An act to amend the public health law, in relation to enacting the reproductive health and privacy protection act, and in relation to the revision of existing provisions regarding abortions; to amend the education law, in relation to unauthorized abortions; to amend the penal law, the criminal procedure law, the county law and the judiciary law, in relation to abortion; to repeal certain provisions of the education law relating to the sale of contraceptives; and to repeal certain provision of the penal law relating to abortion.

Synopsis:
The proposed bill seeks to increase a woman’s reproductive rights and de-criminalize abortion. 

Status:
This bill was referred to the Senate Rules Committee on 6/6/07 and the Senate Health Committee on 1/9/08.

Summary of Provisions:

• Section 1 and 2 of this bill establish Article 12: Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection.  These sections of the proposed legislation identify basic rights for all New York citizens. 
• Every person has the right to use or not to use contraception and the state cannot discriminate against any one exercising this right.
• Every woman has the right to terminate a pregnancy, before the fetus could survive on its own or in the event her life or health was in danger.  The state cannot discriminate against any one exercising this right.
• This bill seeks to revise the public health law to state that when an abortion takes place past the point where the fetus could survive, a second physician must be present to provide medical care to the infant in the event that it could survive.
• This bill seeks to repeal a section of the education law, which prohibits sale of contraception to an individual under the age of sixteen and prohibits advertising or displaying contraception inside or outside of a pharmacy.
• This bill seeks to revise the penal law and remove all mention of abortion as a criminal offense and remove the word abortion from the definition of homicide.
• This bill seeks to revise the penal law and adds an unauthorized abortion to the definition of serious physical injury.  In the event an individual performs an unauthorized abortion and causes serious physical injury to the woman and she dies that act is manslaughter.
• This bill revises the criminal procedures law, county law and judiciary law to remove all references to the crime of abortion.

NASW-NYS Position:
NASW-NYS supports this bill and has issued a Memorandum in Support.