Senator Sean Ryan, Senate Majority Pass Legislation To Strengthen Reproductive Rights

SENATOR SEAN RYAN, SENATE MAJORITY PASS LEGISLATION TO STRENGTHEN REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

Package of Bills Bolsters Reproductive Rights in New York in the Face of Added Restrictions Across the Country

ALBANY – Today, June 1, 2022, New York State Senator Sean Ryan announced that the Senate Majority has advanced legislation to protect the right to choose for New Yorkers and those who travel to New York to obtain a safe and legal abortion. While reproductive rights are being curtailed across the nation, this legislative package ensures that New York State will remain a safe haven for any person seeking abortion healthcare.

This suite of legislation protects the rights of individuals seeking abortion care or gender-affirming care in New York State, expands the eligibility of the Address Confidentiality Program to protect New Yorkers who fear for their safety after seeking reproductive health care, and directs the Commissioner of Health to study the impact of limited service pregnancy centers.

This bill package also provides certain legal protections for New York-based abortion service providers, including prohibiting medical misconduct charges for performing reproductive health care, forbids New York State from cooperating with out-of-state legal cases involving abortion except in limited circumstances, and prohibits medical malpractice insurers from taking adverse action against a healthcare provider in New York State for providing legal reproductive services.

Senator Sean Ryan said, “As other states take steps backward by passing draconian abortion restrictions, New York remains committed to protecting the rights of every woman. This package of legislation creates extra protections for individuals visiting New York in search of abortion healthcare and strengthens our state’s role as a safe haven for women whose reproductive rights are being threatened.”

The legislation passed by the Senate Majority includes:

• Freedom from Interference with Reproductive Health Advocacy and Travel Exercise: This bill, S.9039A, sponsored by Senator Alessandra Biaggi, protects the rights of individuals seeking abortion care or gender affirming care in New York State. This legislation also creates a civil cause of action for unlawful interference with the protected rights to reproductive healthcare.
• Extradition and Discovery Non-Cooperation: This bill, S.9077, sponsored by Senator Liz Krueger, forbids New York State from cooperating with out-of-state legal cases involving abortion except in limited circumstances.
  • For criminal cases, this the bill prohibits New York from extraditing a defendant to another state to face abortion-related charges unless the governor of that state alleges in writing that the defendant was present in that state at the time of the alleged offense and that they later fled.
  • For civil cases, the bill prohibits a New York court from honoring a subpoena request from the court of another state if the out-of-state case relates to abortion services legally performed in New York State. A New York court may still honor an out-of-state subpoena if the case is brought by the patient.
• Prohibiting Medical Misconduct Charges for Performing Reproductive Health Care: This bill, S.9079A, sponsored by Senator Anna Kaplan, prohibits professional misconduct charges against licensed medical professionals for providing legal abortion and reproductive health services to patients who reside in states where such services are illegal.
• Protection of Malpractice Coverage: This bill, S.9080B, sponsored by Senator Michelle Hinchey, prohibits medical malpractice insurers from taking adverse action against a healthcare provider in New York State for performing legal healthcare reproductive services, protecting providers and ensuring that people can safely access abortion and related services in New York State. 
• Address Confidentiality Program: This bill, S.9384A, sponsored by Senator Cordell Cleare, will expand the eligibility of the Address Confidentiality Program to include reproductive healthcare services providers, employees, volunteers, patients, or immediate family members of reproductive healthcare services providers.
• Study of the Impact of Limited Service Pregnancy Centers: This bill, S.470, sponsored by Senator Brad Hoylman, directs the Commissioner of Health to assemble a temporary taskforce to study and issue a report examining the unmet health and resource needs facing pregnant people in New York State, and the impact of limited service pregnancy centers on the access and quality of care pregnant people receive.

In 2019, New York codified Roe v. Wade by passing the Reproductive Health Act (RHA). The RHA decriminalized abortion and expanded the range of health care practitioners who can perform abortion care. The Senate Majority also passed the Comprehensive Contraception Coverage Act (CCCA) to ensure that FDA-approved contraceptive drugs are covered by insurance companies and the Boss Bill to prevent employers from using their religious beliefs to infringe on women’s decisions over their reproductive care.

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