By Paul Kirby
Freeman staff

KINGSTON — For many years, Jane VanDeBogart fought for, among other things, the rights of women, not the least of which was a right to choose whether to have an abortion.

Today, friends and colleagues of the activist say they are seeking to raise funds to construct a memorial outside the under-construction Foxhall Ambulatory Surgery Center.

It is a place where, among other things, abortions will be performed.

VanDeBogart died on Feb. 16, 2008, and left behind a legacy of equal rights fights on behalf of women and causes.

And for more than a decade, the 67-year-old Woodstock woman had kept a watchful eye on repeated attempts by Benedictine and Kingston hospitals to merge.

Her concern, like others, was that women would not be guaranteed the right to an abortion because Benedictine Hospital was a Catholic-run facility.

But last year, the two facilities agreed to affiliate and build the Foxhall Ambulatory Surgery Center in the rear parking lot of Kingston Hospital. The affiliation was accomplished after a state commission ordered it done.

Jo Shuman, with whom VanDeBogart collaborated in connection with the hospital affiliation, said that putting up the memorial at the Foxhall Ambulatory Surgery Center is fitting.

“She spent every waking moment making sure that reproductive services would continue,” Shuman said. “She was quite a force to be reckoned with.”

VanDeBogart, who was a founding member of HealthCare STAT, even fought as she battled her cancer at the end. Continued...

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Schuman said she was “so unrelenting in her commitment to women’s reproductive rights that she held meetings of the group Health Care STAT in her hospital room at Benedictine.”

Shuman said that there are plans to establish a memorial outside of the surgery center which is expected to be completed in February. The memorial is expected to include the placement of a bench, built with a mosaic pattern, at the center.

In addition, the memorial will include a plaque, as well as landscaping around the entire spot, Shuman said.

Shuman said that VanDeBogart, who also supported dozens of other community organizations including Family of Woodstock, was not one to easily accept accolades for her work.

Of the memorial, she would probably react the same way, Schuman said.

“She would be very modest and very humble,” Shuman said.

Organizers of the memorial are attempting raise funds to complete it. The goal is to raise $6,000.

If anyone would like to contribute, they should send donations to The Kingston Hospital Foundation and earmarked for “Jane’s Bench.”

Checks can be made out to The Kingston Hospital Foundation and sent to 396 Broadway, Kingston, New York, 12401.

Anyone with questions can call Shuman at (845) 687-0878 or she can be reached by e-mail at myracle@aol.com.

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