From New York Women’s Equality at: http://nywomensequality.org/10-point-plan/
10. Safeguarding Reproductive Health (Senate Bill 5881*)
*Senate Bill 5881 never came to the NYS Senate floor for a vote, but the language was introduced as a hostile amendment to Senate Bill 4174 and was ultimately ruled not germane on a vote of 32-30.
• New York’s abortion law was enacted in 1970, three years prior to Roe v. Wade, and lacks the important protections found in federal law.
• Under New York law, a woman’s health is not protected in the rare and tragic situation that a serious complication jeopardizes her health later in pregnancy; New York law only provides protection if a woman’s life is in danger.
The Women’s Equality Act would:
Ensure that a woman can access abortion care in New York State when her health is at risk by:
1. Codifying in New York State law the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade;
2. Ensuring that a woman in New York can get an abortion within 24 weeks of pregnancy, or when necessary to protect her life or health;
3. Ensuring that physicians operating within their scope of practice cannot be criminally prosecuted in New York for providing such care; and
4. Retaining those provisions in state law that allow the state to prosecute those who harm pregnant women.
This is the big one. The one with all the controversy. This is the Pro – CHOICE provision. And the opponents of this article are screaming as loudly as they can falsehoods that it will force women to have abortions. But in actuality all the law does is protect the women of New York if the worst happens – if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. There is nothing in these provisions that we are not currently protected by federal law upheld by the Supreme Court. But at the same time, we can’t back down and we can’t give in – we need to be assured that the women of New York are allowed to continue to make choices about their bodies, their lives and their health without the intervention of those who believe they should be allowed to dictate their own personal moral choices to others.