There Are Pro-Choice Republicans. That Also Means Advocating for Girls’ Sports
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By Gina Arena
Two years ago, I ran for state Senate. As an every-day mom who had never been in public office, I was naive about the process.
A few weeks before Election Day, the attack ads began – more than a million dollars’ worth. Right on my head.
I expected my opponent to go after me. The race was close. But I didn’t expect the ads to be so gross and dishonest. They blanketed local airwaves, painting me, ridiculously, hurtfully, as anti-choice and anti-women. (Psst, I’m a pro-choice woman and mother.)
As innocent as this may sound, I was shocked. I didn’t know it was legal to spread provable lies on TV, but that’s where politics are today. Campaigns can get away with just about anything. That much I’ve sadly learned.
Knowing that my opponent’s ads are probably queued up for the coming election cycle, I’m making my position on women’s reproductive freedom crystal clear here so that you – and he – know exactly where I stand when you see them. I’ve had the same position for going on 50 years.
Personal choice means everything to me. I would never presume to make a choice for someone else, especially where reproductive freedom is concerned. As a lifelong Catholic, I place tremendous value on life, but my beliefs are just that. My beliefs. Others can decide for themselves. Including my daughters.
I’ve been pregnant 10 times. Two of those pregnancies ended in miscarriage, sadly, but my husband and I were blessed with eight children, six girls and two boys. Tragically, we lost our son, Jimmy, to brain cancer in 2005 at age six. He’d be 25 now.
I was born to very young parents. My mom was 19, and my dad was 21. They were Westchester high school sweethearts engaged to be married, but I was an unexpected surprise.
Those first years weren’t easy. We lived in a small apartment above the movie theater in Bedford, and sometimes went without. But at the same time, we had everything we needed, including supportive grandparents on both sides, who helped my parents raise me and my two siblings. Not everyone has that support. I get that.
New York legalized abortion in 1970 – three years before Roe v. Wade – and it’s been a pro-choice state ever since. But what most people don’t know, or have long forgotten, is that abortion was legalized in New York under a Republican governor, a Republican state Senate and a Republican Assembly.
These were common-sense New York Republicans, like me, who want government out of the bedroom. There has been no threat to reproductive autonomy in New York in the 54 years since abortion was legalized here, even under more than four decades of past Republican rule. There is no threat now.
Being pro-woman must also mean being pro-girl, though, and that’s why I’m also running on a platform to “Save Girls Sports,” which are under direct attack from overly progressive New York legislators like my opponent. I’m hoping that women of all political backgrounds rally around this important cause, too.
After more than 50 years of progress in female athletics, the Board of Regents wants to merge girls and boys’ sports in the state, as do strident gender activists. High school girls work too hard to make sports teams, and allowing boys and biological males to compete in girls’ sports will cost girls playing time and potentially scholarships. It’s simply not fair. Girls matter just as much as anyone else, and their sports deserve to be protected.
God knows how my opponent will try to portray me this time, but here it is from me directly: I am pro-girl, pro-women and pro-choice.
Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
Gina Arena is the Republican candidate for the 40th Senate District seat this November.
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