New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is outspoken on the fact that he will not tolerate half-measures when it comes to a pro-woman bill, and he is not going to let a liberal Democratic woman stand in his way. State Senator Diane Savino, a Democrat representing the North Shore and Brooklyn, is upset that Sheldon Silver is holding up a bill that could benefit women in the state of New York if it doesn’t include a pro-abortion provision that doesn’t accomplish thing but to add lip service to what is already legal.
Savino is for abortion rights, but she thinks the National Reproductive Health Act, which is not included in a Women’s Equality Agenda approved by Republicans, is not necessary, since there is no direct threat to Roe v. Wade in New York, abortion is legal in the state, and the provision would only codify what is already there.
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Nonetheless, Sheldon Silver continues on, undeterred, and he is sure that he knows what is better for women than Savino does. The Women’s Equality Agenda includes bills to fight sex trafficking, fight discrimination in the workplace and for renters, extension of sexual harassment laws and ensure equal pay for women (the latter is Savino’s contribution).
Tom Wrobleski of SiLive calls what Silver is doing “pandering” and has uncovered a possible motive; New York women still remember his covering for Brooklyn Democratic Assemblyman Vito Lopez during a sexual harassment scandal, and there were murmurs that Silver-approved money was used to bribe the victims into silence. So perhaps he is pushing this abortion bill to get back in the good graces of New York women, but he would be helping them a lot more if he weren’t hijacking the bill to help his own political standing.
