NYCF Welcomes Nearly 1,200 To Legislative Day 2019
On March 19, 2019, nearly 1,200 Christians from across New York gathered at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center in Albany for New Yorker for Constitutional Freedoms’ 2019 Legislative Day. The theme for this year’s event was “A New Season.” Walt Heyer of SexChangeRegret.comshared his uplifting testimony of freedom from gender dysphoria and explained the causes…
Voters: New York Democrats Are Going Too Far
New York government has been under unified Democratic Party control since January 2019. During that time period, state government has granted “transgender” persons access to opposite-sex facilities by passing the Bathroom Bill, denied youths with unwanted same-sex attraction access to professional counseling, mandated insurance coverage for abortion-causing drugs, passed a series of gun control measures,…
Cuomo Rejects Accelerated Schedule For City Casinos
In Albany, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state legislators are looking for ways to close a gap in next year’s budget. Well-funded gambling interests are arguing that more gambling will solve the state’s revenue problems. Under current law, there is a moratorium on new casino development in New York City until 2023. However, multiple gambling companies…
Trump Administration Sets Standards For Transgender Military Service
The Trump administration is making progress in its effort to undo the damage done to the U.S. Armed Forces by President Barack Obama’s left-wing social experimentation. On March 13, 2019, the Pentagon released a new directive relating to military servicemembers with gender dysphoria. The directive does two things. First, it states that persons who join…
Assembly Judiciary Approves Military Marriage Bill
Given the onslaught of truly atrocious legislation that is being inflicted upon the State of New York this year, it is encouraging to see a good piece of legislation moving in Albany. Bill S.3756-Mayer/A.55-Buchwald would waive the state’s portion of the marriage license fee for members of the United States Armed Forces that are on…
Contractual Surrogacy Clears First Committee
Albany Update recently reported that Gov. Andrew Cuomo has publicly stated his support for paid surrogacy legislation, and has included such legislation in his budget proposal. Since that time, Asm. Amy Paulin (D-Scarsdale) has amended her proposed paid surrogacy bill, which is known as the Child-Parent Security Act (CPSA) (Bill A.1071-A-Paulin). Furthermore, on February 27,…
New Hope Family Services Has Its Day In Court
As Albany Update has previously reported, the State of New York has demanded that New Hope Family Services—a Christian adoption agency in Syracuse that is funded by private donations—change its adoption placement practices. According to the state, New Hope is violating state regulations because it declines to place children for adoption with same-sex couples or…
Florida Judge Offers Hope To Those With Unwanted Same-Sex Attraction
Last month, New York jumped on the bandwagon of banning reparative therapy by passing the Counselor Coercion Law. As many New Yorkers will recall, the Counselor Coercion Law bars licensed mental health professionals from assisting minor clients in resolving unwanted same-sex attraction. Earlier this month, a federal magistrate judge in Florida opined that a similar…
Cuomo Comes Out For Contractual Surrogacy
In 1992, the State of New York banned the practice of paid surrogacy. Paid surrogacy involves paying a woman to carry a child to term and to relinquish custody of that child to someone else once he or she is born. The paid surrogacy ban was signed into law by Gov. Mario Cuomo. New Yorkers…
Legislative Day Looks To The Future Of Pro-Life New York
What are your plans for Tuesday, March 19? At New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms (NYCF), we hope they include us! On March 19, NYCF and our affiliate organization, New Yorkers Family Research Foundation (NYFRF), are scheduled to hold our annual Legislative Day event at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center in Albany. Attendees will hear…
Counselor Coercion Bill Clears Senate And Assembly
Religious liberty, free speech, and parental rights took a major hit in the State of New York last week. On January 15, 2019, each house of the New York State Legislature passed the Counselor Coercion Bill (S.1046–Hoylman/A.576–Glick), which bans mental health professionals from engaging in sexual orientation change efforts—or “change therapy”—with minor clients. The Senate…
New York State Legislature Passes Bathroom Bill
On January 15, 2019, the New York State Senate voted 42-19 to pass the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) (Bill S.1047-Hoylman/A.747-Gottfried), also known as the Bathroom Bill. On the same day, the New York State Assembly passed the Bathroom Bill by a vote of 105 to 43. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a strong supporter of GENDA,…
Cuomo’s Annual Address Fills Liberal Laundry List
Gov. Andrew Cuomo gave his annual budget address on January 15, 2019, but his address went far beyond dollars and cents. According to the New York Post, the Governor “unveiled a new $178.8 billion budget long on his progressive agenda aspirations but often short on details of execution.” The Governor also covered a wide range…
Governor Andrew Cuomo Lays Out A Liberal Agenda For New Legislative Session
On Monday, December 17, Gov. Andrew Cuomo gave a speech at the New York City Bar Association setting forth his legislative priorities for the New Year and declaring “independence” from the policies of the federal government under President Donald Trump. To put it mildly, some of the Governor’s priorities need adjusting. According to the Democrat…
New York Needs Prayer As We Face A New Year
As we look ahead to January 2019, it is quite possible that New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms has never needed prayer as urgently as we do now. To put it simply, the dramatic power shift in the New York State Senate that occurred on Election Day means that the many legislative victories with which the…
New Hope Files Federal Challenge To Protect Its Religious Freedom Rights
Earlier this year, New Hope Family Services—a Christian nonprofit adoption provider, foster care placement agency, and pregnancy center based in Syracuse—received a letter from the New York State Office of Children and Family Services stating that New Hope would be required to change its adoption policies or stop providing adoptions altogether. The policy that OCFS…