NY State Senate Bill 2025-S4624

Current 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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Date of Action	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Feb 10, 2025	referred to women's issues

2025-S4624 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Women's Issues
Law Section:: Penal Law
Laws Affected:: Add §120.05-a, amd §70.02, Pen L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2019-2020: S4712
2021-2022: S2129
2023-2024: S5251

2025-S4624 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Establishes the crime of assault on a pregnant individual as a class D felony.

2025-S4624 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S4624

SPONSOR: WEIK
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the penal law, in relation to establishing the crime of
assault on a pregnant individual

 
PURPOSE:

To provide the tools necessary to bring justice to those who commit acts
of violence against mothers and their unborn children.

 
SUMMARY:

Section 1 outlines the legislative intent.

Section 2 gives this bill the short title: "unborn victims of violence
act" Section 3 adds new sections 120.75 and 120.80 to the penal law.

Section 120.75 to Penal Law establishes the definition of "person"
applicable to the sections addressing assault in the third degree,

assault in the second degree, assault in the first degree, vehicular
assault in the second degree, vehicular assault in the first degree,
gang assault in the second degree, gang assault in the first degree, and
aggravated assault upon a person less than eleven years old. The new
definition adds an unborn child at any stage of gestation.

Section 120.60, for purposes of Article 120 of the Penal Law, exempts
from prosecution individuals performing consensual and justifiable
abortions, individuals treating the mother or child medically, and moth-
ers (other than mothers performing self abortions).

Section 4 redefines "homicide" under section 125.00 of the Penal Law to
include conduct which causes death to an unborn child at any stage of
gestation, to include murder in the first degree, murder in the second
degree, vehicular manslaughter in the first degree, and vehicular
manslaughter in the second degree. Section 4 also states for purposes of
Article 125.00 of the Penal Law, an exemption from prosecution for indi-
viduals performing consensual and justifiable abortions, individuals
treating the mother or child medically, and mothers (other than mothers
performing self abortions).

Section 5 amends the definition provided by section 125.05 of the Penal
Law for "person," when referring to the victim of a homicide, an unborn
child at any stage of gestation.

Section 6 is the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System at the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention found that the pregnancy-associated homicide
ratio was 1.7 per 100,000 live births in the United States between 1991
and 1999.

Twenty percent of the deaths of pregnant women are caused by homicide
making it the leading cause of death among pregnant women outside

medical complications. When murderers knowingly attack pregnant women,
they knowingly target more than the mother's life.

The Article of the New York Penal Law that deals with homicide,
abortion, and related offenses currently defines "person" as a human
being who has been born alive and "homicide" as causing the death of a
person or unborn child with which a female has been pregnant for more
than twenty-four weeks. These two definitions have left it impossible
for prosecutors and the courts to use the full extent of the law to
punish those who viciously and knowingly take the life of an unborn
child and/or its mother. This bill empowers New York's prosecutors to
seek justice for those who deliberately attack mothers and murder their
unborn children by changing the definitions of "person" and "homicide"
to include unborn children at any stage of gestation.

As is outlined in the bill's first section, the intent of this legis-
lation is to close the loophole for killers of unborn children.  It is
not the intent of this legislation to stifle a woman's right to a
consensual abortion or to medical treatment. As such, the bill specif-
ically provides protections for mothers consenting to an abortion and to
doctors who treat pregnant women.

If we are to claim that we have a justice system that is truly just, it
is paramount that New York State joins the thirty-one states that are
now providing protections and justice for pregnant women and their
unborn children who are victims of violence. By enacting this legis-
lation we send a clear message to perpetrators of violence against preg-
nant women and unborn children that we are serious about protecting New
York's mothers.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2023 S5308 Codes

2022 S2669 Codes

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None to the state.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeeding the
date on which it shall have become law.

2025-S4624 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   4624
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 10, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  WEIK  --  read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Women's Issues
 
 AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to establishing the crime  of
   assault on a pregnant individual
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Liv Act".
   § 2. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 120.05-a to read
 as follows:
 § 120.05-A ASSAULT ON A PREGNANT INDIVIDUAL.
   A PERSON IS GUILTY OF ASSAULT  ON  A  PREGNANT  INDIVIDUAL  WHEN  SUCH
 PERSON  INTENTIONALLY  OR  KNOWINGLY CAUSES INJURY TO AN INDIVIDUAL SUCH
 PERSON KNOWS OR HAS REASON TO KNOW IS PREGNANT.
   1. FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION, "INJURY" INCLUDES  BODILY  INJURY
 THAT RESULTS IN THE TERMINATION OF A PREGNANCY.
   2. THIS SECTION SHALL NOT APPLY TO ACTS COMMITTED BY:
   A. A PREGNANT INDIVIDUAL OR ANY PERSON PROVIDING TREATMENT RELATING TO
 AN  ABORTION  FOR  WHICH  THE  CONSENT  OF THE PREGNANT INDIVIDUAL, OR A
 PERSON AUTHORIZED BY LAW TO ACT ON BEHALF OF  THE  PREGNANT  INDIVIDUAL,
 HAS BEEN OBTAINED OR FOR WHICH SUCH CONSENT IS IMPLIED BY LAW; OR
   B.  ANY  PERSON PROVIDING ANY MEDICAL TREATMENT OF A PREGNANT INDIVID-
 UAL.
   3. THIS SECTION SHALL BE CONSTRUED AND APPLIED CONSISTENT WITH ARTICLE
 TWENTY-FIVE OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH LAW AND APPLICABLE LAWS AND REGULATIONS
 GOVERNING HEALTH PROCEDURES.
   ASSAULT ON A PREGNANT INDIVIDUAL IS A CLASS D FELONY.
   § 3. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 1 of section 70.02 of the penal law,
 as amended by chapter 23 of the laws of 2024,  is  amended  to  read  as
 follows:
   (c)  Class  D violent felony offenses: an attempt to commit any of the
 class C felonies set forth in paragraph (b); reckless assault of a child

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD08594-01-5

 S. 4624                             2
 
 as defined in section 120.02, assault in the second degree as defined in
 section 120.05, ASSAULT ON A PREGNANT INDIVIDUAL AS DEFINED  IN  SECTION
 120.05-A, menacing a police officer  or  peace  officer  as  defined  in
 section  120.18, stalking in the first degree, as defined in subdivision
 one of section 120.60, strangulation in the second degree as defined  in
 section  121.12, rape in the second degree as defined in section 130.30,
 a crime formerly defined in section 130.45, sexual abuse  in  the  first
 degree  as defined in section 130.65, course of sexual conduct against a
 child in the second degree as  defined  in  section  130.80,  aggravated
 sexual  abuse  in the third degree as defined in section 130.66, facili-
 tating a sex offense with a controlled substance as defined  in  section
 130.90, labor trafficking as defined in paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdi-
 vision  three  of section 135.35, criminal possession of a weapon in the
 third degree as defined in subdivision five, six, seven, eight, nine  or
 ten of section 265.02, criminal sale of a firearm in the third degree as
 defined  in  section  265.11,  intimidating  a  victim or witness in the
 second degree as defined in  section  215.16,  soliciting  or  providing
 support  for  an  act  of  terrorism  in the second degree as defined in
 section 490.10, and making a terroristic threat as  defined  in  section
 490.20,  falsely reporting an incident in the first degree as defined in
 section 240.60, placing a false bomb or hazardous substance in the first
 degree as defined in section 240.62, placing a false bomb  or  hazardous
 substance  in a sports stadium or arena, mass transportation facility or
 enclosed shopping mall as defined in section 240.63,  aggravated  unper-
 mitted  use  of  indoor  pyrotechnics  in the first degree as defined in
 section 405.18, and criminal manufacture, sale, or transport of an unde-
 tectable firearm, rifle or shotgun as defined in section 265.50.
   § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.

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Senate Bill S4624

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Women's Issues Committee

Actions

2025-S4624 (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S4624 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S4624 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S4624 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

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Sponsored By

Alexis Weik

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Women's Issues Committee

Actions

2025-S4624 (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S4624 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S4624 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S4624 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments