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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday signed into law legislation aiming to make New York a “safe haven” for out-of-state residents seeking abortions.
The new laws come as Democratic-led states rush to shore up abortion access in preparation for the Supreme Court’s impending ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case that is expected to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision establishing a constitutional right to abortion.
In a speech preceding the signing ceremony, Hochul alluded to the impending Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs as a grave threat that necessitated the legislation’s immediate enactment. Warning that “the sky is on the verge of falling [on abortion rights], literally in the next week or two,” the governor slammed those opposed to abortion as “Neanderthals” and declared that “the women of New York will never be subjected to government-mandated pregnancies.”
“This is the United States of America, where freedom and liberty are supposed to mean something,” Hochul said, later suggesting that the freedom to seek an abortion was a part of the “rock upon which we were founded.”
Among the legislation signed into law by Hochul is the Freedom from Interference with Reproductive Health Advocacy and Travel Exercise Act, which would allow women seeking abortions to sue anyone who attempts to “prevent or limit” her travel to New York for the purpose of procuring an abortion. The bill would also establish a similar civil course of action for anyone who might be subject to civil or criminal penalties in their home state as a result of their decision to travel to New York to get an abortion.
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Another bill, the Prohibiting Medical Misconduct Charges for Performing Reproductive Healthcare Act, would forbid New York doctors who perform an abortion on citizens from states where abortion is illegal from being charged with professional misconduct. And another, the Extradition and Discovery Noncooperation Act, would ban state courts and law enforcement agencies from cooperating with most out-of-state criminal or civil disputes involving abortions performed in New York.
Other legislation signed by Hochul included bills prohibiting medical insurers from retaliating against abortion doctors and expanding confidentiality protections for anyone involved with an abortion.
Top Democrats in the New York state legislature praised the bills, with state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins boasting that passage of the new abortion protections ensures “that New York State will remain a safe haven for any person seeking abortion healthcare.” Stewart-Cousins and state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie joined Hochul for the bill signing ceremony.
Hochul, a Catholic who has repeatedly referenced her faith in public, has drawn sharp rebukes from the state’s Catholic leaders for defying Catholic teaching opposing abortion.
Kristen Curran, the government relations director for the New York State Catholic Conference, criticized the bills for promoting an “abortion-or-nothing narrative” that encourages “abortion tourism” and “demeans women.”
In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal last week, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, condemned the bills for “applaud[ing] and promot[ing] the killing of defenseless babies in the womb.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“[The bills] are a complete rejection of the ‘choice’ that elected representatives say they support. Where is the choice for the frightened young pregnant mom, usually African-American or Latina, who desperately wants to keep her baby but is having trouble paying her rent, putting food on the table, and filling her gas tank? Where is her sanctuary? Will the only answer for her be to destroy her offspring?” Dolan wrote. “And where is the sanctuary for the helpless baby in her womb, which should be the safest place around? Can’t it be a ‘both and’ rather than an ‘either or’ when it comes to a mother and her baby? According to our state’s elected Democrats, the answer appears to be no.”
New York is not the first state to try to make itself a “safe haven” for abortions. Connecticut enacted a similar bill in May. And in 2019, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the Reproductive Health Act, which codified Roe v. Wade into New York state law.
