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History
- Referred to health
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Requires the commissioner of the department of health to undertake periodic inspections of abortion clinics
In Assembly Committee · Health · Sponsor Nicole Malliotakis
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S7726
Title of bill
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to periodic clinic inspection
Purpose
The purpose of this bill is to establish a requirement for the Health Commissioner to inspect abortion clinics once every two years, and submit a written report of the results of each inspection to the Assembly, Senate, and Governor.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 amends the public health law by adding § 2560 to define the type of facility that would be covered by this act.
Section 2 amends the public health law by adding § 2561 to create an affirmative duty of the Commissioner of the New York State Department of Health to inspect abortion clinics.
Subsection 1 directs the Commissioner to promulgate rules and standards against which abortion clinics must be evaluated.
Subsection 2 directs the Commissioner to inspect abortion clinics on a biennial basis and provides authorization for the Commissioner to appoint or designate persons to perform the inspections.
Subsection 3 directs the Commissioner to create a report on the results of the inspections and submit that report to the Assembly, the Senate, and the Governor.
Justification
According to the Public Health Law, the Department of Health is required to supervise and regulate the sanitary aspects of businesses and activities that affect public health. It does not, however, require the Health Commissioner to conduct periodic inspections of abortion clinics on a periodic basis. A recent Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request uncovered the fact that only 17 of the 25 abortion clinics in New York had been inspected between 2000 and 2012, and five of those 17 had received only one inspection during that time period. Eight abortion clinics received no inspections.
This bill would create a duty for the Health Commissioner and/or desig- nees of the Health Commissioner to inspect every abortion clinic once - every two years and report all findings to the Governor and legislature. This time period would be in line with the statutory requirement for inspections of other facilities regulated by the Department of Health such as restaurants and tanning salons.
This measure should acquire broad consensus as its intended goal is to afford women the proper protections and highest standards befitting a facility that conducts such sensitive procedures, without altering the current status of access to abortion in this state.
Prior legislative history
None.
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
Immediately
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.