Legislative Memo on the Abortion Access Fund

The ability to control our reproductive lives – including the ability to end a pregnancy – is a cornerstone of women’s health care and equality. From partially decriminalizing abortion in 1970, three years before Roe v. Wade, to requiring Medicaid and private insurers to cover abortion, to enacting the Reproductive Health Act in 2019, New York has a long legacy of supporting access to abortion care. New York now has the opportunity to underscore its commitment to abortion access by establishing an abortion access fund. S. 758 (Biaggi)/A. 1926 (Reyes), which would establish an abortion access fund and allow taxpayers to donate a portion of their state tax refunds to provide logistical and financial assistance to individuals who need abortion care.

Despite New York’s favorable laws and the existence of non-profit abortion funds, abortion care remains cost-prohibitive for too many people. The NYCLU supports the passage of this bill to guarantee equal access to abortion and help normalize abortion as basic health care.