News/Commentary

Hochul’s new health care program for sex workers called a ‘magnet for more prostitutes’

July 24, 2023 | | Print Article

New York’s governor evidently has a soft spot for prostitutes and has decided to launch a free health care program for the “world’s oldest profession.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) is getting blasted by critics for brazenly condoning and encouraging hookers in a campaign to ostensibly push the decriminalization of prostitution by providing them with free health care, according to the New York Post.

The New York State Department of Health will dish out $1 million in public funds over two years to two separate contractors as part of the city’s new “sex worker health pilot program.”

Sex workers plying their wares in New York City and western New York will be given primary, sexual, and behavioral health care, as well as dental care under the new initiative. All of it will be paid for by taxpayers.

There are quite a few New Yorkers out there who are not happy with the program, contending that it is immoral and encourages vice. It was launched without the approval of the state Legislature.

“The Democrats in New York are pushing everything that is antithetical to the norms of society,” state Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo (R-Staten Island) commented concerning the initiative, according to the New York Post.

“What are they going to have, a prostitution card? This is a 100 percent step in the direction to decriminalize prostitution,” he asserted, noting that authorities should be discouraging prostitution, not making it more desirable.

Hochul has reportedly supported prior bills that have been introduced to decriminalize sex work.

The president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, Bill Donohue, hammered Hochul for her policies on crime, homelessness, and now health care for sex workers.

“Now she wants the taxpayers to fund health care for street prostitutes, the likely outcome of which will be to destroy the quality of life for New Yorkers,” he remarked, according to the Post.

“This policy will act like a magnet for more prostitutes, and will undoubtedly attract a host of new deviants to work with them. And no one in his right mind believes this will be a ‘pilot program’ — this is just the beginning. It doesn’t get more irresponsible than this,” Donohue railed.

There are two contracted firms taking part in the program, Callen-Lorde and EHS Inc./Evergreen Health. Each will receive $250,000 a year for two years to provide free health care to sex workers via the Health Department’s AIDS Institute.

“The Health Department remains committed to providing affirming, compassionate support and quality services to all residents without stigma and discrimination. Access to comprehensive sexual health services improves the quality of life for everyone,” a DOH spokesperson declared via a statement.

“Individuals participating in this program often experience discrimination, violence, and threats to their emotional well-being. They are more vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections, yet lack access to quality routine screening,” the statement added.

New York City-based Callen-Lorde already provides health services to sex workers and the LGBTQ community. The company advocates for the decriminalization of prostitution on its website.

“Callen-Lorde firmly and without reservation supports the health, rights, and dignity of sex workers. We are opposed to laws that disproportionately regulate and criminalize bodily autonomy, sexuality, and sexual and reproductive health and rights. We support the total decriminalization of sex work as an important step to protect and respect the human rights of all sex workers,” the website unabashedly states.

“We understand the gray area between sex work and sex trafficking and want our services to be available to anyone in the sex industry, regardless of their level of agency in their work. We pledge to promote the rights of sex workers and to create a safe space for sex workers to obtain healthcare without judgment, fear, or stigmatization,” the site also proclaims.

This move by Hochul is being done in tandem with her efforts to increase funding to healthcare facilities to boost medical staffing and care for New York’s transgender patients as part of yet another two-year pilot program, according to the New York Post.

Again, there are many critics out there blasting that program and calling it “morally irresponsible.”

Hochul was bashed on Twitter as well:

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