State lawmakers are moving ahead with codifying abortion rights into the New York State Constitution, after the U.S. Supreme Court last month overturned the landmark decision of Roe v. Wade, which held a woman’s right to an abortion was guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.
Both chambers of the legislature passed a resolution last week to authorize the amendment of Article 1, Section 11 of the state constitution — which contains the equal protection clause protecting against discrimination based on race, color, creed or religion — to also protect against discrimination based on ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy.
The measure was approved during an extraordinary session of the legislature called by Gov. Kathy Hochul. The resolution will need to pass again in the coming legislative session before it can be placed on the ballot for voter approval.
“In just a week, Americans have already begun to see and feel the devastating consequences of the end of Roe v. Wade. In light of the horrifying Supreme Court decision to strip away reproductive rights, New York State is taking an unprecedented step toward codifying the right to an abortion in our State Constitution,” Hochul said in a press release.
“I am grateful to Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins and Speaker Heastie for moving this critical protection forward, building on our nation-leading protections for abortion patients and providers,” Hochul said. “In a moment of widespread polarization, New York is working to enshrine into our very Constitution that no matter who you love, where you come from, or how you choose to express yourself, you are welcome here and we will protect you.”
Abortion has been legal in New York State since 1970, three years before the Roe v. Wade decision legalized abortion around the country. Currently, an individual can undergo an abortion up to and including 24 weeks of pregnancy, after which an individual can undergo an abortion if their health or pregnancy is at risk.
State Senator Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk) and Assembly Member Fred Thiele (D-Sag Harbor) both voted in favor of the amendment.
“The recent reversal of Roe v. Wade by the United States Supreme Court made it clear that New York must continue to stand up and be a national leader to secure women and individual rights,” Thiele said in a statement. “In 2019, the State Legislature codified Roe v. Wade into law and, just last month, passed new measures to protect doctors, providers and patients seeking a legal abortion. This resolution is a further step forward in ensuring that protections for women’s reproductive health care and equal rights for all New Yorkers are preserved in our State Constitution, not just under the law.”
Assembly Member Jodi Giglio (R-Baiting Hollow) said in a phone interview today that she voted against the amendment. She declined “because the Reproductive [Health] Act that was adopted in New York in 2019 is very much more liberal and was in place when Roe v. Wade was overturned,” she said. “It gave women much more rights in New York State than Roe v. Wade over their bodies.”
She added that she would not have voted for the Reproductive Health Act in 2019, ”because it allows for late-term partial-abortion,” she said, referring to partial-birth abortions, a term used to describe abortions performed in the late stages of gestation. That type of abortion is preformed less than 1% of all abortions, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Individuals seeking abortions later in pregnancy often do because of medical concerns such as fetal anomalies or maternal life endangerment, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Giglio was advertised to appear at the “March for Life New York” anti-abortion rally in Hauppauge last month, although she said she did not attend because she was in Albany.
“I’m pro-life. And I would never do that,” she said, referring to abortion. “But I would never stop a woman from doing what she wants to do with her body. But I would like a woman to know what alternatives she has,” she said, adding that the focus of the state should be on sex education in preventing unwanted pregnancies.
Giglio said previously that she is opposed to abortion except when necessary to save the mother’s life. Palumbo, while a member of the assembly, voted against the Reproductive Health Act in 2019.
Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, eight states have banned abortions, with nine other states attempting or expected to prohibit the procedure, according to the New York Times.
Rep. Lee Zeldin, the Republican nominee for New York State governor and Hochul’s opponent in the November election, is opposed to abortion. While in Congress, he has cosponsored the “Life at Conception Act,” which declares that the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution is vested at the moment of conception. He also cosponsored the “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act,” which would prohibit performing an abortion where the fetus is 20 weeks post-fertilization.
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