NY Gov. Hochul Wants Facebook to Censor Pro-Life Posts, Tries to Block Religious Exemptions for Vaccine
Earlier this week, Google removed online advertising for the pro-life group Live Action. Now comes word that New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) has approached Facebook to take steps to censor abortion-related information that she doesn't like.
The Blaze reports Hochul wrote a letter to Facebook founder, chairman, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in which she requested "information on any and all existing efforts to combat misinformation regarding abortion laws, procedures, and their availability."
She also pressed for Zuckerberg to, "Take additional action to curb the spread of this misinformation, as Facebook has with information related to COVID-19, vaccines, and voting rights."
"Each day, posts are liked and shared on your site that make false claims about abortion procedures and reproductive health legislation, and this misinformation has hit close to home," Hochul said in the letter. "An analysis of Facebook engagement between January 1 and March 20, 2019, found that four of the top 10 stories receiving the most engagement on the platform were articles about the New York State Reproductive Health Act from anti-choice news sources that misrepresented the bill," she claimed even though her letter does not include a citation.
"These articles, memes, and other shared posts often describe horrific procedures that have no basis in reality, cite entirely made-up studies, and purposefully inflate or misrepresent public health data. The goal behind these posts is clear: to sow fear, confusion, and shame, and to advance an agenda to control women's bodies," she claimed.
As CBN News reported, Hochul took over for disgraced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo last month after he announced he would resign over a barrage of sexual harassment allegations a year after he was hailed by the national news media for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. He was later exposed for taking very controversial steps like putting COVID patients in nursing homes where the deadly virus was spreading rapidly.
Hochul, 61, addressed a press conference at Central Park in New York City on Monday in response to the Texas heartbeat law, which banned most abortions in the state. According to the New York Post, she called the Lone Star State's pro-life move a "travesty," and directed New York's state agencies to create a public information campaign about New York's pro-choice law.
Doesn't Like Religious Exemptions Either
Meanwhile, Hochul said this week she does not believe health care workers in the Empire State should be permitted to forgo vaccination against COVID-19 via religious exemptions.
She made the comments in response to a court decision temporarily upholding the rights of some in the medical community who have refused the inoculation citing their religious beliefs, according to WAMC-FM.
The governor told reporters her administration intentionally excluded religious exemptions from its mandate requiring all health care workers receive their shots by Sept. 27.
"I'm not aware of a sanctioned religious exemption from any organized religion," she said with a slight hesitation in her voice. "In fact, they are encouraging the opposite. Everybody from the Pope on down is encouraging people to get vaccinated."
NY Gov Hochul on religious exemptions from COVID vaccinations for healthcare workers: "I'm not aware of a sanctioned religious exemption from any organized religion, in fact they are encouraging the opposite...so people will say what they choose." pic.twitter.com/7XJjkIr3UY
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) September 16, 2021
Hochul went on to say her administration will "defend the right of New York to ensure that anyone in a health care facility can meet a patient and that patient does not have to worry when they go in there for health care, that they're gonna contract a virus from one of the people that are supposed to protect their health."
The governor also imposed a stricter mask mandate, announcing everyone two years or older must wear face coverings, regardless of vaccination status.
"If you're watching the national news, the scariest announcements coming out every morning are the number of children contracting COVID," Hochul said.
As for Hochul's religious exemption comments, New York's state attorneys will be arguing the case in court on Sept. 28.
As CBN News reported earlier this week, Judge David Hurd in Utica temporarily blocked the state from enforcing its vaccination mandate on 17 health professionals — including doctors and nurses — who argued in a lawsuit Monday that the state edict violates their constitutional rights by disallowing their faith-based exemptions.
Hurd has given New York State until Sept. 22 to respond to the lawsuit.
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