At Kings County Hospital Friday, Mayor Eric Adams signed a package of bills aimed at expanding and protecting city abortion rights into law.
The majority-women City Council passed the “NYC Abortion Rights Act” last month follwing the June U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed national abortion rights for the past half century. The package includes bills that make abortion pills available free-of-charge at all city-run clinics, bar city agencies from detaining those who perform or aid in abortions and expand public information campaigns on anti-abortion centers known as “crisis pregnancy centers.”
Mayor Adams said this package is the city saying “no” to the conservative majority Supreme Court’s decision, which he described as “a direct attack on women in this country,”
“We as New Yorkers are not going to sit back and allow this to happen without responding in a very aggressive manner,” the mayor said. “Due to that decision, young women will come of age with fewer rights than their parents. This is a decision about controlling people’s bodies. Well, New York City is saying ‘no’ to that. We’re not going to let an activist court undermine 50 years of settled law and personal freedom by overturning Roe v. Wade.”
This package helps ensure, the mayor said, that safe and legal abortions will always be available and protected in New York City.
“The six bills I signed today ensure that reproductive rights and freedoms are protected under New York City law,” he said. “These bills will work to inform the public of their rights in New York and ensure the safety and security of these rights.”
The mayor was joined by City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams as well as City Council Members Carlina Rivera (D-Manhattan) andTiffany Caban (D-Queens) – who both sponsored bills in the package. Rivera is running for Congress in the recently reconfigured 10th Congressional District and has touted the passage of these bills when speaking to her commitment to protecting abortion rights on the campaign trail.
Speaker Adams said legislation like this is the product of having a majority-women City Council that leads and thinks differently, prioritizing issues affecting women that have historically been ignored. Just yesterday, the council passed another bunch of bills aimed specifically at addressing maternal mortality and morbidity, an issue that disproportionately affects women of color – specifically Black women.
Additionally, the speaker said, these new abortion protections will help women traveling to the city from state to get the procedure because their home states have either significantly limited or outright banned abortion.
“We’re also sending a clear message to the rest of the country that our city remains a safe harbor for abortion care, even as other states restrict access to services,” Speaker Adams said. We are protecting all those who come to New York to seek the support and care they need.”
