Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson, Gov. Kathy Hochul and the New York State Department of Health today announced a public education campaign to make it clear abortions will remains legal and accessible in New York.
The statewide campaign includes advertising across various media and a new website, providing a single destination for information about abortion rights, providers, supports, and payment options in New York. The website was unveiled Friday, the same day the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade in a 6-3 decision.
The opinion was first leaked to Politico in May, and New York state officials have been preparing since.
“We feared this dark day, but New York did not hesitate to prepare for it,” Hochul said Friday. “Let me be clear: the Supreme Court has failed us, but New York state will not.
“They just set women back in this country, back to the dark ages. And my friends, you don’t need to worry about New York because everything that’s good happens in New York. We’re fighting back. We’re protecting our providers. We’re making sure insurance companies are covering abortion services.”
The media and advertising campaign will run statewide in both English and Spanish at high-traffic destinations such as mass transit hubs, shopping centers, airports and on radio and digital channels.
“Forty million women — more than half of the population of reproductive age in this country — live in states already rolling back abortion rights,” State Health Commissioner Mary Bassett said. “Many of these states will not permit exceptions for pregnancies that result from rape, incest, or those that threaten the life of the mother.
“The devastating judgement delivered by the U.S. Supreme Court is a public health travesty and a human rights crisis that threatens the health of us all,” Bassett said.
The new website will be available in 12 languages and includes details on abortion rights, providers, treatment options, and resources for mental health support and payment. Downloadable social media graphics are available for clinics, medical offices and organizations looking to disseminate messaging to their communities.
On June 13, Gov. Hochul signed a six-bill package to further preserve, protect, and strengthen abortion rights for patients and providers in New York. The legislation takes specific actions to address a variety of legal concerns, including the establishment of a cause of action for unlawful interference with protected rights and the inclusion of abortion providers and patients in the Address Confidentiality Program.
The new bills also prohibit misconduct charges against healthcare practitioners for providing reproductive services to patients who reside in states where such services are illegal and disallow medical malpractice insurance companies from taking adverse action against an abortion provider who provides legal care.
“We’re fighting back. We’re protecting our providers. We’re making sure insurance companies are covering abortion services,” Hochul said Friday. “We’re giving money to support our providers because we know that with the Statue of Liberty, the Statue of Liberty is in our harbor, and she’ll always be there with that torch to say, when your rights are oppressed, you know where to come. You come to New York.”
