Senate Bill S7726

                                BILL NUMBER:S7726

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the public health law, in relation to
periodic clinic inspection

PURPOSE:  The purpose of this bill is to establish a requirement for
the Health Commissioner to inspect abortion clinics once every two
years, and submit a written report of the results of each inspection
to the Assembly, Senate, and Governor.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends the public health law by adding § 2560 to define the
type of facility that would be covered by this act.

Section 2 amends the public health law by adding § 2561 to create an
affirmative duty of the Commissioner of the New York State Department
of Health to inspect abortion clinics.

Subsection 1 directs the Commissioner to promulgate rules and
standards against which abortion clinics must be evaluated.

Subsection 2 directs the Commissioner to inspect abortion clinics on a
biennial basis and provides authorization for the Commissioner to
appoint or designate persons to perform the inspections.

              

Subsection 3 directs the Commissioner to create a report on the
results of the inspections and submit that report to the Assembly, the
Senate, and the Governor.

JUSTIFICATION:  According to the Public Health Law, the Department of
Health is required to supervise and regulate the sanitary aspects of
businesses and activities that affect public health. It does not,
however, require the Health Commissioner to conduct periodic
inspections of abortion clinics on a periodic basis. A recent Freedom
of Information Law (FOIL) request uncovered the fact that only 17 of
the 25 abortion clinics in New York had been inspected between 2000
and 2012, and five of those 17 had received only one inspection during
that time period. Eight abortion clinics received no inspections.

This bill would create a duty for the Health Commissioner and/or
desig- nees of the Health Commissioner to inspect every abortion
clinic once - every two years and report all findings to the Governor
and legislature. This time period would be in line with the statutory
requirement for inspections of other facilities regulated by the
Department of Health such as restaurants and tanning salons.

This measure should acquire broad consensus as its intended goal is to
afford women the proper protections and highest standards befitting a
facility that conducts such sensitive procedures, without altering the
current status of access to abortion in this state.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: None.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:  Immediately