To the Editor:
I am writing to shed light on, and voice opposition to, the recently introduced Albany County Local Law D. By its own title, the legislation proposes a restriction of the free speech of a community-based organization helping women, men, and families navigate their way through crisis pregnancies.

In New York state, abortion is legal and widely accessible, this fact is undisputed. However, the operation of crisis pregnancy centers like Alpha Pregnancy, do not restrict that access from anyone, as Section 3 of the proposed law alleges.

This bill does, however, restrict the free speech of an institution that has extremely deep emotional and familial ties to many in their community. 

The bill, if enacted, would require these centers to post a placard stating whether abortions are available at the facility and that abortions are legal in New York (Section 6, iii & iv). It is alarming that the Legislature feels they can compel this type of speech to a private organization through legislation. 

When else has an institution operating in a free society been required to advertise for the idea they are competing against?  

If abortion is as freeing, liberating, and void of strings as the government and contemporary journals of science state, the argument should be won on its own merits, not by silencing an opposing viewpoint.

However, if it is not, then our communities desperately need places like Alpha, not only to help avoid despair, but also to help heal from past experiences.

We all know the current legal status of abortion in New York. This proposed legislation, however, is an aggressive overreach, divisive, and intolerant.

All I plead is, considering the very real and personal nature of the topic, allow both sides to speak their facts without fear of prosecution. Only then will the truth be known as we come together and rationalize our surroundings. This is the American way. 

Christopher Longo

Guilderland

Editor’s note: Christopher Longo is a member of the Guilderland Planning Board. See related story.