We Did It!
On January 22nd, 2019 the New York State Legislature passed the Reproductive Health Act and Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the bill into law.
Elections Matter. Advocacy Matters. Patient Stories Matter.
The Reproductive Health Act (RHA) is a bill that decriminalized abortion in New York State and brought the state’s regulation of abortion in line with Roe v Wade. A broad coalition of pro-choice legislators, advocacy organizations, and grassroots activists worked on the bill for years. While many obstacles to abortion access still exist, the RHA is a major step toward a future where every patient can get the care they need.
To find out more about the bill and what it does, head on over to our info site, TalkLikeAPro.com
What’s Next?
There's more to do to ensure abortion seekers can access care and that
No Patient is Left Behind!
NO RESTRICTIONS: abortion bans and onerous regulation of abortion care cause measurable harm to those who are delayed in accessing care, and those who are ultimately denied a wanted abortion
NO DISCRIMINATION: we do not live in equitable environments; abortion bans and obstacles to accessing care are racist, ableist, classist, and sexist
NO PROSECUTIONS: we must ensure no person is prosecuted for the outcome of their pregnancy or for providing care consistent with their sworn oath and scope of practice
NO PARENTS: minors need access to abortion care, and the full range of reproductive healthcare, without the need for parental consent
NO SILOING: we must move beyond a narrow focus on abortion to embrace the intersection of many struggles; Reproductive Justice is the way forward
NO POLITICS: abortion has been made political, but nobody gets a political abortion; we must depoliticize abortion care
NO LIMITS: a gestational age limit on abortion is a blunt, unsympathetic, and ultimately harmful way to manage discomfort and concerns about abortions that take place later in pregnancy
NO REASONS: abortion seekers are experts in their own lives, and their reasons for seeking an abortion should not determine whether or not they can get one
NO PATIENT LEFT BEHIND: everybody should be able to access and afford the abortion they want, when they want it, for any reason
Think this is Radical?
We think it’s radical to make pregnancy decisions for someone else.
The New Yorker, Jia Tolentino:
How Abortion Law in New York Will Change,
and How It Won’t
The Reproductive Health Act will remove barriers for women seeking to get abortions in New York. But some wish it could have gone further.
The New York Times Editorial Board:
A Woman’s Right (Series)
More and more laws are treating a fetus as
a person, and a woman as less of one,
as states charge pregnant women with crimes...