“I said, ‘I’m not touching that bill.’ And the guy says, ‘You know you won’t get elected again.’ I said, ‘It’s possible, but I can sleep at night.In a sense, we’re kept within the fertile biosphere of Carney’s cheery optimism, at least for a while. I said, ‘Nope, not gonna be able to do it.’ And I sat there, I tried to be, you know, objective, I said, ‘OK, just be objective and listen.’ And no matter how I listened to it, it still came up, ‘You can’t vote for that,’ and it was an abortion bill,” Taylor told the congregation, a sharp contrast to his remarks at the primary debate months earlier. 23, 2018 sermon to his Infinity Mennonite Church of Harlem congregation that he never planned to vote for the Reproductive Health Act, video posted to YouTube shows.Īt the time, Taylor had just won reelection and leaders in the state Legislature were preparing votes on the bill. Still, in a sign that he has modeled his messaging on the hot-button issue very differently depending on the audience, Taylor suggested in a Dec. “Abortion is not the issue in Harlem that’s going to make or break you.”

“Harlem is still a community of churches,” the strategist said, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid disclosing her client. In addition to Central and East Harlem, the 9th Council District includes Morningside Heights and a small slice of the most northern part of the Upper West Side.Ī veteran local political strategist who has been involved in a 9th race campaign said that while abortion is a pressing issue on the national stage, it’s not front and center for most voters in the district. Taylor’s two other opponents in the 9th Council District race, State Assemblywoman Inez Dickens and criminal justice advocate Yusef Salaam, declined to comment. It is vitally important that people are allowed to make their own choices in these matters.” “In the last year, I have voted for bills to expand protection for abortion providers and to give pregnant folks accurate, non-coercive health care information about abortion. Not only did I say that I would support it, I in fact voted for the Equality Amendment,” his statement said.

“I fully support women’s rights to their own health and their own bodies. He also touted his vote this year for the constitutional amendment, which, in addition to protecting abortion, would outlaw discrimination against LGBTQ individuals.

“He’s anti-choice and anti-LGBTQ+ and a lying hypocrite.”Īsked for comment last week, Taylor, whose Harlem church has drawn controversy for refusing to perform same-sex marriages, did not acknowledge his nay vote on the Reproductive Health Act.īut in a statement, Taylor listed off some of his support for other abortion-related legislation, including voting for a 2019 bill that prohibited discrimination on the basis of reproductive health choices. “He did what was politically expedient,” he said.

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