What's happening
This bill enacts the Reproductive Health Act, expanding abortion access, updating legal definitions, and repealing certain contraceptive sale restrictions in New York.
Why it matters
Broadens who can provide abortions. by allowing not just physicians but a variety of licensed health care practitioners (like nurse practitioners or physician assistants) to perform abortions within their professional scope, increasing access in underserved areas.
Shifts legal standards for abortion. from a fixed number of weeks (24 weeks) to the medical concept of "fetal viability" and adds protection for the patient's health, aligning New York law more closely with current medical practice and Supreme Court precedents.
Prevents government interference. by explicitly prohibiting any law or regulation that creates an "undue burden" for women seeking abortions of nonviable fetuses, using language rooted in federal constitutional law to shield abortion access from restrictive state measures.
Removes outdated restrictions on contraceptives. by repealing laws that previously limited the sale of contraceptives, streamlining access to reproductive health products and reflecting modern standards of privacy and autonomy.
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Protect Abortion Access
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History
- Referred to health
Full text
3 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
10433
IN ASSEMBLY
April 20, 2018
Introduced by M. of A. BARNWELL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law and the penal law, in relation to enacting the reproductive health act and revising existing provisions of law regarding abortion; and to repeal certain provisions of the education law relating to the sale of contraceptives
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding a new article 25-A to read as follows:
ARTICLE 25-A
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH ACT Section 2599-aa. Abortion.
§ 2599-aa. Abortion. 1. A health care practitioner licensed, certified, or authorized under title eight of the education law, acting within his or her lawful scope of practice, may perform an abortion when, according to the practitioner's reasonable and good faith professional judgment based on the facts of the patient's case: there is an absence of fetal viability or the abortion is necessary to protect the patient's life or health.
2. No regulation, rule, provision, or law, shall be made or implemented that places an undue burden in the path of a woman seeking an abortion of a nonviable fetus. An "undue burden" shall have the purpose or effect of placing a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion of a nonviable fetus.
§ 2. Subdivision 8 of section 6811 of the education law is REPEALED.
§ 3. Section 125.00 of the penal law is amended to read as follows: § 125.00 Homicide defined.
Homicide means conduct which causes the death of a person or [an unborn child with which a female has been pregnant for more than twenty-four weeks] a viable fetus under circumstances constituting murder, manslaughter in the first degree, manslaughter in the second degree, criminally negligent homicide, abortion in the first degree or self-abortion in the first degree.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14505-02-8
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§ 4. Subdivision 3 of section 125.05 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 127 of the laws of 1970, is amended to read as follows:
3. "Justifiable abortional act." (a) An abortional act is justifiable when committed upon a female with her consent by a duly licensed physician acting [(a) under a reasonable belief that] under a reasonable and good faith professional judgment based on the facts of the patient's case (i) that such act is necessary to preserve her life or health, or[, (b) within twenty-four weeks from the commencement of her pregnancy] (ii) there is an absence of fetal viability.
(b) A pregnant female's commission of an abortional act upon herself is justifiable when she acts upon the [advice] good faith professional judgment of a duly licensed physician [(1)] (i) that such act is necessary to preserve her life or health, or[, (2) within twenty-four weeks from the commencement of her pregnancy] (ii) there is an absence of fetal viability.
The submission by a female to an abortional act is justifiable when she believes that it is being committed by a duly licensed physician[,] acting under [a reasonable belief] the physician's good faith professional judgment (i) that such act is necessary to preserve her life or health, or[, within twenty-four weeks from the commencement of her pregnancy] (ii) there is an absence of fetal viability.
§ 5. Section 125.15 of the penal law is amended to read as follows: § 125.15 Manslaughter in the second degree.
A person is guilty of manslaughter in the second degree when:
1. He or she recklessly causes the death of another person; or
2. He or she commits upon a female an abortional act which causes her death, unless such abortional act is justifiable pursuant to subdivision three of section 125.05 of this article; or
3. He or she intentionally causes or aids another person to commit suicide.
Manslaughter in the second degree is a class C felony.
§ 6. Section 125.20 of the penal law, subdivision 3 as amended and subdivision 4 as added by chapter 477 of the laws of 1990, is amended to read as follows: § 125.20 Manslaughter in the first degree.
A person is guilty of manslaughter in the first degree when:
1. With intent to cause serious physical injury to another person, he or she causes the death of such person or of a third person; or
2. With intent to cause the death of another person, he or she causes the death of such person or of a third person under circumstances which do not constitute murder because he or she acts under the influence of extreme emotional disturbance, as defined in paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section 125.25 of this article. The fact that homicide was committed under the influence of extreme emotional disturbance constitutes a mitigating circumstance reducing murder to manslaughter in the first degree and need not be proved in any prosecution initiated under this subdivision; or
3. He or she commits upon a female pregnant [for more than twenty-four weeks] with a viable fetus an abortional act which causes her death, unless such abortional act is justifiable pursuant to subdivision three of section 125.05 of this article; or
4. Being eighteen years old or more and with intent to cause physical injury to a person less than eleven years old, the defendant recklessly engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of serious physical injury to such person and thereby causes the death of such person.
Manslaughter in the first degree is a class B felony.
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§ 7. Section 125.40 of the penal law is amended to read as follows: § 125.40 Abortion in the second degree.
A person is guilty of abortion in the second degree when he or she commits an abortional act upon a female, unless such abortional act is justifiable pursuant to subdivision three of section 125.05 of this article.
Abortion in the second degree is a class E felony.
§ 8. Section 125.45 of the penal law is amended to read as follows: § 125.45 Abortion in the first degree.
A person is guilty of abortion in the first degree when he or she commits upon a female pregnant [for more than twenty-four weeks] with a viable fetus an abortional act which causes the miscarriage of such female, unless such abortional act is justifiable pursuant to subdivision three of section 125.05 of this article.
Abortion in the first degree is a class D felony.
§ 9. Section 125.55 of the penal law is amended to read as follows: § 125.55 Self-abortion in the first degree.
A female is guilty of self-abortion in the first degree when, being pregnant [for more than twenty-four weeks] with a viable fetus, she commits or submits to an abortional act upon herself which causes her miscarriage, unless such abortional act is justifiable pursuant to subdivision three of section 125.05 of this article.
Self-abortion in the first degree is a class A misdemeanor.
§ 10. This act shall take effect immediately.
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Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.