Victims of child sexual abuse took one step closer to being able to bring their abusers to court after a close 11-8 vote in the Codes Committee of the NY Assembly. The sponsor of the legislation, Margaret Markey (D-Maspeth) was guardedly optimistic after the committee vote. She undoubtedly knows that the next few weeks will see an unprecedented onslaught by Catholic lobbyists who oppose the sex abuse measure. The Catholic Church is fighting the bill because in the past many lawsuits against the Catholic Church were dropped or dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired. If the Child Victims Act becomes law, those same lawsuits and most likely many more would be able to be brought against the six dioceses and one archdiocese in New York.