With story after story of Republicans in state after state pushing through laws designed to severely restrict or eliminate altogether a woman’s ability to access abortion care it is great to hear efforts like the one underway in New York to do just the opposite.

The Reproductive Health Act (RHA) would guarantee that, under New York law, every woman would have the right to access abortion and family planning services and is designed to protect a woman’s right to control whether or not she uses contraception, has a child or terminates a pregnancy irrespective of anything passed by Congress or any action taken by the courts. The law is designed to “update” state health policy in ways that effectively place that policy in lines with the dictates of Roe v. Wade. For example, the RHA would extend the right of a woman to get a late-term abortion if continuing the pregnancy puts her life or health at risk. Under current law a woman in New York can only access a late-term abortion should continuing the pregnancy likely kill her.

Another significant feature of the RHA is the fact that it removes abortion from the penal code meaning the procedure would remain decriminalized even if the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade or Congress passed federal personhood legislation. Also, New York is currently the only state that still treats a late-term abortion as a homicide. The RHA would change that and provide much needed clarity under the law.

http://www.care2.com/causes/what-a-novel-concept-new-york-hopes-to-expand-abortion-rights.html#ixzz2KDTH8DAH