By Dan Murphy
The new majority in the State Senate last week passed a series of bills that will protect and ensure New York women’s health rights. Passed on the 46th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, the Reproductive Health Act will codify that decision into New York law and modernize New York’s statutes to protect women’s rights.
For several years, the republican majority in the State Senate, with the help and support from the former Independent Democratic Conference, had prevented any vote or passage of reproductive rights for women in the Senate, while the Assembly and Gov. Andrew Cuomo supported the measure, which became more important as the U.S. Supreme Court recently confirmed two justices that may be the deciding votes to overturn Roe v Wade. Cuomo said last year, “Kavanaugh is going to reverse Roe v. Wade, I have no doubt.”
The Senate majority also passed the Comprehensive Contraception Coverage Act that will ensure insurance companies cover Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptive drugs, devices and products. Additionally, the Boss Bill that passed will prevent an employer’s religious beliefs from infringing on women’s health care decisions. The Senate majority, together with the Assembly majority, passed these three important bills through the Legislature swiftly to ensure New York State again becomes a leader in the fight to protect and expand women’s rights.
“New York once led the way on choice and women’s rights,” said Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said. “Unfortunately, for years barriers to women’s rights were put up, and our state has fallen behind. Today, we are tearing those barriers down and we are now leading the way again. I commend my colleague Speaker Heastie, the Senate and Assembly bill sponsors, and the Senate and Assembly majorities for taking historic action and leading New York State forward in the fight for women’s rights. It is time for New York to again serve as a progressive beacon to the nation.”
Reproductive Health Act sponsor Sen. Liz Krueger said: “The decision about whether to have an abortion is deeply personal. It involves a complex weighing of a woman’s unique circumstances, her medical needs, her private morality, and her own body. That is why it is a decision that must be made by a woman and her health care provider alone – not by the government. Our abortion laws, once groundbreaking, are now almost 50 years old. They do not meet the standard set by Roe v. Wade, and they do not reflect modern medical practice. We will never know how many New York women have suffered and even died because our outdated laws prevented them from getting the care they desperately needed. Today we turn the page. By enacting the RHA, the CCCA, and the Boss Bill, New York will once again lead the nation on women’s reproductive health care, and help ensure that all New Yorkers have the freedom and opportunity to make their own decisions about their health and their families.”
The historic legislation passed by the Senate Democratic Majority includes:
* Reproductive Health Act: This bill, S.240, introduced by Krueger, will modernize New York’s nearly 50-year-old statutes regarding abortion and ensure that NYS law treats abortion as health care, not a criminal act. The Assembly has passed this version of the RHA in 2017 and 2018.
* Comprehensive Contraception Coverage Act: This bill, S.659-A, introduced by Sen. Julia Salazar, will require health insurance companies to include coverage of all FDA-approved contraceptive options, as well as contraceptive counseling, and services. The Assembly first passed this legislation in 2015.
* Boss Bill: This bill, S.660, introduced by Sen. Jen Metzger, will ensure that employees or their dependents are able to make their own reproductive health care decisions without incurring adverse employment consequences. The Assembly has passed it each year since 2014.
State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi, who represents Pelham, said: “This is a historic day not only for women, but also for New York State. There is no coincidence that 2018 was the year of the woman, where we saw a record number of women running for and elected to office. There is no coincidence that our state reclaimed its democratic majority with the most women elected ever in the Legislature. There is no coincidence that today – by passing the Reproductive Health Act, Comprehensive Contraception Coverage Act, and the Boss Bill – we are setting in stone that we believe in women, their rights and abilities to make essential decisions for their bodies and their families.
“For the last two years, we have been facing major threats to women’s rights, and we have not taken them lying down. We are organizing. We are running for office. And we are making sure that the law reflects our values. Our country is founded on freedom and committed to human rights. Without reproductive freedom and reproductive rights, we have neither.”
State Sen. Shelley Mayer, who represents Yonkers and the Sound Shore of Westchester, said: “I am grateful that the RHA, CCCA and the Boss Bill passed the Legislature on this historic day. Women and families across New York State deserve the right and privacy protections to make their own reproductive health care decisions, which at times can be acutely difficult. With the threat of changes in federal law, it is critical that New York State protect and improve reproductive health care options and decision making. Together, these bills codify Roe v. Wade into New York State’s Public Health Law, ensure insurance coverage for FDA approved contraception, and protect employees from adverse consequences from employers as a result of their reproductive health care decisions. I look forward to working with my colleagues to further advance health care rights and options for women and families across the state.”
Robin Chappelle Golston, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Empire State Acts, said: “We cannot overstate how important it is for New Yorkers to have the ability to control their own bodies and determine their own destinies. We applaud Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie for their leadership and for their commitment to the needs of New Yorkers and their vote today to keep health care in our hands. The Legislature understands that with the continued threats on the federal level, New York must be a leader in protecting our access and not politicize reproductive health care.”
Andrea Miller, president of the National Institute of Reproductive Health Action Fund, added: “Voters across New York this year delivered a clear mandate to the State Senate: They are ready for bold legislation that ensures every person is able to access abortion care and contraception. Today the Senate made that mandate a reality by taking decisive and swift action, ensuring that no matter what happens in Washington, D.C., New York law protects and advances access to reproductive health care.”
Opponents of abortion were outraged by the Senate vote, which they claim now legalizes abortion on demand at any stage of a woman’s pregnancy in New York. Pro-life advocates took issue with two parts of the RHA – that medical care professionals, and not necessarily doctors, can now perform abortions; and that abortions can now be performed in NYS after 24 weeks of pregnancy if a woman’s health is endangered or the fetus is not viable.
The previous law only allowed abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy if a woman’s life was at risk. The RHA states: “Every individual has the fundamental right to choose or refuse contraception or sterilization. Every individual who becomes pregnant has the fundamental right to choose to carry the pregnancy to term, to give birth to a child, or to have an abortion, pursuant to this article.”
One letter to the editor we received reads: “Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the State Senate and Assembly: I am saddened, sickened and seriously disgusted with the passing of the Reproductive Health Act on Jan. 23, 2019. How can you justify voting for such a horrible law, making late-term abortion more accessible in New York? I am horrified, along with many others. Do you even take into consideration the rights of the unborn child? Do you have no morals, no religion, no access to God?
“This law also expands the pool of medical professionals who are authorized to perform abortions and permits abortions after 24 weeks when the fetus is not viable or a woman’s health is at risk. The term ‘woman’s health’ can mean a variety of things… At this point, those who align themselves with the Democrat Party advocate for the murder of children, right up to the very moment before they take their first breath. It’s an abomination.”
Westchester residents and Expected Mother Care President Chris Slattery said: “We must act now to organize against the insane ‘abortion-till-birth’ law just passed by the Democratic Legislature and governor of New York, who has already uttered harsh threats about the welcome you think pro-lifers are not entitled to in our state. Will being pro-life one day be a hate crime in the State of New York?”
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, along with the Catholic Bishops in the state, signed a letter condemning the bill, stating: “Our beloved state has become a more dangerous one for women and their unborn babies. Our governor and legislative leaders hail this new abortion law as progress. This is not progress. Progress will be achieved when our laws and our culture once again value and respect each unrepeatable gift of human life, from the first moment of creation to natural death.”
Westchester resident and member of Advocates for Life, Anthony Felicissimox, added: “There is a holocaust in every generation and three responses to it. One group of people participate in it. Another group turns a blind eye. And the third group fights the horrendous injustice. NY Senate just approved horrible abortion bill. Assembly will later and tonight Cuomo will sign! (In his mansion next door to Immaculate Conception Cathedral whose bells are rolling now in sorrow) Dear Christians who voted for Cuomo and NY Democrats – you are responsible for this! The spirit of Judas is still alive.”
After the Senate passed the measure 38-24, and the Assembly passed it 92-47, Cuomo signed it into law.
The debate over abortion continues in our state and country, which can be found in the voices on both sides expressing themselves, including on this reporter’s radio Westchester Rising show on WVOX 1460 AM. Below is a letter from Dr. Monica Dragoman, who wrote an op-ed that reads, in part:
“The vast majority of abortions in the United States take place early in pregnancy. According to the Guttmacher Institute, only slightly more than 1 percent of abortions are performed at 21 weeks or later. Often (but not always), patients at this stage choose abortion after a doctor has detected a life-threatening fetal abnormality.
“Previously, under New York’s outdated abortion law, those seeking abortion care later in pregnancy had to travel out of state to receive the procedure. This is often a logistical nightmare that is often insurmountable, for those with low incomes. As a medical provider, I firmly believe that sexual and reproductive health decisions should be made by no one but a patient and their doctor, certainly not politicians”
