The health care reform debate magnifies threats to women's health care. Despite the prochoice administration in Washington, D.C., a vocal minority is working overtime to restrict a woman's right to make her own health care decisions and her ability to carry out those choices. This became increasingly evident as the U.S. House and Senate both passed reform bills containing provisions that would severely limit insurance coverage for and access to abortion care.
In the face of these continued attacks on reproductive health care and the erosion of laws protecting women's health, New York's laws need to be strengthened.
New York needs the Reproductive Health Act.
In 1970, New York was one of the first states in the nation to permit safe and legal abortion. This greatly reduced maternal morbidity and mortality in the state. While the law was groundbreaking at the time, it needs to be strengthened to protect women's health and her access to comprehensive reproductive health care.
The Reproductive Health Act guarantees a woman's ability to make her own reproductive health decisions.The Act:
- Ensures that a woman will be able to have an abortion if her health is endangered.
NYS law does not contain an exception to protect a woman should the pregnancy pose a risk to her health.
- Regulates abortion care in public health law rather than in the criminal code.
As a safe, legal medical procedure, abortion should be regulated under public health law, not in the penal code where it has been since before 1970.
- Guarantees everyone the right to use or refuse contraception.
This will prevent any mandatory imposition of contraception to women of New York by regulation or judicial ruling.
We have the chance to strengthen our laws and continue New York's proud tradition of supporting women's reproductive health and rights.
The Reproductive Health Act has been the target of a campaign of misinformation. The Act would:
- NOT force religiously affiliated hospitals to provide abortion services. the Act does not change existing state and federal laws that allow providers to refrain from performing abortions based on their moral or religious beliefs.
- NOT allow unqulified medical professionals to provide abortion services. The provision of abortion without proper qulifications would lead to medical misconduct charges.
- NOT legalize abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, Consistent with Roe v. Wade, the Act would allow abortion up to the time of viability and after that only if there is a threat to the woman's health or life.
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