For nearly two years, a Texas man named Marcus Silva has been suing his ex-wife’s friends for helping her get an abortion. Earlier this month, Silva finally dropped his wrongful death and conspiracy claims. The friends responded by pointing out that he had known about the abortion before it happened but took no action. Instead, with a potential divorce looming, he threatened to use evidence of the abortion against his wife “if she refused to stay under his control.” The case is just one example of how reproductive rights can become entangled in the dynamics of coercion and control within intimate relationships.

Restrictions on reproductive healthcare are highly dangerous. Recently, such laws have been linked to the tragic deaths of two women in Georgia – Amber Nicole Thurman and Candi Miller – as well as to the near-deaths of countless women around the country. Amber Nicole Thurman died from septic shock after being denied treatment for 20 hours following a rare pregnancy complication. Georgia’s restrictive laws also made Candi Miller too afraid to seek medical care after self-managing her medically necessary abortion. These devastating outcomes are not isolated incidents. Between 2006 and 2022, Pregnancy Justice documented nearly 1,400 cases of pregnancy-related criminalization across the U.S. The report found state actors —police, prosecutors, healthcare workers, family regulation workers, and judges — have deprived pregnant women of virtually every constitutional right in the name of protecting “unborn life.”

New York currently serves as a refuge for people from other states in desperate need of reproductive healthcare. But our status as a “haven state” is by no means guaranteed in the future. Political winds can– and do – change. New Yorkers – including domestic violence survivors – deserve to have these critical protections enshrined in the state’s constitution.

As we approach Election Day, I encourage all New Yorkers to familiarize themselves with Proposition 1, also known as Prop 1 or the New York State Equal Rights Amendment. Prop 1 will amend New York’s constitution to protect New Yorkers against government discrimination based on a person’s ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, and sex, including their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy.

Importantly, Prop 1 will protect an individual’s autonomy to make choices about their own life, free from the threat of criminalization or penalties. For victims of domestic violence, Prop 1 protections would ensure reproductive healthcare remains accessible — including abortions, birth control, and Plan B — whether after sexual assault, during physical abuse in pregnancy, or when trying to escape an abusive relationship.

Access to reproductive healthcare empowers survivors of gender-based violence to make choices that prioritize their safety. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, one in six women in abusive relationships in the United States are first abused during pregnancy. In abusive relationships, pregnancy can be a death sentence – homicide is the leading cause of death for pregnant women in the United States. A forced pregnancy can tether a victim to their abuser, both financially and legally. At Sanctuary for Families, we see every day how sharing a child gives abusers countless ways to continue coercing and controlling survivors, even after the survivor has escaped the relationship. As Marcus Silva’s lawsuit in Texas demonstrates, the absence of legal protections allows abusers to weaponize the courts to threaten and control victims simply for accessing reproductive healthcare. For victims of domestic violence, the cruelty of abortion bans and restrictions on reproductive healthcare access is undeniable.

Prop 1 will protect New Yorkers and anyone subject to its laws from efforts to penalize and control people for their reproductive choices and pregnancy outcomes, including abortions and miscarriage. We cannot afford to take our rights for granted while so many of our fellow Americans are being stripped of theirs. Please be sure to flip your ballot and vote ‘Yes’ on Prop 1.

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Judy Harris Kluger is a former New York State judge and the current CEO of Sanctuary for Families, New York’s leading advocate and service provider for survivors of gender violence.

What we witnessed in our nation’s capital last Wednesday was a disgraceful act of treason, a terrifying display of white supremacy and anti-Semitism, a clear example of white male privilege, and the greatest attack on our democracy that many of us have seen in our lifetimes.

While we continue to process and reckon with the state of our country, now is also the time we must recommit to the work of ending violence and oppression in all forms. What occurred on January 6th is the product of 245 years of systemic racism and mirrors American history. On the same day that the remarkable mobilization of Black and Brown voters resulted in the historic election of Georgia’s first Black and Jewish senators, white insurrectionists, falsely claiming voter fraud in cities with large Black and Brown populations, carried confederate flags through the halls of the Capitol for the first time in our country’s history. The forces of white supremacy and patriarchy will continue to exert themselves long after January 20th when the Biden-Harris administration begins.

So our work continues, with renewed urgency. The next four years have the potential to be transformational but only with concerted attention and effort. For over 35 years, Sanctuary for Families has been there for survivors of gender-based violence — providing the tools and support survivors need to reunite and protect their families, secure safe and permanent housing, attain living-wage career-track jobs and become leaders in their communities. Our support and advocacy will continue with a special focus on:

• The immediate end of asylum policies instituted by the Trump administration, the reinstatement of DACA, and comprehensive immigration reform to benefit our clients, over 70% of whom are immigrants.
• State legislation that will deliver greater social services and protections to people in the sex trade, a population that is disproportionately made up of Black and Brown women and girls, LGBTQ+ people, and immigrants.
• Implementation of the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act, a New York State law that grants judges the discretion to sentence survivors, whose abuse or exploitation was a significant contributing factor to the crime they committed, to reduced or alternative sentencing.
• Sanctuary’s survivor leadership policies to ensure survivor voices are reflected at all levels, including our Board of Directors.
• Sanctuary’s anti-racism work and review of our accountability, hiring, and compensation policies.

I urge each of you to consider how you can counter the forces of white supremacy and patriarchy which give rise to gender-based violence. Take a look at this guide from Indivisible for suggestions on addressing racism and implicit bias within you and your communities. If you aren’t already involved, reach out to us to learn more about how you can support survivors of abuse.

Warmly,

Hon. Judy Harris Kluger,
Executive Director

Judy H. Kluger is Executive Director at Sanctuary for Families. 

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I am outraged and heartbroken. The last few weeks have once again laid bare what every Black and Brown person growing up in America knows: racism pervades all aspects of American life. As service providers and advocates for survivors, we cannot effectively address the issue of gender-based violence – one that disproportionately affects Black and Brown women and girls – without also combating the oppressive systems that make these populations more vulnerable and holding to account those who promulgate racism.

Sanctuary for Families stands in solidarity with the families and friends of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, the countless unarmed Black and Brown people who have been killed, and those standing against racial injustice everywhere. 

These are challenging times for so many, but particularly for communities of color, including members of the Sanctuary community, whose health and safety during this pandemic are all the more precarious due to inequalities and discriminatory practices inherent in our healthcare system. Against the backdrop of these recent events, I wanted to share a bit more about how Sanctuary is working to address racism and steps I am taking to challenge myself and bring about change.

Sanctuary has always stood against racism and discrimination, but we know our work needs to be more intentional – to be actively anti-racist. Over the last few years, we’ve made anti-racism trainings mandatory for all new staff, and have incorporated trainings on micro-aggressions and inclusion into our regular training curriculum. We brought on a consultant and formed a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee to help drive this work. The conversations we have had as an agency have been hard, and we know this is just the beginning. Our work must continue.

Of course, this work isn’t new to us. The majority of those we serve – women of color, many immigrants, and mothers living below the poverty line – are processing the trauma of the abuse they’ve experienced as well as the latent trauma of racism. As advocates for our clients, we fight against the racism and discrimination inherent in our systems and institutions daily.

We must hold ourselves accountable for the role each of us plays within these systems of injustice and recommit to doing the work needed to bring about change. Here’s how we can each start:

• Read, Learn & Share. Here are some pieces I’ve been reading and watching – The New York Times: Remember, No One is Coming to Save Us, Huffington Post: The Shooting of Black Americans Started Long Before the Looting, The Atlantic: The American Nightmare, Trevor Noah: George Floyd and the Dominos of Social Justice, and The New York Times: Why Amy Cooper’s Use of ‘African American’ Stung. I’m also adding many of these books to my reading list.
• Envision a Community of Care. Talk to our friends, families, and communities about race. Learn how to start a conversation.
• Take Action. Sanctuary has joined agencies across New York advocating for the repeal of State Law 50-A. The repeal would provide much-needed accountability to police misconduct and transparency to disciplinary proceedings. Join the Brooklyn NAACP’s campaign and urge your State representatives to support the full repeal of 50-A.

These are difficult issues that demand our attention and action beyond this moment. I hope you will take time this weekend and in the future to read articles, listen to podcasts, and watch videos with perspectives that challenge you. And to those enmeshed in this work, I hope you take time to rest and practice self-care.

For over 35 years, Sanctuary has worked to build a world in which freedom from gender violence is a basic human right. Our work is inherently bound to the broader fight against racism and structural inequality. Only by addressing both in tandem will we achieve our mission.

In Solidarity,

Hon. Judy H. Kluger
Executive Director, Sanctuary for Families