Governor Hochul: “We stand together just like we gathered after the Dobbs Decision that wiped out decades of progress, all the women who marched and took to the streets. And we take women's rights so seriously here in the great State of New York. The Women's Rights Movement started right here in our own state, and we've never stopped marching.”
Hochul: “When it comes to taking away our rights – not now, not ever, not in the State of New York.”
Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand responded to threats against abortion access.
VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.
AUDIO of the Governor's remarks is available here.
PHOTOS of the event will be available on the Governor's Flickr page.
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:
Good afternoon. I'm joined here today by my fellow woman warrior in defense of women's rights, our great Senator, Kirsten Gillibrand. I want to give her a round of applause.
I just hung up the phone with our amazing Attorney General, Tish James, who's a little bit occupied in New York City right now, but she stands with us in solidarity as well as the Majority Leader of the Senate, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the Majority Leader of the Assembly, Crystal Peoples-Stokes, who are joined in spirit along with all these amazing elected leaders from our state legislature and all the amazing advocates who are sick and tired of having to carry the torch even into 2024 to protect women's rights.
All I can say is after news information came out from the New York Times today, at last, the truth has been revealed. We now know exactly where former President Donald Trump stands on women's freedoms. And he has said clearly, if he were to be President of the United States, that our entire country, all 50 states, will be forced to live under an abortion ban, which is abhorrent to all of us standing here and across our nation.
So, we've been forewarned, and whether you're a Republican, Democrat, Independent or just don't care about voting in politics, you ought to be concerned about your freedom because that's going to be a vestige of the past.
Now even in states like New York, and I'll never forget when I was running for this position, and we talked about the importance of not just having abortion rights codified in New York, but also a constitutional amendment, and people said, “What are you worried about? It's a blue state. It's safe.” This is what I was worried about. This is what I said could happen. You could end up with a president like Donald Trump who wants to trample on women's rights because we have seen in case after case, he doesn't give a damn about women. But also, if we have a Republican House and Republican Senate, women, our lives are in jeopardy. Our daughter's lives are in jeopardy. All of our rights are in jeopardy.
So, we stand together just like we gathered after the Dobbs Decision that wiped out decades of progress, all the women who marched and took to the streets. And we take women's rights so seriously here in the great State of New York. The Women's Rights Movement started right here in our own state, and we've never stopped marching.
After Dobbs, we gathered, our legislature and I joined together. We gave more money for our clinics. We made sure that our doctors were protected. We stood firm and said we'll do whatever it takes to make sure that this right is enshrined. And my ladies and gentlemen, this right will be on the ballot here in the State of New York this November, a constitutional amendment.
But I'll be brief because this is a real simple issue. Do we want to live in a nation where women have lost the right to control their own body? You want to live in a nation like that, my friends? No. Do we want to live in a state where despite our best efforts, those rights are also trampled upon? I say, no. We must move forward – united.
And I'm calling on all the members who represent the great State of New York as members of Congress sworn in our nation's capital, Democrat and Republicans, stand up and tell us now today who you are standing with. I want to hear your voice as loud and clear, so Donald Trump knows that at least in the State of New York your message is not welcome here. We will not stand with you, and we'll not support you in this effort to strip women's rights away even further.
So, with that, I'll conclude by saying, when it comes to taking away our rights – not now, not ever, not in the State of New York. So, thank you very much for staying united with us.