Cuomo unleashing new ads targeting GOP state senators on abortion bill

July 16--Expanding a campaign he began last week, Gov. Cuomo is set to take direct aim at eight state Senate Republicans for not taking up a bill that would strengthen the state's abortion rights laws.

Cuomo plans a new round of digital ads starting Monday that will target the eight mostly vulnerable senators in city and suburban districts, calling on them to return to Albany to take up the Reproductive Health Act, which supporters say would codify the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision.

The ads are based on the idea that President Trump's nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court could bring the end of Roe vs. Wade.

"As the extreme conservatives in Washington threaten the rights of women across this country, New York is standing up against the Trump administration to protect the values this state was built on," Cuomo said.

"The political games need to end -- Senate Republicans must come back to Albany to pass the Reproductive Health Act before the Supreme Court rolls back the progress this nation has made."

The ads are aimed at Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan and Sens. Kenneth LaValle and Phil Boyle, all of Suffolk County; Sens. Kemp Hannon, Elaine Phillips and Carl Marcellino, all of Nassau County; Sen. Terrence Murphy of Westchester County, and Sen. Martin Golden of Brooklyn.

The ads will run on platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. They show a picture of the targeted senator, and conclude with a graphic asking: "Will you come back to Albany now and codify Roe v. Wade into New York law?"

Senate GOP spokesman Scott Reif accused Cuomo of trying to shift attention from the "rampant corruption that is sweeping through his administration" and of being "scared to death" of the Democratic primary challenge from the left by actress Cynthia Nixon.

"The governor is all politics all the time these days, and the people of this state deserve far better. Maybe the next governor will clean up the mess Andrew Cuomo has made," Reif said.

He also accused Cuomo of trying to convince "people who don't believe him that Roe vs. Wade is about to be overturned."

New York's existing abortion law predates by three years the landmark Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion throughout the country. As it stands now, the statute would keep abortion legal -- but advocates say the law doesn't offer as much protection as the Roe vs. Wade ruling.

The Reproductive Health Act would move abortion law from the penal code to health law. It would also let nondoctors such as physician's assistants perform the procedures and allow for the abortion of fetuses after 24 weeks if the health of the mother is deemed at risk or the child is not considered viable.

Flanagan hasn't ruled out bringing his members back to Albany, but said the GOP conference would not approve the Reproductive Health Act as the Assembly passed it.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) said last week his chamber is done for the year, and stands firmly behind its version of the Reproductive Health Act.

"Let me be clear -- the Assembly will not accept a watered-down version of the Reproductive Health Act and will not play political games with women's health," Heastie said.

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