NY State Senate Bill 2023-S9526

Senate Bill S9526

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Requires search engines and social media networks to include a consumer notice on limited services pregnancy center listings and posts

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Women's Issues Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
May 16, 2024	referred to women's issues

2023-S9526 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A7084
Current Committee:: Senate Women's Issues
Law Section:: General Business Law
Laws Affected:: Add §394-cccc, Gen Bus L

2023-S9526 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires search engines such as Google, Yahoo or Bing to include a notice to users when searching limited services pregnancy center listings that such limited services pregnancy centers provide limited medical and abortion care and may not have medical professionals onsite; requires social media networks such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr and Flickr to include such consumer notice on any posts or advertisements by such centers.

2023-S9526 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S9526

SPONSOR: HOYLMAN-SIGAL
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the general business law, in relation to requiring
search engines and social media networks to include a consumer notice on
limited services pregnancy center listings and posts

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

An act to amend the general business law in relation to requiring search
engines to include a consumer notice on limited service pregnancy center
listings.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

  Section  1  adds  a new section to the general business law to require
search engine notices for limited service pregnancy centers

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The decisions a person makes when they find out they  are  or  might  be
pregnant  are time sensitive and personal. New York State must remove as
many obstacles as possible for those  needing  to  make  urgent  choices
about  their own reproductive health. One of the first things a pregnant
person many do is seek out a healthcare facility online that can provide
them with pre-natal care, abortion  services  or  information  on  their
options for ending or continuing with a pregnancy.

Limited  pregnancy  centers  will come up in their search but do they do
not offer comprehensive medical care  of  comprehensive  information  on
sexual  and reproductive healthcare. Instead, the staff at these centers
actively work to convince a pregnant person to carry their pregnancy  to
term.  They  use  such tactics as performing ultrasounds and lying about
how far along a pregnancy is, offering diapers and other  supplies,  and
spreading  misinformation  about abortion.   Additionally, these centers
most often do not have licensed doctors or nurses on site.

Anyone seeking care and information when they are pregnant  deserves  to
know  the  types  of  services they can accesses and where. If a limited
service pregnancy center is explicitly labeled as  such  with  a  notice
when  it  comes  up in a search engine or on an online advertisement the
consumer can use this notice as a another tool to make an informed deci-
sions about their own health. New York  State  is  working  to  increase
access  to  abortion and maternal care and requiring a notice on limited
pregnancy centers will further the goal.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New Bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

None to State

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
this act shall take effect immediately

2023-S9526 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   9526
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 16, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by Sen. HOYLMAN-SIGAL -- read twice and ordered printed, and
   when printed to be committed to the Committee on Women's Issues
 
 AN ACT to amend the general  business  law,  in  relation  to  requiring
   search  engines and social media networks to include a consumer notice
   on limited services pregnancy center listings and posts

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The general business law is amended by adding a new section
 394-cccc to read as follows:
   §  394-CCCC. SEARCH ENGINE CONSUMER NOTICES FOR LIMITED SERVICES PREG-
 NANCY CENTERS. 1. FOR PURPOSES OF  THIS  SECTION,  THE  FOLLOWING  TERMS
 SHALL HAVE THE FOLLOWING MEANINGS:
   (A) "LIMITED SERVICES PREGNANCY CENTER" SHALL MEAN A FACILITY OR ENTI-
 TY,  INCLUDING  A  MOBILE  FACILITY,  THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF WHICH IS TO
 PROVIDE SERVICES TO CLIENTS WHO ARE OR MAY BE PREGNANT,  THAT  DOES  NOT
 PROVIDE  OR  REFER  FOR THE FULL RANGE OF COMPREHENSIVE REPRODUCTIVE AND
 SEXUAL HEALTH  CARE  SERVICES  REIMBURSED  UNDER  THE  STATE'S  MEDICAID
 PROGRAM.    "LIMITED SERVICES PREGNANCY CENTER" SHALL NOT INCLUDE HEALTH
 CARE FACILITIES LICENSED BY THE STATE OF NEW YORK UNDER ARTICLE  TWENTY-
 EIGHT  OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH LAW OR ARTICLES THIRTY-ONE AND THIRTY-TWO OF
 THE MENTAL HYGIENE LAW, NOR ENTITIES WHOSE PRIMARY FUNCTION IS TO FACIL-
 ITATE ADOPTION.
   (B) "SEARCH ENGINE" SHALL MEAN A PROGRAM THAT SEARCHES FOR AND IDENTI-
 FIES ITEMS IN A DATABASE THAT CORRESPOND TO KEYWORDS OR CHARACTERS SPEC-
 IFIED BY THE USER, USED  ESPECIALLY  FOR  FINDING  PARTICULAR  SITES  OR
 SERVICES  ON  THE  INTERNET  AND  SHALL  INCLUDE, BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO,
 GOOGLE, YAHOO AND BING.
   (C) "SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORK" SHALL MEAN AN INTERNET  PLATFORM  WHICH  IS
 DESIGNED  TO  ENABLE  USERS  TO SHARE ANY CONTENT WITH OTHER USERS OR TO
 MAKE SUCH CONTENT AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC AND SHALL INCLUDE, BUT NOT  BE
 LIMITED  TO, FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM, SNAPCHAT, TUMBLR AND
 FLICKR.
   2. (A) EVERY SEARCH ENGINE, WHEN RESPONDING TO A SEARCH AND  PROVIDING
 INFORMATION  FOR  LISTINGS  OF  ABORTION  OR  PREGNANCY  CARE,  SHALL BE
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD09532-01-3
 S. 9526                             2
 
 REQUIRED TO IDENTIFY AND PROVIDE A NOTICE TO A USER  OR  CONSUMER  IN  A
 CLEAR  AND CONSPICUOUS MANNER THAT CERTAIN FACILITIES LISTED ARE LIMITED
 SERVICES PREGNANCY CENTERS, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTERS,
 AND DO NOT HAVE LICENSED MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS ONSITE.
   (B)  EVERY  SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORK SHALL BE REQUIRED TO INCLUDE A NOTICE
 WITH ANY POST BY A LIMITED SERVICES PREGNANCY  CENTER  IN  A  CLEAR  AND
 CONSPICUOUS MANNER TO ALL USERS THAT SUCH FACILITY IS A LIMITED SERVICES
 PREGNANCY CENTER, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS A CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTER, AND DOES
 NOT HAVE LICENSED MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS ONSITE.
   3.  SUCH  NOTICE SHALL BE REQUIRED TO BE ADDED TO ALL LIMITED SERVICES
 PREGNANCY CENTER LISTINGS AS WELL AS TO ADVERTISEMENTS PURCHASED BY SUCH
 CENTERS THAT APPEAR  IN  SEARCH  ENGINE  RESULTS  AND  ON  SOCIAL  MEDIA
 NETWORKS.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

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