpful-arguments-that-downplay-the-importance-of-a-1838619064

USA – Our Grandfather’s Change of Heart on Abortion

USA – Unhelpful Arguments That Downplay the Importance of Abortion on Demand