ROE V. WADE DRAFT

New York’s forceful response to the Roe v. Wade draft opinion

State lawmakers have a couple packages of abortion bills to protect women and providers.

By Sara Dorn

NEW YORK’S GUBERNATORIAL candidates adhered to party lines in the wake of the release of the U.S. Supreme Court’s draft decision that would overturn Roe v. Wade and eliminate federally mandated abortion rights. Gov. Kathy Hochul said she was “horrified” by the report. Republican candidate Rep. Lee Zeldin stuck to the narrative attacking the leaked report, while his primary opponent Andrew Giuliani expressed support for the expected ruling.

“We have been fighting this battle for too long. I refuse to go backwards. I refuse to let my new granddaughter have to fight for the rights generations have fought for and won, rights that she should be guaranteed,” Hochul said in a statement. She vowed: “New York will always be a place where abortion rights are protected and where abortion is safe and accessible.”

The draft decision, written by Justice Samuel Alito and first reported by Politico, would eliminate federally protected abortion rights established in the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, putting the decision-making in the hands of the state legislatures.

In 2019, New York passed the Reproductive Health Act, which formally codified into state law the rights created by the Roe v. Wade ruling that established a woman’s right to an abortion past 24 weeks of pregnancy or when the woman’s health or life are at risk. “Let me be clear: We’re not playing defense; we’re playing offense. So my message to women all across this country is that New York, the state of New York, will always be there for anyone who needs reproductive health care, including an abortion,” Hochul said during a press conference.

State lawmakers protested the forthcoming decision alongside advocates in Foley Square on May 3. Legislators also pushed for passage of new bills that would enhance abortion access in New York and implement safeguards for providers as well as women who travel here from other states to have the procedure.

New York has one of the most progressive records on abortion rights. Three years before Roe v. Wade, New York decriminalized the procedure and in the years that followed became a destination for women from other

Gov. Kathy Hochul assured New Yorkers that the state would be a national safe haven for abortion rights.

states who traveled here for abortions. If the Supreme Court decision is finalized, New York is expected to see a new influx of patients. In the wake of abortion restrictions established by other states in recent years, the portion of abortions performed in New York on out-of-state patients more than doubled from 2012 to 2019, Gothamist reported, citing data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Hochul reiterated a previously announced directive instructing the state Department of Health to issue “regulations to ensure that telemedicine abortion is available here.” In September, following the passage of anti-abortion laws in Texas, Hochul asked the agency to develop formal guidance for providers and patients on telehealth abortions. Patients who opt to use telemedicine abortion services can consult with a health care provider via phone or video conference and have abortion pills mailed to them. Currently, 19 states have effectively banned telehealth abortions by requiring the prescribing provider to be physically present when the medication is administered, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-choice research organization.

Among the pending bills to enhance abortion rights in New York is legislation that would establish an abortion access fund under New York tax law and allow taxpayers to make contributions to the fund via personal income tax returns. State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi and Assembly Member Karines Reyes introduced the bills last year, but they have not made their way out of committees. Currently, a nonprofit by the same name – the New York Abortion Access Fund – helps pay for abortions for women who need financial assistance. “Speaking of Democrats using their power, there are 15 days of legislative session left this year in New York. The Abortion Access Fund bill better be up for a vote,” Biaggi tweeted.

A second package of bills, sponsored by Assembly Member Charles Lavine and state Sen. Liz Krueger, would prohibit law enforcement from assisting “any individual or out-of-state agency or department” seeking civil litigation or criminal prosecution against abortion providers in New York. The bills would also prevent the governor, courts and county clerks from issuing subpoenas and extradition orders to abortion providers on behalf of out-of-state court proceedings.

In the race for governor, abortion rights is likely to become a major talking point. Rep. Tom Suozzi was outspoken about his concerns regarding the draft opinion, but notably mentioned the leak, tweeting: “The Supreme Court’s leaked majority opinion to overturn Roe v Wade would have devastating consequences for women in this country. We must codify reproductive freedom and ensure that abortion remains safe, legal, and accessible.” Suozzi has faced criticism from abortion rights advocates in the past. In his 2006 campaign for governor, pro-choice advocates denounced Suozzi’s opposition to “partial-birth abortions,” The New York Times reported. However, the same group behind the criticism, NARAL Pro-Choice America, endorsed him a decade later in his 2016 campaign for Congress.

New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams described the draft opinion as “callous and political,” while calling on state leaders not to “hesitate, before fighting to preserve this right,” he tweeted. Previously, Williams had made conflicting statements on his abortion views – a position that has dogged his progressive record for years. Speaking about his personal experience when a woman he was dating had an abortion, Williams in 2013 lamented what he said was a lack of fathers’ rights in making decisions about abortions: “After having the pregnancy terminated there is no space I think for fathers to express that kind of pain,” he said, according to Politico. At the same time, he said he opposed overturning Roe v. Wade.

Zeldin, who had yet to make an official statement on the matter but is staunchly pro-life, subscribed to the emerging GOP narrative attacking the premature release of the opinion when asked by City & State for comment. “The unprecedented leak that came out of the U.S. Supreme Court is very concerning and needs to be investigated. Accountability must follow,” he said in a statement released by his campaign.

Giuliani, meanwhile, tweeted: “Yesterday’s Supreme Court outcome, in overturning a fundamentally flawed case, was an important step in protecting our most vulnerable Americans.” ■