Published in The Legislative Gazette
.jpg)
The bill is part of the Women's Equality Agenda, which has been the subject of heated debate in Albany for the last several years.
The Reproductive Health Act, a point of contention between Republicans and Democrats for more than two straight sessions, would protect access to women's reproductive health services. The Republican-controlled state Senate has refused to advance the bill while approving the Women's Equality Agenda.
"The Assembly majority believes women should be allowed to make the best choices for themselves and their families," said Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie during a news conference at the Capitol last week. "We believe that her body is a personal space, and its privacy and autonomy must be defended."
Bill A.6221, sponsored by Assembly member Deborah Glick, D-Greenwich Village, codifies into state law the reproductive rights women have had under federal law since 1973, ensuring that a woman in New York can get an abortion within 24 weeks of pregnancy, or when necessary, as determined by appropriate medical judgment, to protect her life or health.
"New York has protected a woman's right to choose since 1970," Glick said. "Federal protections have been in place since 1973, covering the life and health of women. It is necessary to make these laws consistent and codify Roe v. Wade in New York state law."
Forty-nine Assembly members voted against the Reproductive Health Act, most of them Republicans.
"I am proud to have stood for the sanctity and dignity of human life," said Assemblyman David DiPietro, R-East Aurora. "Human life is to be preserved and protected, inside the womb and out. I spoke at length on this issue, and will continue to do so for as long as I'm privileged enough to serve as your assemblyman."
Assemblyman Steve Katz, R-Mohegan Lake, believes this abortion expansion legislation is headed nowhere in the state Senate and that the Assembly should spend more time on budget negotiations.
"This bill isn't going to be brought up in the Senate, and instead of working on areas of bipartisan support to improve our struggling economy, we've spent hours on dead-end legislation" Katz said. "That's Albany in a nutshell."
"Instead of focusing on expanding our leadership in ending innocent life, we should be working on our dead-last ratings in economic friendliness and business climate," Katz added.
Recently, Senate Democratic Conference Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, D-Yonkers, responded to the wave of opposition from Senate Republicans and said it is deeply disappointing that they continue to stand against efforts to codify the Roe v. Wade decision into New York state law.
"Unfortunately, my Senate Republican colleagues have taken a step backwards," said Stewart-Cousins, who sponsors the Senate bill (S.4432), which is in the Health Committee.
The New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, a Christian conservative political advocacy group, has been steadfast in its opposition to the bill, which they say would further expand abortion in New York state by changing the text in the law about who can perform an abortion, under what circumstances and until what stage of the pregnancy.
The Executive Director of the group, the Rev. Jason McGuire, said he does not anticipate the bill being passed in the Senate, but said he is thankful other bills that protect women's equality have been separated from the controversial abortion bill.
"New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms is thankful that the 10 component parts of the Women's Equality Act are being separated and voted on as stand-alone bills," McGuire said. "There was no valid reason for Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his Assembly allies to connect important, pro-women measures with late term abortion expansion; doing so has unnecessarily delayed the passage of bills that – unlike abortion expansion – would make New York state a better place,"
The legislation does not change or alter existing state and federal laws that permit a health care provider or institution to refrain from providing an abortion based on religious or moral beliefs. It continues New York state's protection for religious exemptions, say the bill's supporters.
"This measure was part of Governor Cuomo's Women's Equality Act which the state Senate refused to pass in its entirety largely because of their objections to women making their own health care decisions," Glick said. "The Assembly has always supported New York women in their efforts to control their own reproductive health decisions."
In the United States, almost half of the 6.3 million pregnancies each year are unintended and about 1.3 million end in abortion, according to Abortion and Post-Abortion Care, a study conducted by researchers from the University of California, San Francisco.
The study shows 87 percent of U.S. counties and 31 percent of metropolitan areas have no abortion provider. One-quarter of all women who have abortions in non-hospital facilities have to travel 50 miles or more to receive these services.
"Updating this law is long overdue. We must protect a woman's right to make her own health care decisions," said Assemblyman Fred Thiele, Jr., I-Sag Harbor. "Women have a constitutional right to make decisions about their own bodies, and that freedom must always be protected."
Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco found that women who seek to terminate a pregnancy, but are turned away from abortion services, are three times more likely to fall below the poverty line within the subsequent two years than women who are able to access such services.
The study also found that women who are denied an abortion are more likely to stay in a relationship with an abusive partner than women who have access to abortion services.
"The right to reproductive freedom is a fundamental right, New York state must strengthen reproductive health rights and respect women's decisions," said Assembly Health Committee Chair Richard Gottfried, D-Manhattan, a co-sponsor of the bill.
No comments:
Post a Comment