(Albany - January 25th) Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins was greeted with a spirited applause after a warm introduction from Reina Schiffrin, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic, at the annual Family Planning Advocates of New York State Day of Action. At the podium, the Senator gathered her peers in the Bipartisan Pro-choice Legislative Caucus as she spoke on the great New York values that make it a progressive state for women, including the right of women to have comprehensive health care.

However, on a more somber note, the Democratic Leader avowed that there is still much work to be done. She noted in her speech that New York spearheaded the right to a legal and safe abortion before Roe v. Wade, thus imploring the crowd to continue being vigilant in advancing women’s reproductive rights because “everyday they say we don’t matter, people begin to think that’s okay.” And it’s not.