State legislatures are now the key battlegrounds for abortion rights in America. And that’s true even in states like New York where newly passed laws are protecting providers and out-of-state patients who’ve come here to
exercise their right to choose. My involvement here goes back twenty years when I helped NARAL in campaigns to defeat anti-choice State Senators in New York. It continued while I was chief of staff in the Attorney General’s

office, helping draft the Comprehensive Contraception Coverage Act. And most recently, as Governor Hochul’s Director of Policy, I worked to expand  Medicaid coverage for abortion, ensure that New York providers can legally prescribe abortion pills, and develop a comprehensive plan to improve maternal and infant health. There’s still more to do — there will always
be more we can do — and you can see part of my forward-looking agenda here.

​

Ideas to move the agenda forward:

• Increase Medicaid reimbursement rates for medication abortions, which now make up the majority of abortion care provided in NY
• Create the Reproductive Freedom and Equity Program to support the operational and programmatic needs of abortion providers and abortion funds
• Give patients tools to determine what kind of care a hospital provides prior to admission
• Enact reforms and make investments to combat the crisis of maternal mortality, which disproportionately affects Black women