Enacts the Jonah Bichotte Cowan Law; relates to pre-term labor care and directs the commissioner of health to require hospitals to provide pre-term labor patients with information regarding the potential health effects of pre-term labor and pre-term delivery on an expectant mother and on her fetus.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A2770C
SPONSOR: Bichotte TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to enacting the Jonah
Bichotte Cowan law relating to pre-term labor care and directing the
commissioner of health to require hospitals to provide pre-term labor
patients with information regarding the potential health effects of
pre-term labor and pre-term delivery on an expectant mother and on her
fetus
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this bill is for hospitals and birthing centers to inform
and care for mothers experiencing pre-term labor.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 names this act the "Jonah Bichotte Cowan Law".
Section 2 amends the Public Health Law, by adding the section 2509-b.
The new section enumerates what a general hospital must do when an
expectant mother is undergoing pre-term labor.
Section 3 amends the Public Health Law, by adding the section 2803-j.
This section requires the commissioner to prepare and produce informa-
tional materials for distribution by hospitals to expectant mothers who
present herself at the hospital during pregnancy.
Section 4 This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
have become a law. Effective immediately the addition, amendment and/or
repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of
this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed
on or before such date.
JUSTIFICATION:
In October of 2016, Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte, pregnant at 22
weeks, entered the New York Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical
Hospital after discovering she was dilating at 3cm. Hunched over the
hospital desk in emotional pain, awaiting to see the Doctor in the exam-
ination room, she was soon to be notified of the worst news an expectant
mother can receive - both she and her unborn baby were in an incredibly
fatal and high risk situation. Knowing the risks associated with Assem-
blymember Bichotte's condition, the Doctors at New York Presbyterian
Columbia University Hospital discharged and forcefully released her
citing "hospital policy". They claimed they could not intervene before
23 weeks and refused her a bed for monitoring at the hospital. She was,
therefore, denied the safe care of medical professionals to herself and
her unborn child. Several days later, Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte
was admitted to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center and delivered her still-
born son, Jonah Bichotte Cowan.
Pre-term labor, a proxy of pre-term birth, accounts for 17% of all
infant deaths in America and devastates the growth of premature babies,
making them especially vulnerable to the environment.
One in 10 families across the country and New York State will face the
same unfortunate narrative of a high-risk pregnancy and mistreatment at
the hands of medical professionals. These unethical hospital policies
should be illegal.
This bill ensures that, first, mothers are informed that they are going
into early labor and of the associated risks, and secondly: these
hospitals must care for high-risk pregnancies.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2019-20: A2770A; referred to health
2017-18: A.11206B; amend and recommit to health, print number 11206B
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have
become a law. Effective immediately the addition, amendment and/or
repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of
this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed
on or before such date.
