Westchester County Executive and Congressional candidate George Latimer
In light of House Republicans blocking – for the second time – the passing of the Right to IVF Act, which protects the right to IVF nationally and lowers the cost of IVF for millions of families, Democrat George Latimer, Congressional Candidate for the 16th District in New York and a decades-long leader of reproductive rights fortified his commitment to family planning shared the following statement:
“Access to reproductive health care, whether it’s abortion, contraception, or IVF is a personal decision to be made without restriction or intimidation – and I am committed to safeguarding these rights in New York and working to make access to abortion care available across the nation once again,” said NY-16 Congressional Candidate George Latimer. “But, this cannot be possible without electing Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz, as well as a Democratic majority in both the House and Senate. With Democratic control of the Presidency and Congress, we will succeed in ensuring safe and legal reproductive options, and repair the damage that the repeal of Roe has caused. Your vote on Tuesday, November 5th is paramount to the future of reproductive rights, and the individual freedom to make your own reproductive healthcare decisions.”
If elected to Congress, Latimer will work tirelessly to oppose the forces that are turning reproductive healthcare into a dystopian nightmare. Starting with opposing any national ban on abortion rights and supporting legislation making abortion, contraception, and other forms of reproductive healthcare protected under law and a civil right, including:
Women’s Health Protection Act (H.R. 12 of 2023) – Establishes a statutory right for healthcare professionals to provide abortion, and the right for their patients to receive care, free from bans and medically unnecessary restrictions that single out abortion.
Right to Contraception Act (H.R. 4121 of 2023) – Sets out statutory protections for an individual’s right to access, and a healthcare provider’s right to provide, multiple forms of contraception and related information.
Access to Family Building Act (H.R. 7056 of 2024) – Provides a statutory right to access fertility treatments without prohibitions and unreasonable restrictions.
Latimer has a strong progressive record protecting women’s reproductive rights. Under his leadership as County Executive, Westchester County enacted the Safe Time Leave Law, which provided victims of domestic violence and sex trafficking protected time off to testify in court and relocate to a safe place. In 2022, he signed the Reproductive Health Care Facilities Access Act, which created a no-harassment zone around reproductive healthcare clinics to prevent patients’ and healthcare workers’ entry from being obstructed. This year, Latimer started the Black Maternal Child Health Initiative, the county’s first maternal child health equity program, to reduce racial healthcare inequality.
