When the federal government fails to protect and empower its people, local governments can be a source of resilience, courage, and hope. In moments of political uncertainty and rampant assault on our fundamental rights, our cities have the power and the responsibility to lead. That includes standing up for bodily autonomy, investing in public health, and ensuring all New Yorkers have the resources to thrive.
Right now, we are witnessing a coordinated attack on sexual and reproductive health across the US. From abortion bans to restrictions on gender-affirming care, the federal government and many states are rolling back human rights and defunding essential services that keep people alive and well. Their actions cut deep into our communities’ access to health education, family planning, preventive screenings, maternal care, and more.
But our world doesn’t have to be this way. In NYC, our elected leaders have a responsibility to ensure that government can be a force for good—a mechanism to create systems that serve everyone. Sexual and reproductive health care is not a luxury or a fringe concern; it is infrastructure for people to lead healthy and fulfilling lives. Like clean water, stable housing, or public transportation, sexual and reproductive health care must be accessible, safe, and guaranteed.
Reproductive freedom is a hollow promise without access to sexual and reproductive health care. It is not enough to say we support the right to make decisions about our own bodies—New York City must ensure that right is real. This means investing in health centers, ensuring the safety of patients seeking sexual and reproductive health care, expanding coverage, protecting providers, and making care available to everyone, regardless of income, immigration status, or zip code.
These investments are the heart of reproductive justice, a framework rooted in the lived experiences of Black women and other communities of color. SisterSong defines reproductive justice as “the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities.” In this framework, society must work to address the full spectrum of people’s needs beyond their reproductive health decisions, including housing, education, transportation, childcare, food security, environmental justice, and more.
City Hall has already taken bold steps during the past several years, including through historic investments in abortion care, supporting gender-affirming health care, and resisting the tide of right-wing attacks. But today and always, we need New York elected leaders, including our future mayor, to boldly advance equitable access to essential sexual and reproductive health care.
We envision a New York where every person has not just rights on paper, but true access and dignity in practice. Where care is public, not privatized; universal, not conditional. Where local government steps up—not just to protect the crucial services and rights that are under attack, but to build the city we have always deserved.
Link for PPGNY Act mayoral guide: https://www.
