NY State Senate Bill 2019-S6311

Senate Bill S6311

2019-2020 Legislative Session

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

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Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Women's Issues Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 08, 2020	referred to women's issues
Jun 04, 2019	referred to rules

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2019-S6311 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A8212
Current Committee:: Senate Women's Issues
Law Section:: Public Health
Versions Introduced in 2021-2022 Legislative Session:: S470, A5499

2019-S6311 (ACTIVE) - Summary

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.

2019-S6311 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S6311

SPONSOR: HOYLMAN
 
TITLE OF BILL:  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

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

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 services 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 in alignment with their health care
needs and that supports personal decision-making.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1: Defines "limited services pregnancy center."

Section 2: Authorization of study and study scope.

Section 3: Study timeline and taskforce structure. The study will
commence no later than six months following the effective date of t his
act.

Section 4: Effective Date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Decisions about pregnancy are time sensitive, whether a woman chooses to
continue her pregnancy and needs prenatal care or wants to end her preg-
nancy and needs an abortion. If a woman becomes pregnant and chooses to
continue the pregnancy, having a healthy pregnancy is critical both to
her health and to ensuring positive pregnancy outcomes.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urges that
comprehensive prenatal care begin as soon as a woman decides to become
pregnant. Like prenatal care, delayed access to abortion and emergency
contraception pose a threat to public health. Abortion is one of the
safest health care procedures, but delays in accessing abortion increase
the risk of complications, as well as financial burdens, and may elimi-
nate a women's ability to obtain care altogether, severely limiting her
reproductive health options.
  New  York State has prioritized improving access to adequate and early
prenatal care, timely abortion care,  and  emergency  contraception,  as
well as, and in connection to, reducing maternal mortality and morbidity
rates  and disparities. To that end, identifying gaps in health care and
unmet resource and pregnancy-support needs, in particular for low-income
communities, is critical to achieving optimal health outcomes for  women
who are or may be pregnant.

In  New York there exist unlicensed entities that offer limited pregnan-
cy-related services, such as pregnancy tests or ultrasonography, run  by
organizations  that  have the core goal of persuading pregnant women and
teens to choose to continue the pregnancy. Research  by  the  Government
Accountability  Office  and  by  advocacy  organizations in many states,
including New York, have documented that some such  entities  engage  in
misleading  or  deceptive  practices.  Some  of  these practices include
providing inaccurate medical information, promising monetary support, or
imitating reproductive health clinics so as to  lead  women  to  believe
they  are  either receiving comprehensive counseling on their options or
are in fact in a licensed facility that provides or refers  for  compre-
hensive  reproductive  health  care  services.  In past studies, some of
these entities provide inaccurate, misleading, or stigmatizing  informa-
tion  about  abortion  and  contraception,  or  even about a woman's own
health status or pregnancy.

The State of New York respects the right of individuals to  express  and
promote  their  opinions  and  beliefs, including those on pregnancy and
abortion. In addition, the legislature also finds that the State  has  a
strong  interest  in  ensuring that individuals seeking medical care and
pregnancy-related services are able to find  these  services  seamlessly
without ¤interference or coercion.

Meeting  the health and resource needs of pregnant women, as well as the
potential negative impact of certain practices by unlicensed  facilities
that  offer limited pregnancy services, are matters of state concern and
understanding those practices, how to address any resulting  harms,  and
how  to  support  pregnant  women's unfulfilled health care and resource
needs  are  important  exercises  of  the  legislature's  constitutional
mandate to protect the public health.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

None, new.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2019-S6311 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6311
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               June 4, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. HOYLMAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
 
 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:
 
   Section  1.   Definition. As used in this act, "limited services preg-
 nancy center" means a facility or entity, including a  mobile  facility,
 the  primary  purpose of which is to provide services to clients who are
 or may be pregnant, that:
   1. (a) is not a health care facility licensed by the state of New York
 under article 28 of the public health law or articles 31 and 32  of  the
 mental hygiene law; or
   (b)  is  not  providing  services under the direction of a health care
 provider licensed under title 8 of the education law who is acting with-
 in his or her scope of practice; and
   2. fails to provide or refer  for  the  full  range  of  comprehensive
 reproductive  and  sexual  health  care  services  reimbursed  under the
 state's Medicaid program including, but not  limited  to  contraception,
 testing and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, abortion care,
 and prenatal care.
   §  2.  Authorization  of study and study scope. 1. The commissioner of
 health  (hereinafter  "the  commissioner")  is  hereby  authorized   and
 directed  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
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD11745-02-9

 S. 6311                             2
 
 to a comprehensive range of reproductive and sexual health care services
 in  alignment  with  their  health care needs and that supports personal
 decision-making.
   2.  The commissioner may request, and shall receive upon request, data
 and information from such entities and other relevant  sources  to  meet
 the  purposes  of  the  study. This information shall include but not be
 limited to:
   (a) what state and/or federal funds or tax or other subsidies, if any,
 are directly  or  indirectly  allocated  to  limited  service  pregnancy
 centers  in  the state and the names and locations of such organizations
 receiving government funding;
   (b) whether the limited service pregnancy centers  in  the  state  are
 part of larger umbrella organizations that operate limited service preg-
 nancy  centers  across  the  country,  and if so, whether those umbrella
 organizations receive state and/or federal funding;
   (c) the services provided by limited  service  pregnancy  centers  and
 what  services  are  most frequently sought at limited service pregnancy
 centers;
   (d) the number of women who access services at limited  service  preg-
 nancy  centers, the geographic regions in which each woman accessing the
 services of these centers resides, the distance to the nearest  licensed
 medical  facility  providing these services, the prices charged for such
 services, and  the  basic  demographic  information  about  each  woman,
 including  race,  age, and marital status. Basic demographic information
 included in any report shall be published in the aggregate so that it is
 impossible to identify any particular individual;
   (e) whether pregnancy centers  hold  themselves  out  to  the  public,
 either  in  person, through community participation or events or through
 their advertising or websites, as  medical  facilities  or  entities  in
 which comprehensive, all-options pregnancy counseling is provided;
   (f)  whether  women  seeking  or accessing services at limited service
 pregnancy  centers  are  seeking  comprehensive  options  counseling  or
 services  at  medical  facilities  and  whether women have experienced a
 delay in receiving health care, including abortion or the initiation  of
 prenatal care, due to a visit to a limited service pregnancy center;
   (g)  whether  limited  service  pregnancy  centers enroll women in any
 public benefits programs or connect women to other services, and if  so,
 which services limited service pregnancy centers connect women to;
   (h) the nature of information given to clients or potential clients at
 pregnancy  centers  and the nature of limited service pregnancy centers'
 operational manuals,  handbooks  or  guidelines  in  connection  to  the
 provision of services to clients;
   (i)  the  number  of state-certified medical professionals on staff or
 volunteering at limited service pregnancy centers and the number who are
 providing medical services or counseling on site during regular business
 hours at limited service pregnancy centers and whether pregnancy centers
 inform women whether or not they have any medical professionals  on  the
 premises, on staff, or in a volunteer capacity; and
   (j) whether limited service pregnancy centers collect medical informa-
 tion  and  what  other information is collected upon intake, how limited
 service pregnancy centers handle medical and other client  records,  and
 whether  the  medical  records  are in compliance with federal and state
 requirements governing medical privacy.
   § 3. Study timeline and taskforce structure. The study  will  commence
 no  later  than six months following the effective date of this act. The
 commissioner shall establish a temporary taskforce of  nine  members  to

 S. 6311                             3
 
 support  the  department  of health in the development of the study, the
 review of the findings and the establishment of specific recommendations
 for solutions to address any service gaps  or  negative  impact  in  the
 state  identified  through  the study. The taskforce shall have adequate
 geographical representation and include but not necessarily  be  limited
 to: a representative of the division of consumer protection; a member of
 the  New  York  state  department of health advisory council on maternal
 mortality and morbidity; a member of American college  of  obstetricians
 and gynecologists whose practice includes the provision of all pregnancy
 related  care, including birth and termination of pregnancy; an individ-
 ual with professional experience in the fields of  reproductive  rights,
 health  and/or justice; a member with professional experience and exper-
 tise in the first amendment and free speech rights; and a  staff  member
 from  the  Bureau  Of  Social  Justice within the office of the New York
 state attorney general. The taskforce shall  be  appointed  as  follows:
 three  members  to  be  appointed  by  the governor; three members to be
 appointed by the temporary president of the senate; and three members to
 be appointed by the speaker of  the  assembly.  The  commissioner  shall
 issue  a  report  to  the  governor and the legislature, and publish the
 report on its public website, containing the findings and policy  recom-
 mendations no later than eighteen months following the effective date of
 this  act.  The  report may include de-identified patient information in
 the aggregate, but shall not include  personally  identifiable  informa-
 tion.
   § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.

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