New York governor signs legislative package aimed at protecting patients and abortion providers from out-of-state legal action

The bill passed by New York lawmakers states that the governor won’t recognize an extradition demand from another state for a person charged with providing an abortion, unless that state’s governor alleges that the accused was in that state at the time of the alleged offense.

The measure also blocks New York courts from honoring subpoenas in civil cases from out-of-state courts if the case involves abortion services legal in New York.

Another measure would block professional misconduct charges against health care practitioners for providing abortion services to patients from states where it is restricted.

One of the bills amends the state’s civil rights act and establishes a cause of action for “unlawful interference with protected rights.”

Other legislation signed by Hochul includes a bill that prevents medical malpractice insurers from adversely acting against abortion providers, a bill setting up a task force to study the impact of limited-service pregnancy centers, and a bill that allows abortion providers, their immediate family members, employees, volunteers and abortion patients to shield their addresses. The state’s confidentiality address program, which had mainly applied to sexual assault or domestic abuse survivors, provides participants with a substitute address.

The Democratic majority in the Senate said the legislative package “ensures that New York State will remain a safe haven for any person seeking abortion healthcare.”

After the leak, Hochul said she was “absolutely horrified by what the majority of the Supreme Court of the United States of America plans to do to women’s rights in this country.”