N.Y. aims to aid Texans seeking abortions
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul this week sharply criticized a new Texas law that bans most abortions and said that her state intends to assist women who want to leave the Lone Star State to access the procedure.
“For women in Texas, we want you to know: We will help you find a way to New York. And right now we are looking intensely to find what resources we can bring to the table to help you have safe transport here, and let you know there are providers who will assist you in this time of your need,” Hochul said in a Wednesday night interview on MSNBC.
She went on to attack Gov. Greg Abbott, saying he and other Republicans claim to be proponents of deregulation and small government, but then seek to control women’s bodies.
“I’m going to help women get elected all over this country who are pro-choice. I’m going to use my energy and my resources to make sure that happens as well. That’s the only thing that’s going to change this: We have to wipe out men like Gov. Abbott,” said Hochul, a Democrat who became the state’s first female governor last month. “It’s so appalling what’s going on in these Republican states. And their people are suffering, and I can’t stand it any longer. We have to take a strong position against this and call it out whenever we see it.”
A spokeswoman for Abbott did not respond to a request for comment.
It’s unclear from Hochul’s remarks whether she means that New York will have a policy to fi
nancially assist Texas women seeking to travel to her state for abortions, or whether she simply means that New York’s existing clinics that perform abortions will be open to Texans.
“New York State provides care for people regardless of residency. We will do everything we can to help individuals who are seeking the procedure in New York State,” Haley Viccaro, a spokeswoman for Hochul, wrote in an email.
Some nonprofit groups have already announced plans to help women get around the state’s abortion law. Planned Parenthood’s website encourages Texas women who are pregnant to schedule ultrasounds quickly to confirm the pregnancy and to schedule abortion procedures soon afterward if that is their choice. The organization says women can call (210) 736-2262 for help finding a clinic to perform the procedure in Texas before the sixweek deadline, or to help them find an out-of-state provider if the
pregnancy has progressed beyond six weeks.
“If you need to get an abortion out of state, we can help you find a provider and resources to get there, including financial assistance,” the website reads.
Tough law to challenge
Texas’ new abortion law, which went into effect Sept. 1 after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene, bans the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy. The high court has not ruled on the substance of the law, and a federal judge on Thursday denied an emergency request by the Department of Justice for a temporary restraining order against the ban.
Pregnancy dates are measured from a woman’s last menstrual period, and most women find out they are pregnant when their periods are late, placing them often at around four weeks of pregnancy. That leaves them less than two weeks to access abortions under the new law.
Hochul said at an abortion rights rally this week that during the pregnancy of one of her children, she went whitewater rafting
three months into the pregnancy because she did not know.
The Texas law differs from abortion bans or restrictions passed in other GOP-led states, such as Missouri, Alabama and Georgia, in its enforcement mechanism. Rather than leaving enforcement to the state attorney general or local prosecutors, the law bans such officials from enforcing it.
Instead, it is to be enforced privately through lawsuits that can be brought by private individuals against anyone who assists a woman getting an abortion in violation of the new law. Such individuals can be forced to pay up to $10,000 in damages if successfully sued, as well as the court costs of the party that brought the suit. The law does not include a penalty for making a false claim under the law, nor a means for people who are sued to recover legal expenses if the case against them is unsuccessful.
The maneuver has made it more difficult to challenge the law’s constitutionality, hindering those seeking to ensure access to abortion rights guaranteed for now by the high court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. The U.S. Department of Justice has asked a federal judge to halt enforcement of Texas’ new abortion law, which Attorney General Merrick Garland has called an unconstitutional “scheme.”
An Abbott spokesperson said this week that the law “ensures that the life of every child with a heartbeat will be spared from the ravages of abortion. … We are confident that the courts will uphold and protect that right to life.”
‘System of vigilantes’
Joe Pojman, executive director of the Texas Alliance for Life, said an important change that’s not getting enough attention is the increased funding that the Texas Legislature provided for expecting mothers in the last session, setting aside $100 million over the next two years to promote alternatives to abortion.
“Women don’t need to go out of state to seek abortions. Texas has the resources to help them successfully give birth to the child and keep the child if she wishes or place the child for adoption,” he said. “That is the goal of the state programs, and it’s also the goal of hundreds of nonprofit organizations.” While the Supreme Court has not yet ruled on the substance of the Texas law, critics say the majority-conservative court’s decision has had the effect of banning most abortions in the state — and created a model for other Republicanled states to follow. That is not acceptable, say Hochul and other Democrats who support abortion rights.
“Setting up this whole system of vigilantes, this is just — I can’t believe this is even going on in our country,” said Hochul, who like Abbott is a lawyer. “And what’s so disgusting to me is that our own Supreme Court — and we saw this possibly coming, but the reality is hitting us hard — but the Supreme Court will not stand up and protect the women of this country.”
Abbott faces two primary challengers next year, and Hochul will seek to be elected governor in her own right after recently succeeding Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who stepped down amid sexual harassment allegations.