NY Gov. Hochul signs bill to guard abortion pill providers

Latest York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday signed a bill that may legally protect doctors who prescribe and send abortion pills to patients living in other states where the procedure is outlawed. 

Under the measure, Latest York abortion providers can serve more out-of-state patients without fear of litigation. 

That would help expand medication abortion access nationwide, allowing more patients to finish pregnancies without having to travel to states where the practice is legal. 

Medication abortion, which usually involves taking the pills mifepristone and misoprostol together, accounts for about half of all abortion procedures within the U.S.  

Greater than a dozen states implemented near-total abortion bans for the reason that Supreme Court decided to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling a yr ago, ending half a century of federal abortion rights. Many state bans penalize individuals who assist with an abortion. 

Reproductive rights are set to take center stage within the 2024 election, with each parties searching for to capitalize on the polarizing issue. Greater than 60% of registered voters disapprove of the Supreme Court’s decision, in keeping with an NBC News poll released earlier this month. 

“We’re witnessing a shameful regression of ladies’s rights on this country as abortion access is restricted in states across the nation,” Hochul said in a press release. “With this bill, Latest York is continuous to fight back against restrictive abortion laws and help more people access the care they need.” 

The bill specifically goals to guard Latest York doctors who use telehealth systems, which permit them to serve patients residing in other states. Similar telehealth abortion laws have been enacted in Massachusetts, Colorado, Vermont and Washington.

The Latest York measure would prohibit state law enforcement from cooperating with any out-of-state litigation against doctors who use telehealth services to prescribe medication abortion or provide other reproductive health care.  

The bill builds upon similar laws passed last yr, which aimed to guard Latest York abortion care providers from litigation, but didn’t specifically address telehealth. 

“You should prosecute, penalize, sue certainly one of our health care providers?” Hochul said Friday at a news conference. “Well, we’re not going to assist you to.”

“You possibly can proceed hell bent down your path on continuing this radical behavior,” the governor declared. “But we can be just as hell bent on stopping you. That is Latest York.”

The bill comes as conservatives wage an unresolved legal battle over the fate of mifepristone.

A gaggle of anti-abortion doctors sued the Food and Drug Administration last November to drag mifepristone from the U.S. market entirely. 

Federal Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk within the Northern District of Texas ruled within the doctors’ favor in April and suspended the FDA approval. 

The Supreme Court intervened within the case and preserved access to mifepristone because the litigation plays out.