•  Summary 
  •  
  •  Actions 
  •  
  •  Committee Votes 
  •  
  •  Floor Votes 
  •  
  •  Memo 
  •  
  •  Text 
  •  
  •  LFIN 
  •  
  •  Chamber Video/Transcript 

S00470 Summary:

BILL NOS00470
 
SAME ASSAME AS A05499
 
SPONSORHOYLMAN
 
COSPNSRBIAGGI, BROUK, CLEARE, COMRIE, COONEY, GAUGHRAN, GOUNARDES, HARCKHAM, HINCHEY, JACKSON, KAPLAN, KRUEGER, LIU, MAY, MAYER, MYRIE, PERSAUD, RIVERA, SALAZAR, SKOUFIS
 
MLTSPNSR
 
 
Authorizes the commissioner of health to conduct a study and issue a report examining 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.
Go to top

S00470 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                           470
 
                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                    IN SENATE
 
                                       (Prefiled)
 
                                     January 6, 2021
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  Sens.  HOYLMAN,  COMRIE,  GOUNARDES,  HARCKHAM, JACKSON,
          KRUEGER, LIU, MYRIE,  PERSAUD,  RIVERA,  SKOUFIS  --  read  twice  and
          ordered  printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on
          Women's Issues

        AN ACT authorizing the commissioner of health to  conduct  a  study  and
          issue  a  report  examining 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
 
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section  1.   Definition. As used in this act, "limited services preg-
     2  nancy center" means a facility or entity, including a  mobile  facility,
     3  the  primary  purpose of which is to provide services to clients who are
     4  or may be pregnant, that:
     5    1. (a) is not a health care facility licensed by the state of New York
     6  under article 28 of the public health law or articles 31 and 32  of  the
     7  mental hygiene law; or
     8    (b)  is  not  providing  services under the direction of a health care
     9  provider licensed under title 8 of the education law who is acting with-
    10  in his or her scope of practice; and
    11    2. fails to provide or refer  for  the  full  range  of  comprehensive
    12  reproductive  and  sexual  health  care  services  reimbursed  under the
    13  state's Medicaid program including, but not  limited  to  contraception,
    14  testing and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, abortion care,
    15  and prenatal care.
    16    §  2.  Authorization  of study and study scope. 1. The commissioner of
    17  health  (hereinafter  "the  commissioner")  is  hereby  authorized   and
    18  directed  to  conduct  a  study  and  issue a report examining the unmet

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02570-01-1

        S. 470                              2
 
     1  health and resource needs facing pregnant women  in  New  York  and  the
     2  impact  of  limited service pregnancy centers on the ability of women to
     3  obtain accurate, non-coercive health care information and timely  access
     4  to a comprehensive range of reproductive and sexual health care services
     5  in  alignment  with  their  health care needs and that supports personal
     6  decision-making.
     7    2. The commissioner may request, and shall receive upon request,  data
     8  and  information  from  such entities and other relevant sources to meet
     9  the purposes of the study. This information shall  include  but  not  be
    10  limited to:
    11    (a) what state and/or federal funds or tax or other subsidies, if any,
    12  are  directly  or  indirectly  allocated  to  limited  service pregnancy
    13  centers in the state and the names and locations of  such  organizations
    14  receiving government funding;
    15    (b)  whether  the  limited  service pregnancy centers in the state are
    16  part of larger umbrella organizations that operate limited service preg-
    17  nancy centers across the country, and  if  so,  whether  those  umbrella
    18  organizations receive state and/or federal funding;
    19    (c)  the  services  provided  by limited service pregnancy centers and
    20  what services are most frequently sought at  limited  service  pregnancy
    21  centers;
    22    (d)  the  number of women who access services at limited service preg-
    23  nancy centers, the geographic regions in which each woman accessing  the
    24  services  of these centers resides, the distance to the nearest licensed
    25  medical facility providing these services, the prices charged  for  such
    26  services,  and  the  basic  demographic  information  about  each woman,
    27  including race, age, and marital status. Basic  demographic  information
    28  included in any report shall be published in the aggregate so that it is
    29  impossible to identify any particular individual;
    30    (e)  whether  pregnancy  centers  hold  themselves  out to the public,
    31  either in person, through community participation or events  or  through
    32  their  advertising  or  websites,  as  medical facilities or entities in
    33  which comprehensive, all-options pregnancy counseling is provided;
    34    (f) whether women seeking or accessing  services  at  limited  service
    35  pregnancy  centers  are  seeking  comprehensive  options  counseling  or
    36  services at medical facilities and  whether  women  have  experienced  a
    37  delay  in receiving health care, including abortion or the initiation of
    38  prenatal care, due to a visit to a limited service pregnancy center;
    39    (g) whether limited service pregnancy  centers  enroll  women  in  any
    40  public  benefits programs or connect women to other services, and if so,
    41  which services limited service pregnancy centers connect women to;
    42    (h) the nature of information given to clients or potential clients at
    43  pregnancy centers and the nature of limited service  pregnancy  centers'
    44  operational  manuals,  handbooks  or  guidelines  in  connection  to the
    45  provision of services to clients;
    46    (i) the number of state-certified medical professionals  on  staff  or
    47  volunteering at limited service pregnancy centers and the number who are
    48  providing medical services or counseling on site during regular business
    49  hours at limited service pregnancy centers and whether pregnancy centers
    50  inform  women  whether or not they have any medical professionals on the
    51  premises, on staff, or in a volunteer capacity; and
    52    (j) whether limited service pregnancy centers collect medical informa-
    53  tion and what other information is collected upon  intake,  how  limited
    54  service  pregnancy  centers handle medical and other client records, and
    55  whether the medical records are in compliance  with  federal  and  state
    56  requirements governing medical privacy.

        S. 470                              3
 
     1    §  3.  Study timeline and taskforce structure. The study will commence
     2  no later than six months following the effective date of this  act.  The
     3  commissioner  shall  establish  a temporary taskforce of nine members to
     4  support the department of health in the development of  the  study,  the
     5  review of the findings and the establishment of specific recommendations
     6  for  solutions  to  address  any  service gaps or negative impact in the
     7  state identified through the study. The taskforce  shall  have  adequate
     8  geographical  representation  and include but not necessarily be limited
     9  to: a representative of the division of consumer protection; a member of
    10  the New York state department of health  advisory  council  on  maternal
    11  mortality  and  morbidity; a member of American college of obstetricians
    12  and gynecologists whose practice includes the provision of all pregnancy
    13  related care, including birth and termination of pregnancy; an  individ-
    14  ual  with  professional experience in the fields of reproductive rights,
    15  health and/or justice; a member with professional experience and  exper-
    16  tise  in  the first amendment and free speech rights; and a staff member
    17  from the Bureau Of Social Justice within the  office  of  the  New  York
    18  state  attorney  general.  The  taskforce shall be appointed as follows:
    19  three members to be appointed by  the  governor;  three  members  to  be
    20  appointed by the temporary president of the senate; and three members to
    21  be  appointed  by  the  speaker  of the assembly. The commissioner shall
    22  issue a report to the governor and  the  legislature,  and  publish  the
    23  report  on its public website, containing the findings and policy recom-
    24  mendations no later than eighteen months following the effective date of
    25  this act. The report may include de-identified  patient  information  in
    26  the  aggregate,  but  shall not include personally identifiable informa-
    27  tion.
    28    § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
Go to top