The fight by religious groups against New York state’s abortion mandate requiring most private insurance plans to cover abortion has renewed life. The U.S. Supreme Court June 16 remanded to the New York Court of Appeals the case of Diocese of Albany v. Harris, a move that sends the case, in the words of lawyers for Becket, which handles religious liberty cases, “back to the drawing board” after bouncing between state courts for the past nine years.
The Medical Aid in Dying Act, which would allow terminally ill patients to end their lives with doctor-prescribed drugs, has new life, having passed the New York State Assembly with an 81-67 vote on April 29.
Come the start of the new year, New York state could have a commission created to consider reparations for African American residents.
In a reminder to New York Catholics that abortion access will likely go unfettered in the state regardless of federal rulings, the state’s bishops are calling on the faithful to advocate with charity, sensitivity and clarity, and to reaffirm the Church’s commitment to walking with pregnant mothers.
It is appropriate to tell Father Bryan Carney, “Thank you for your service,” because he spent 23 years in the U.S. Air Force, but he still wears a military uniform, and with great pride.
On Feb. 27, a second former aide to Governor Andrew Cuomo said she was sexually harassed by the governor while serving as an executive assistant and health policy adviser from March to November 2020.
After marching in the Columbus Day Parade on Oct. 14, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that New York state will build a statue of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini.
Mairen Upton, an eighth-grader at Holy Trinity Catholic Academy in Whitestone, is an example of a trend: Local Catholic schools are outpacing public schools in New York state standardized test scores.
Fourteen years after the Diocese of Brooklyn began to offer programs in parishes and schools to prevent abuse of minors, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed “Erin’s Law” on Aug. 29, requiring public schools in New York state to have a similar program.
The Kosciuszko Bridge linking Brooklyn and Queens is named for Polish Catholic and American Revolutionary War hero Tadeusz Kosciuszko. Father Marek Sobczak, C.M., pastor of St. Stanislaus Kostka, Greenpoint, is glad the bridge will continue to commemorate the sacrifices Kosciuszko and other Poles made to build America.
