New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill that creates a task force to investigate crisis pregnancy centers, one of six new abortion laws authorized Monday.
Bill S.470, the Limited Services Pregnancy Center Act, establishes a task force to conduct a study on “the unmet health and resource needs facing pregnant women in New York and the impact of limited service pregnancy centers on the ability of women to obtain accurate, non-coercive health care information and timely access to a comprehensive range of reproductive and sexual health care services.”
“Reproductive rights are human rights, and today we are signing landmark legislation to further protect them and all who wish to access them in New York State,” Hochul said in a statement Monday.
The bill includes provisions for the commissioner of the task force to request patient data and funding information from crisis pregnancy centers, what the bill refers to as “limited service pregnancy centers.” The task force also looks at whether the center under investigation is affiliated with a state-wide network of crisis pregnancy care centers.
Among those required to have a seat on the task force include a licensed medical professional whose practice involves all forms of reproductive healthcare and procedures “including the birth and termination of pregnancy,” according to the bill. It also mandates representation from professional activists in the fields of reproductive rights, reproductive health and/or reproductive justice, as well as a member of New York’s Bureau of Social Justice in the attorney general’s office.
New York state Sen. Brad Holyman, who co-sponsored S.470, said the study will report on “unlicensed, often misleading facilities that offer pregnancy-related services but don’t provide or refer for comprehensive reproductive healthcare.”
“These centers are often more interested in pushing their own agenda than doing what’s best for their patient’s health, and they waste precious time for pregnant people who may consider abortion,” he said. (RELATED: Former Planned Parenthood President Said Crisis Pregnancy Centers Misinform, Shame And Deter. Here’s What They Actually Do.)
This weekend, pro-abortion activists firebombed a pregnancy center in Gresham, OR, which provided material help for mothers & children.
Imagine if this had been an abortion clinic. It would be headlines news. But because it’s a pro-life center, media & the Biden admin ignore. pic.twitter.com/qfBbtitV2G
— Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) June 13, 2022
Hochul signed the package of abortion laws in light of the leaked Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade, handing authority to legalize or criminalize abortion over to states, according to the governor’s statement.
“The women of New York will never be subjected to government mandated pregnancies, because that’s what will ensue if Roe v. Wade is overturned by the Supreme Court,” said Hochul.
Other bills signed into law as part of the package protect abortion providers in New York from prosecution by states that ban the practice.
Abortion activists have allegedly targeted pro-life centers with spray paint and molotov cocktails since the SCOTUS draft was made public.
The Office of Governor Hochul did not immediately respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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