LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY
FCLNY is non-partisan, but works with diverse ideological and/or religious organizations that align with our goals.
New York State
Medical Aid in Dying Act
NY Enacted MAID Feb., 6, 2026.
MAID goes into effect, Aug., 5, 2026
Update on the Status of Medication Abortion in the U.S. and NYS
In FDA vs. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine (2024), "The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled to preserve access to the abortion pill mifepristone, a pill used in the most common way to end a pregnancy."
"Thousands of women in states with abortion bans and restrictions are receiving abortion pills in the mail from states that have laws protecting prescribers," including New York.
It is currently legal for medical providers and certified retail pharmacies to mail
abortion pills to women and girls with a prescription via tele-health in NY. Under the current rules surrounding chemical abortion, pregnant women and girls can "take the medication to induce an abortion through 10 weeks of pregnancy," and without a pre-abortion ultrasound.
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​The RHA Degrades Women and Dehumanizes Children.
New York enacted the Reproductive Health Act (RHA) in January, 2019. This law allows for the killing of viable unborn children, including healthy children in utero, for any reason within 24 weeks of pregnancy. Modern medical science is clear that unborn children can be viable (capable of survival outside the womb) as early as 21 weeks gestation.
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The RHA permits killing viable unborn children, including healthy children in utero, during the later-second and third trimester of pregnancy for reasons unrelated to a mother's physical health. In NY, approximately 1,600 unborn children are aborted each year at 20+ weeks gestation. Studies show most later-term abortions are 'elective,' performed on healthy pregnant women and healthy unborn children.
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The RHA did away with NY's longstanding fetal homicide law. Because of the RHA it is no longer a separate crime in NY for abusers to kill viable unborn children, including wanted unborn children, in attacks on their mothers.
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The RHA allows for an undefined group of health care practitioners to perform abortions, including surgical, second and third trimester abortions. Studies show that even mid-level health care providers that perform abortions have higher rates of “incomplete abortion,” uterine “perforation” and “hemorrhage” than physicians performing abortions.
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The RHA eradicated NY Public Health Law (PHL) 4164, without enacting any form of replacement. In NY, later-second and third trimester abortions can occur in facilities other than hospitals, ambulatory centers or physicians' offices. According to studies, including, Risk Factors for Legal Induced Abortion-Related Mortality in the United States, the "risk of death" for "women obtaining legally induced abortions" "increase[s] exponentially by 38% for each additional week of gestation.”
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Further, eliminating PHL 4164 allows for infants who survive abortion to die without adequate "medical care" or without a second physician present to care for that infant. According to the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention children are sometimes born alive during later-term induced abortions. See FCLNY's RHA Report.​
International
World Beyond War Declaration of Peace
FCLNY Organizational Signer
We seek positive and sustainable peace, founded on justice
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“We understand that wars and militarism make us less safe rather than protect us, that they kill, injure and traumatize adults, children and infants, severely damage the natural environment, erode civil liberties, and drain our economies, siphoning resources from life-affirming activities. We commit to engage in and support nonviolent efforts to end all war and preparations for war and to create a sustainable and just peace.”
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Please read and consider signing with us as an individual or organization.
Joint Appeal for Nuclear Abolition Day
FCLNY Organizational Signer
Nuclear weapons pose an existential threat to humanity and the planet.
The Joint Appeal was presented on September 26 to world leaders, including those participating in the UN High Level Meeting on Nuclear Disarmament, on September 26. The appeal calls on them to reduce nuclear risks and prevent nuclear war, shift nuclear weapons budgets and investments to protect the environment and meet human and economic needs, and achieve the global elimination of nuclear weapons within a strict timeframe.​​
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Other organizational signers include Asia Pacific Leadership Network, Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, International Peace Bureau, Movement for the Abolition of War (UK), and Peace Action (USA), among many others.