A Letter to Our Activists: PPGNY Action Fund's 2023 Legislative Summary

Thanks to your rallying support we saw many wins this past legislative session in New York, including the second consecutive passing of the Equal Rights Amendment, advancing this imperative bill one step closer to becoming permanent protection in our state’s constitution. While we celebrate these achievements, we must continue to look ahead to 2024 as Planned Parenthood of Greater New York Action Fund’s crucial work continues to defend sexual and reproductive rights and access. Read on to review our wins and our priorities, and learn how you join us in inspiring governmental change. 

Advancing an Equal Rights Amendment 
The Senate and the Assembly passed the Equal Rights Amendment for the second time on January 24th, 2023. New Yorkers will have the opportunity to vote on the amendment on the November 2024 ballot. 

Signed into Law: Legal Protections for Abortion Providers 
On May 2nd, Governor Hochul signed A.1005 Lavine/S.1351 Krueger into law. This bill was a chapter amendment to legislation passed last year, which provided protections from criminal prosecutions and civil actions arising out of the provision of abortion, that expands these protections to any individuals involved with the delivery, receipt, or assistance in obtaining or providing reproductive health care services delivered in New York. This legislation passed the Assembly Y:94/N:44 and Senate Y:43/N:20 

Signed into Law: Expansion of Shield Laws 
The Senate and the Assembly both passed legislation (S.1066-B Mayer/A.1709-B Reyes) that aims to provide additional protections to reproductive health care providers by:  

• Expanding legal protections to all involved with reproductive health care services delivered via any method.  
• Prohibiting NYS courts from admitting evidence related to the provision of reproductive health services to prove wrongdoing solely on the basis that the recipient of reproductive health services was not physically present in New York.  
• Expanding the protections that prohibit disciplinary actions against a licensed health care professional for the provision of abortion to all reproductive health care services.  
• Prohibiting a New York provider’s medical malpractice insurer from taking an adverse action against the provider on the basis that they provide reproductive health services to out-of-state patients.  
• Requiring that NY law control in instances where it conflicts with other state laws.  

This bill was signed into law by the Governor on June 23rd. 

Signed Into Law: Access to Medication Abortion on SUNY & CUNY Campuses  
On May 2nd, Governor Hochul signed into law legislation (A.1395 Epstein/S.1213 Cleare) which will make medication abortion available to students on SUNY and CUNY campuses, either by medical professionals at the student health center or by referral to a third-party provider. This legislation passed the Assembly Y:99 to N:49 and the Senate Y:42/N:18 

Increased Medicaid Reimbursement for Family Planning & Procedural Abortion Care. 
The enacted FY24 budget included an increase to the Medicaid Reimbursement to providers for procedural abortion care. In alignment with the executive budget, the enacted budget contains a rate increase to family planning (of 30%) and procedural abortion care ($1k for first trimester, and $1.3k for second trimester).  

• Sustained Abortion Access Funding. The enacted budget contains $25m in abortion access grant funding, a continuation of the investment Governor Hochul announced in May of 2022, following the leak of the Dobbs decision.  
• Sustained Family Planning Grant Funding. The FY24 enacted budget ensures the Family Planning Grant will continue to be funded at last year’s level, which includes the continuation of the $1m legislative add for the grant.  
• Abortion Data Privacy Protections. The FY24 enacted budget includes data protections for anyone seeking abortion care in New York, including their location history and search history. It also prohibits individuals and organizations that provide electronic records headquartered or incorporated in New York from complying with an out-of-state warrant to produce records when that individual or corporation knows the warrant pertains to an investigation into, enforcement of, any civil or criminal offense related to the provision or receipt of reproductive health services.
• Geofencing of Health Care Facilities. The enacted budget also includes prohibitions against the use of geofencing around health care facilities by third parties, geofencing of a facility by the organization running the facility will not be prohibited. 

Partial Pass: Reproductive Freedom and Equity Program  
On January 24th, the Senate passed S.348-B Cleare (Y:41/N:22), legislation which would enact the Reproductive Freedom and Equity Program, a sustained source of funding to support abortion providers and patients. This measure was introduced in the Assembly (A.361 Gonzalez-Rojas) but did not advance. 

Partial Pass: Hospital Transparency  
On January 24th, the Senate passed legislation S.1003-A Hinchey (Y:41/N:22), which would require the Department of Health to collect and publish a list of health care facilities that have policy-based exclusions, and a list of what those policy-based exclusions are on the DOH website for patients, prospective patients, and members of the public. In the Assembly, the bill (A.733-Rozic) made it through committees and to the Assembly calendar but failed to come to a vote before they gaveled out. 

Signed Into Law: Pharmacy dispensing self-administered hormonal birth control  
On May 2nd, Governor Hochul signed into law A.1060-A Paulin / S.1043-A Stavisky, which will enable pharmacists to dispense self-administered hormonal birth control through a nonpatient specific script. The legislation passed both houses in March by a vote of Y:109/N:37 in the Assembly and Y:48/N:15 in the Senate.  

Signed Into Law: Protections for Gender Affirming Care  
On June 25th, the Governor signed into law S.2475 which would create protections for transgender youth and families and the providers delivering gender affirming care. This legislation would prohibit law enforcement cooperation with other states’ investigations regarding gender affirming care in New York, protect the health information of patients who come to New York to receive gender affirming care, and establish protections the physicians who provide gender affirming care in the state. This bill was passed by the Senate on June 6th (Y:48/N:18) and the Assembly on June 10th (Y:97/N:47).  

Passed Both Houses: Health Equity Assessment Enhancement  
Legislation (A.3113 Clark / S.3609 Cleare) to require consideration of reproductive health services and maternal health care when conducting health equity assessments was passed by the Assembly on June 7th (Y:98/N:50). This bill previously passed in the Senate on March 30th (Y:39/N:23), This will likely not have operational impacts on affiliates; however, we will follow up with a memo explaining material changes.  
 
Partial Pass: Office of the Medicaid Inspector General Audit Reform On June 5th, the Senate passed legislation, S.5329, which would alter the process for audits conducted by the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General (OMIG). PPESA joined a sign-on letter with 43 other organizations in support of this legislation. The bill did not advance in the Assembly.  
 
Re-introduction of Comprehensive Sex Education  
This legislation, A.4604, was introduced in the Assembly by Assemblymember Gonzalez Rojas. Introduction in the Senate is on hold as we discuss sponsorship of the bill.  
 
Introduction of Provisional Licensure for Reproductive Health Providers This legislation, S.4148, was drafted by PPESA and introduced in the Senate by Senator Cooney. It would allow any physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, registered professional nurse, or midwife in another state to provide reproductive health services while their NYS licensure is being considered. Introduction in the Assembly is on hold while we discuss sponsorship.  
 
Introduction of Professional Misconduct Protections  
This legislation, (A.6269 Rosenthal/S.5636 Webb) would expand professional misconduct protections enacted last session for physicians and physician assistants by prohibiting a finding of professional misconduct based solely on the provision of reproductive health care or gender affirming care and allows additional medical professionals to take advantage of these protections. The bill was introduced in both the Senate and the Assembly but failed to advance out of committee in either house. We will continue to assess whether additional protections are needed for providers in 2024.  
 
Introduction of Protecting Provider Conscience  
This legislation, (A.5297 Paulin/S.6616 May), would prohibit hospitals from preventing health care practitioners from providing medically accurate information and care related to pregnancy complications in line with the practitioner’s own professional judgment. PPESA drafted this bill, which was modeled on similar legislation that was advanced and enacted in Washington. This bill was introduced in both the Assembly and Senate in the spring and was referred out of the Assembly Health Committee to the Assembly Codes Committee for consideration on May 23rd. We will continue working to advance this bill through the Legislature in 2024. 

Coalition Wins:  
Let NY Vote Passed Both Houses: Constitutional Amendment Ballots in Plain Language  This bill (A.1722 Zinerman/S.1381 Comrie) requires that all amendments to the NYS constitution be presented in plain language when they appear on the ballot. The Legislation passed the Senate (Y:61/N:0) on May 17th, and the Assembly (Y:145/N:0) on June 8th. PPESA issued a memo in support.  

Passed Both Houses: The New York Early Mail Voter Act  
This legislation (S.7394 Gianaris/A.7632 Reyes) creates a process where any registered voter in New York State can cast a mail ballot. If signed into law, New York will join 35 other states that allow any registered voter to vote by mail, without the need to provide a specific reason or excuse. The legislation passed the Senate (Y:41/N:21) on June 6th and the Assembly (Y:94/N:51) on June 9th.  

Coalition Partial Pass: Coverage4All  
On June 8th, the Senate passed S.2237, (Y:41/N:21) sponsored by Senator Rivera, which would expand New York State’s Essential Plan to include individuals under 65 who are not eligible for insurance due to their immigration status by amending the State’s 1332 Waiver request. The bill was referred to the Assembly Ways and Means Committee for consideration but failed to advance before the Assembly gaveled out.  
 
Passed Both Houses: NYS Community Doula Directory for Medicaid Patients  
Legislation (A.5435 Solages/S.1867 Brouk) to establish a New York State community doula directory to connect pregnant individuals with qualified local doulas was passed by the Assembly (Y:145/N:0) and Senate (Y:61/N:0) on June 5th.  
 
Partial Pass: Doula Access  
On June 1st, legislation (S.5991 Persaud) to allow doulas to be present in an operating room while a cesarean section is being performed was passed by the Senate (Y:58/N:0) and referred to the Assembly Health Committee for consideration:  
On May 31st, the Senate passed S.5992, (Y:58/N:0) sponsored by Senator Persaud, which would allow a pregnant person to have full access to a designated doula during delivery and for inpatient care post-delivery. The bill has been referred to the Assembly Health Committee for consideration. 

Ongoing priorities and what we continue to advocate for: 

• Reproductive Freedom and Equity Program (S.348-B/ A.361) 
• Hospital Transparency (A.733/S.1003) 
• Comprehensive Sex Education (A.4604) 
• Provisional Licensure for reproductive health care providers (A.4148) 
• Protecting provider conscience (A.5297/S.6616) 
• Professional Misconduct Protections (A.6269 /S.5636) 
• #Coverage4All – expanding access to Essential Plan coverage (S.2237/A.3020) 
• Ensuring each city is a “safe harbor” for abortion access. Local governments should introduce resolutions and publicly commit to prohibiting city resources from being used to impede an individual's ability to obtain abortion care and protect abortion providers. 
• Expand funding in your locality for abortions through abortion funds. Abortion funds are nonprofit organizations that are usually volunteer-run and provide direct support to individuals seeking abortion care. In addition to paying for the care, abortion funds often pay for traveling, lodging, and childcare costs for individuals who must travel to obtain abortion care. 
• Promote community reassurance through public education campaigns. Let your constituents know that abortion is accessible and legal in New York State.  

Planned Parenthood of Greater New York Action Fund’s Public Affairs Team will start working this fall on crafting a 2024 Legislative Agenda. We will be sharing this agenda with all of our PPGNYAF supporters in early January 2024. Please sign up for our email list to receive alerts, updates, and more. 

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