New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo threatened to sue the Trump administration Monday over its plan to cut funding going to health care providers that offer abortions or refer patients for abortions.
Cuomo, a Democrat, threatened to sue in a Monday letter to federal health officials, The Associated Press reported. The governor alleges that restricting abortion funding will “unfairly restrict rights of medical professionals and patients,” the AP reported.
The threat comes after Cuomo asked the state legislature to pass the Reproductive Health Act in early July so that abortion rights will be codified into New York law. He made his request, along with statements affirming his invigorated commitment to protecting reproductive healthcare, as he fights a fierce battle with primary rival Cynthia Nixon ahead of November’s gubernatorial election. (RELATED: Andrew Cuomo Vows To Codify Abortion Rights. Cynthia Nixon Calls Him A Joke)
“We do not have a New York State law that provides the protections of Roe v. Wade,” Cuomo said, blaming Senate Republicans for the previous failure to pass the Reproductive Health Act, according to The New York Times.
Cuomo’s threat to sue also follows Planned Parenthood’s lawsuit against the state of South Carolina in an attempt to overturn an executive order barring the abortion organization and any group that performs abortions from being a Medicaid provider, The Associated Press reported Sunday. (RELATED: Planned Parenthood Sues South Carolina Over Medicaid Ban)
Planned Parenthood alleges that South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican who passed an August 2017 executive order cutting off all funding to abortion clinics, violates state law by allowing Medicaid patients to visit select health care providers, The Associated Press reported Sunday.
“Taxpayer dollars must not directly or indirectly subsidize abortion providers like Planned Parenthood,” McMaster said in a statement after he passed the August executive order.
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