Governor Kathy Hochul signs legislation expanding access to reproductive health care (May 2, 2023)

Birth control is now available over the counter in New York State.

Governor Kathy Hochul has signed legislation to expand access to hormonal contraception by making it available over the counter, particularly assisting marginalized populations who may not have a primary care provider, but do have access to a local pharmacy.

Hochul also signed legislation that requires every SUNY and CUNY campus to provide access to abortion medication to their student body either by employing or contracting with authorized individuals who may prescribe abortion prescription drugs, or by providing students with information and referrals to providers authorized to prescribe abortion medication.

Governor Kathy Hochul signs abortion rights package (June 13, 2022)

Governor Kathy Hochul has announced that the State will stockpile an abortion medication as part of ongoing efforts to protect access to abortion.

At the Governor’s direction, the New York State Department of Health will immediately begin purchasing Misoprostol in order to stockpile 150,000 doses, a five-year supply, in order to meet anticipated needs.

A federal judge in Texas ruled on April 7 to reverse the U.S. Food and Drug Administration‘s approval of mifepristone, an oral medication typically taken with misoprostol to end a pregnancy.

Conservative Christian legal advocacy group, Alliance Defending Freedom, requested the reversal in a lawsuit that said mifepristone is unsafe and that the FDA didn’t study it closely enough before approving its use. The FDA and mainstream medical doctors insist this isn’t true, and that there have been no safety concerns during the 23 years the drug has been on the market.
An injunction by the federal judge to ban mifepristone starting April 14 may impact as many as 64 million women of childbearing age in the U.S.

Hocul issued a statement saying, “Anti-choice extremists have shown that they are not stopping at overturning Roe, and they are working to entirely dismantle our country’s reproductive health care system, including medication abortion and contraception. New York will always be a safe harbor for abortion care, and I am taking action to protect abortion access in our State and continue to lead the nation in defending the right to reproductive autonomy.”

Hochul also announced that if the abortion medication Mifepristone is taken off the market, the State will commit up to an additional $20 million to providers to support access to other methods of care.

To further safeguard access to abortion medication, Hochul is also currently working with the State Legislature on new legislation to require private insurers to cover Misoprostol when it’s prescribed off-label for abortion and to ensure that no provider is charged increased medical malpractice coverage rates or loses coverage due to prescribing Misoprostol off-label.

This makes New York the first state to approve legislation following shootings in Buffalo and Texas that left a total of 31 dead.

Lawmakers approved bills to broaden abortion protections and bolster voting rights, using the final hours of the 2022 legislative session to deliver the most robust response yet by a state in the face of federal gridlock.

Faced with a looming Supreme Court decision that could strike down Roe v. Wade, Democratic legislative leaders were fully behind a bill package aimed at protecting abortion service providers from legal or professional backlash, among other things.

Legislators also approved new measures to combat voter suppression under the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of New York, invoking the former congressman and civil rights leader in a nod to the voting rights bill that failed to pass in Congress.

Governor Kathy Hochul, who has already expressed support for many of the bills, is widely expected to sign them into law.

New York will now become the second state, following California, to pass legislation paving the way for the “microstamping” of shell cases with a unique alphanumeric code in order to trace the bullet back to the gun it was fired from. The bill, spearheaded by State Senator Brad Hoylman of Manhattan, is meant to help officials solve crimes, but some Republicans questioned the viability of the technology and argued it amounted to an unnecessary barrier for gun manufacturers.

The legislation that now makes the sale of body vests unlawful — except to police officers and other designated people — came after it was revealed that the 18-year-old gunman who killed 10 people at a Buffalo supermarket had worn body armor, an increasingly common feature in mass shootings that is typically loosely regulated.

New York — which already bans military-style assault rifles — will also join a handful of states that have raised the minimum age requirement to 21 from 18 for the purchase of some long guns, the same age as for handguns in New York. New buyers of such weapons will now be required to obtain a permit — which includes undergoing a background check and safety course — before the purchase of a semiautomatic rifle.

Hochul vocally lobbied for the legislation, but it could face legal challenges from the gun industry just as the Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling this month that could strike down a New York law that sharply limits a person’s ability to carry a weapon outside the home, a potential win for gun-rights groups.

The bills, which cemented New York’s standing as one of the most Democratic statehouses in the country, came as President Biden delivered remarks on Thursday night urging Congress to pass a federal ban on assault weapons and new “red flag” laws.

But some lawmakers privately griped that the focus on national headline-grabbing issues had overshadowed conversation around more New York-centric concerns in the waning days of the legislative session.

Many in the party’s left wing were disappointed that some left-leaning legislation was not prioritized, from beefed-up protections against evictions to elder parole. Environmentally conscious legislation like the one that would allow the New York Power Authority to build publicly-owned renewable energy projects, passed in the Senate but remained unsettled in the Assembly.

Even so, lawmakers appeared poised to pass a two-year moratorium on cryptocurrency mining at fossil fuel plants. The proposal was passed by the Assembly, but stalled in the Senate, until late-night discussions on Thursday revived the measure. The bill, which is heavily opposed by the cryptocurrency industry, is the first of its kind in the country, aimed at addressing environmental concerns over the most energy intensive forms of crypto mining.

Less certain was the fate of a criminal justice reform bill that would seal most criminal records after formerly incarcerated individuals have completed their sentences. The bill — known as the Clean Slate Act — passed the Senate, but has been held up in the Assembly. The measure received an unexpected boost Thursday night, however, with the news that the New York State Education Department had come on board, stoking rumors of a last minute push.

There was a far broader consensus on abortion rights, as New York State leaders vowed to make the state a national leader on the issue following news reports that indicated the Supreme Court was poised to overturn the landmark decision from 1973 that made abortion legal across the country.

Lawmakers followed through on that pledge this week with bills aimed at strengthening New York’s existing laws and preparing the state for a surge of people seeking abortions from elsewhere.

One bill passed by both houses will sharply limit the ability of law enforcement from cooperating with criminal or civil cases in states where abortion is restricted. Others ensure doctors have access to malpractice insurance, and aren’t hit with professional misconduct charges for serving patients from states where abortion is a crime.

Still others aim to use the conversation around abortion rights to solidify other liberties under attack. One measure which has been passed by both houses protects the rights of individuals traveling to New York seeking reproductive care as well as transgender or nonbinary people seeking gender-affirming care.

An amendment to the State Constitution that would forbid discrimination based on pregnancy outcomes — or race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender expression — was being hashed out well into the final week of the session, with lawmakers struggling to balance civil liberties with religious ones. As of Thursday, a compromise failed to emerge.

The John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which passed both the Senate and the Assembly, invokes a similarly named bill in Congress that would restore parts of the Voting Rights Acts of 1965 recently gutted by the Supreme Court. That bill passed the House of Representatives in 2021, but has twice failed in the Senate, where Democrats hold a slim majority.

The bill requires localities with demonstrated histories of discrimination to prove that any proposed changes to their election process will not result in voter suppression.It would also require more election materials to be translated for non-English speakers and offer voters legal protections in instances of obstruction or intimidation.

Legislative reporters said the State Senate finished voting around 2:30 this morning with the State Assembly expected to reconvene at 9:30 this morning to finish voting on measures.

Governor Kathy Hochul announces funding for abortion providers

Governor Kathy Hochul has announced a $35 million investment to directly support abortion providers in anticipation of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.

Hochul directed the Department of Health to create a $25 million Abortion Provider Support Fund for abortion providers in order to both expand capacity and ensure access for patients seeking abortion care in New York.

The Department of Health will release an expedited application for both grant and reimbursement requests from providers, and will begin distributing funds to providers by the time a final Supreme Court decision would be released.

The Governor also directed the Division of Criminal Justice Services to administer $10 million in funding for safety and security capital grants for abortion providers and reproductive health centers to further secure their facilities and ensure the safety of patients and staff.

A request for proposals to allow organizations to apply is also expected to be issued by the time a final Supreme Court decision would be released. Application of this new funding will be modeled after Governor Hochul’s Securing Communities Against Hate Crimes program, which provides grants to strengthen safety and security measures at buildings owned or operated by non-profit organizations at risk of hate crimes or attacks because of their ideology, beliefs, or missions.

NY Attorney General Letitia James

State Attorney General Letitia James announced Monday new legislation to establish a state program that would provide financial resources to abortion providers in New York.

The legislation would create the Reproductive Freedom and Equity Program within the New York State Department of Health (DOH). It would provide funding to abortion providers and non-profit organizations to grow the capacity of providers and meet present and future care needs.

The program would provide funding for uncompensated abortion care regardless of a patient’s ability to pay for care or their insurance status. The program also seeks to address the abortion care needs of individuals from outside of New York by awarding grant funds to non-profit organizations that provide support to individuals that travel to New York. To protect the privacy of the individuals seeking care, the legislation prohibits the state from tracking the personal information of patients through the providers that receive funds from the program.

James said at the press conference that every person in the nation should have the freedom to control their body and own healthcare, “This fundamental right is implicit in our Constitution and that right should not be abridged and, or, denied. And we are taking action today to ensure that it remains true here in New York, both for New Yorkers and for people living in states that are poised to ban abortions.”

James said New York has already experienced an uptick in the number of people coming to the state for abortions, with the Centers for Disease Control reporting for 2019 that 9% or 7,000 of abortion procedures performed in the the state were for people from out of state, “And New York, as you know, is one of the states that has the highest number of individuals coming to it to get abortions. According to the Guttmacher Institute, that number could grow to more than 32,000 individuals or perhaps even more. And that’s just for people traveling to New York from Ohio and Pennsylvania where they have restrictive laws and in some cases lack of access to abortion providers.”

There are currently 22 states that have laws or constitutional amendments that already exist that would allow them to ban abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned or weakened. There are an additional four states that are likely to ban abortion in the absence of federal protections. James said these 26 states are home to more than 40 million women of reproductive age.

Tom Reed

Congressman Tom Reed says whether Roe v. Wade is overturned or not, the issue of abortion needs to be resolved through the legislative process.

Reed, in his weekly media call, said in his opinion the judges who originally ruled on Roe v. Wade were “over their skis” in terms of doing legislative work through the judicial body of the U.S. Supreme Court.

He said if the issue of abortion isn’t handled at the federal level that it will be at the state level, but will likely be a tremendous amount of division in that case, “And maybe there’s some common ground that we can start healing the nation overall if we start, like I said on those issues such as education and birth control etc.; and then start bringing people together. Cause it’s going to take us having to work together to solve this at a Federal level from a legislative perspective.”

He said while he is against abortion, he does support exceptions such as cases of rape, incest, or the life of a mother, “We do not want unwanted pregnancies. We want to make sure women have access to healthcare, to have access to birth control and other matters to allow them to prevent as many unwanted pregnancies as possible. And that’s why I’m talking about education, things like that, as those tools.”

Reed said he supports Chief Justice John Roberts‘ investigation into the leak of Judge Samuel Alito‘s memo on Roe v. Wade. And while he’s concerned about the injection of politics into the Supreme Court process, he believes the justices are “astute students of law” and they will be professional and objective.

Governor Kathy Hochul delivers remarks at NYS Bipartisan Pro-Choice Legislative Caucus press event in Albany (May 3, 2022)

Governor Kathy Hochul is working to develop potential legislation and executive actions to strengthen New York’s abortion laws codified into state law and improve protections for out-of-staters and abortion providers.

The governor reiterated in the state Capitol on Tuesday she is “horrified” by the U.S. Supreme Court‘s leaked draft decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, as reported by Politico on Monday night, “And as a woman, this is personal. This is something that we have fought against for my entire life. In fact, this is a battle my mother’s generation, it’s a battle from my generation, my daughter’s generation, and it seems like even my three-day old grandchild Sophia’s generation will have to be fighting this same fight. Something that we had thought we had put to bed a long time ago.”

Hochul has repeatedly said the state will be a safe haven for any person seeking reproductive health care, including an abortion, as several states move to impose sweeping abortion bans if the U.S. Supreme Court decides to overturn Roe v. Wade this summer.

She said under her direction, the “Department of Health is working closely with experts and advocates to issue regulations to ensure that telemedicine abortion is available here, to offer clear guidance to providers, and provide information to patients about their right to abortion.”

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said she would not rule out a constitutional amendment.

State Senator Liz Krueger sponsored three pieces of legislation to protect abortion providers in New York and women seeking treatment from other states. She added that, “Everything has to be on the table.”

New York passed reproductive rights laws in 1970 — three years before Roe v. Wade — under a Republican majority in the Senate, and with 12 Republicans joining the Democratic majority to vote for the legislation at the time.

State Republican leaders have remained publicly silent about the leaked draft decision.

U.S. Representative Lee Zeldin, a Republican, is pro-life and supported a bill in Congress to prohibit abortions after 20 weeks and joined his Republican colleagues in 2020 in calling to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Hochul presided over the state Senate in 2019 to pass the Reproductive Health Act, which codified protections to legal abortion by any licensed health care practitioner in state law, and permits abortions after 24 weeks if the woman’s life or health is at risk or the fetus is not viable.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo

ALBANY – Gov. Andrew Cuomo defended New York’s new abortion law Wednesday after it was criticized by President Donald Trump during the State of the Union address, saying Trump and his conservative allies are lying about the law as part of a broader assault on abortion rights.

In an op-ed published in The New York Times on Wednesday, the Democrat also pushed back on Trump’s call for a ban on late-term abortion, saying he wants to roll back decades-old court rulings protecting access to the procedure.

“It’s worth recalling that in 1999, long before he ran for president, Mr. Trump described himself as “very pro-choice.” Today he claims to be anti-choice, and he shamelessly courts the religious right to win votes,” Cuomo wrote, adding, “Too much of today’s political discourse is extreme. But emotions run especially high when politics and religion intersect — as in the debate about a woman’s right to choose. As a Roman Catholic, I am intimately familiar with the strongly held views of the church. Still, I do not believe that religious values should drive political positions.”

Enacted last month, the Reproductive Health Act codifies rights laid out in Roe v. Wade and other abortion rulings. It states that a woman may abort a viable fetus after 24 weeks of pregnancy only if her life or health is at risk, restrictions on late-term abortions based on Supreme Court decisions including Roe v. Wade and subsequent rulings.

Trump did not mention those stipulations when he criticized the law in Tuesday night’s speech before Congress. Instead, the president said he wanted Congress to pass a ban on late-term abortion of fetuses that “can feel pain in the mother’s womb” – an unlikely proposition given Democratic control of the U.S. House.

Polls show a majority of Americans back the Roe decision, but public support for late-term abortion is much more complicated. According to a 2018 Gallup poll, 81 percent of Americans believe abortion should be illegal in the last three months of pregnancy. But the same poll found that 75 percent of respondents said third-trimester abortions should be legal when a woman’s life is endangered.

Studies show Nearly 90 percent of all abortions in the U.S. are performed within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Meanwhile, Congressman Tom Reed (R-Corning, NY 23) – who represents Chautauqua County in Washington, is taking the president’s side on the issue.

Reed released a statement saying the extremists in Albany and Governor Cuomo would like residents to think the new abortion laws are about solidifying the Roe vs Wade decision in New York State, but Reed said the ability to kill a baby at birth for reasons not even determined by a licensed doctor is extreme, and does not reflect the Supreme Court’s landmark decision on abortion.

President Donald Trump on Feb. 5 during his 2019 State of the Union address before Congress (Image Courtesy of White House)

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump delivered the 2019 State of the Union to Congress on Tuesday.

While his message focused mostly on the economy, his border wall, and foreign policy issues in both the Middle East and South America, Trump also took a few moments to criticize New York State for it’s recent abortion legislation – The Reproductive Health Act – that was passed in Albany and signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Supporters of the bill, including the governor, said the new legislation provides a series of measures codifying abortion protections and expanding reproductive health rights for women and their health care providers.

But as part of his statement, Trump focused in on the most controversial component of the legislation – the late term abortion clause – and omitted the details that the law permits abortions after 24 weeks only if a health care professional determines the health or life of the mother is at risk, or the fetus is not viable.

“There could be no greater contrast to the beautiful image of a mother holding her infant child than the chilling displays are nation saw in recent days. Lawmakers in New York cheered with delight upon passage of legislation that would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother’s womb moments from birth,” Trump said, adding, “To defend the dignity of every person, I am asking congress to pass legislation to prohibit the late term abortion of children who can feel pain in the mother’s womb.”

In response to the comment, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), who’s also a 2020 presidential hopeful, released a statement criticizing the president’s general comments in the State of the Union while also specifically addressing his comments regarding late-term abortion.

“President Trump has had years to bring this country together, but instead he has chosen to divide the country across every single line he can imagine,” Gillibrand said. “If President Trump wants to convince the country that he actually cares about bringing us together, then he can start by no longer using government workers as political pawns, reuniting the families that his Administration ripped apart at the border, and stopping with political wedge issues like telling women they can’t make their own health decisions in consultation with their doctor.”

Governor Cuomo also released a statement criticizing Trump for his comments on the new state law.

“President Trump proposed rolling back the protections provided by Roe v. Wade — the law of our nation for 46 years affirmed and reaffirmed by numerous Supreme Courts. Never. New York has a message to those who spread lies and fear to control women’s reproductive health decisions: Not going to happen. Not now, not ever,” Cuomo stated.