The New York State Senate

 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   5499
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             February 19, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M. of A. GLICK, SIMON, GOTTFRIED, GRIFFIN, L. ROSENTHAL,
   EPSTEIN, OTIS, ROZIC, LUPARDO -- read once and referred to the Commit-
   tee on Health
 
 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
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD02570-01-1

 A. 5499                             2
 
 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.
   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

 A. 5499                             3
 
 commissioner shall establish a temporary taskforce of  nine  members  to
 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.