Is a Proposal To Codify Abortion In State Law Dead With WEA Break Up?

To many, the Assembly’s plan to break up the 10-point Women’s Equality Agenda (WEA) signals the end of hope that the abortion plank will pass the state Senate, but reproductive rights advocates are still celebrating.

NARAL Pro-Choice and Planned Parenthood advocates were at the state Capitol on Monday to tout the Assembly’s decision to break up the package and move forward with a new set of anti-human trafficking bills—a reversal from their previous stance that the WEA must be passed as a whole.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie will formally announce the new legislation this afternoon. Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, who sponsored the original anti-human trafficking bill in the WEA, has been pushing to break up the WEA since last year.

“Today we’re looking at a comprehensive package of six bills dealing with human trafficking, so this bigger and larger movement than just the Women’s Equality Act,” said Tracey Brooks, president of Family Planning Advocates of New York. “Any bill that will help women in the state of New York we support, but certainly comprehensive reproductive health care needs to pass through both houses.”

The WEA has failed to pass the Republican-controlled state Senate for the last two years in Albany, as the 10^th plank, which would codify Roe v. Wade into state law, was too controversial. As a result, the other pieces of legislation in the package have also failed to pass.

Now with both the Assembly and Senate including paid family leave and equal pay in their one-house budget bills, the abortion plank could be left behind. But advocates remain hopeful that the new Assembly speaker will remain committed to passing the WEA in full.

“I think anything that moves women forward in this state is an accomplishment, but I also know our work will not be done until all those protections are enshrined in state law,” said Andrea Miller, president of NARAL Pro-Choice. “It’s a new session. We have the utmost confidence that the Assembly will stand tall and support protections for women’s health, including the rights enshrined in Roe v. Wade. They’ve always stood tall for that and my hope would be that we can see that.”