Pro-choice and pro-life advocates agree the New York ranks in the top fifth among U.S. states in terms of maintaining some of the least restrictive abortion laws in the nation.
The U.S. Supreme Court in 1973 issued the historic Roe v. Wade ruling giving women the right to abortion nationwide while leaving states to decide how strictly they want to regulate that procedure.
With a number of states legislating more restrictions on abortion services in recent years, many women have viewed New York as a sanctuary — so much so that
New York magazine dubbed New York City,
"The Abortion Capital of America."
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NARAL Pro-Choice of America ranked the Empire State for 2015 as being the nation’s 10th best state in terms of reproductive rights laws. NARAL gave New York a grade of “A-minus” for its laws related to women's reproductive rights.
New York’s lack of controls is illustrated by its imposing none of the major types of abortion restrictions often found in other states, such as waiting periods, limits on publicly financed abortions, or required parental notification or consent for minors,
according to the pro-choice Guttmacher Institute.
The Empire State also allows partial-birth abortions,
the Guttmacher Institute said.
The anti-abortion group Americans United for Life ranked New York, in the same year, as the seventh least protective state in terms of implementing laws that restrict abortion.
AUL acknowledged that New York law defines the killing of an unborn child after the 24th week of pregnancy as a homicide. Still, it indicated the state’s ranking among the least-protective states was due in part to:
- A New York court ruling’s having established that the due process provision of the state’s constitution protects a woman’s right to an abortion.
- New York’s not having an informed consent law regarding abortion. Informed consent laws require patients to be made aware of all the risks and consequences before medical procedures can be undertaken.
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