STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6545
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 26, 2015
___________
Introduced by M. of A. CRESPO -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to establishing a
cause of action for damages against a person who attempts or performs
a sex selective abortion
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding a new section
2 230-e to read as follows:
3 § 230-e. Prohibition of sex selective abortion. 1. The following
4 words or phrases, as used in this section shall have the following mean-
5 ings:
6 (a) "Abortion" means the intentional use or prescription of any
7 instrument, medicine, drug or any other substance or device or method to
8 terminate the life of an unborn child, or to terminate the pregnancy of
9 a woman known to be pregnant with an intention other than to produce a
10 live birth and preserve the life and health of the child after live
11 birth, or to remove an ectopic pregnancy, or to remove a dead unborn
12 child who died as the result of natural causes, accidental trauma, or a
13 criminal assault on the pregnant woman.
14 (b) "Attempt to perform an abortion" means to do or omit to do
15 anything that, under the circumstances as the actor believes them to be,
16 is an act or omission constituting a substantial step in a course of
17 conduct planned to culminate in an abortion. Such substantial steps
18 include, but are not limited to: (i) agreeing with an individual to
19 perform an abortion on that individual or on some other person, whether
20 or not the term "abortion" is used in the agreement, and whether or not
21 the agreement is contingent on another factor such as receipt of payment
22 or a determination of pregnancy; and (ii) scheduling or planning a time
23 to perform an abortion on an individual, whether or not the term
24 "abortion" is used, and whether or not the performance is contingent on
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05961-01-5
A. 6545 2
1 another factor such as receipt of payment or a determination of pregnan-
2 cy. This definition shall not be construed to require that an abortion
3 procedure actually be initiated for an attempt to occur.
4 (c) "Physician" means a doctor of medicine or osteopathy legally
5 authorized to practice medicine in the state.
6 2. No person shall knowingly or recklessly perform or attempt to
7 perform an abortion with knowledge that the pregnant female is seeking
8 the abortion solely on account of the sex of the unborn child. Nothing
9 in this section shall be construed to proscribe the performance of an
10 abortion because the unborn child has a genetic disorder that is sex-
11 linked.
12 3. Any person upon whom an abortion was performed or attempted to be
13 performed in violation of subdivision two of this section, the father of
14 the unborn child, or the grandparent of the unborn child may maintain an
15 action against the person who performed or attempted to perform the
16 abortion. The person who performed or attempted to perform the abortion
17 may be liable in such an action for punitive damages not to exceed ten
18 thousand dollars and for damages the plaintiff actually sustained. No
19 plaintiff shall be estopped from recovery in such an action on the
20 ground that either the plaintiff or the person upon whom the abortion
21 was performed gave consent to the abortion.
22 4. An abortion provider who knowingly or recklessly performed or
23 attempted to perform an abortion in violation of this section shall be
24 considered to have engaged in unprofessional conduct for which the
25 certificate or license of the provider to provide health care services
26 in this state shall be suspended or revoked by the state board for
27 professional medical conduct pursuant to section two hundred thirty-a of
28 this title, as added by chapter six hundred six of the laws of nineteen
29 hundred ninety-one.
30 5. In every proceeding or action instituted under this section, the
31 anonymity of any female upon whom an abortion is performed or attempted
32 shall be preserved unless she gives her consent to such disclosure. The
33 court, upon motion or sua sponte, shall issue orders to the parties,
34 witnesses and counsel, and shall direct the sealing of the record and
35 exclusion of individuals from courtrooms or hearing rooms to the extent
36 necessary to safeguard the female's identity from public disclosure. In
37 the absence of written consent of the female upon whom an abortion has
38 been performed or attempted, any plaintiff who institutes an action
39 under subdivision three of this section shall do so under a pseudonym.
40 § 2. If any provision, word, phrase or clause of this act or the
41 application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, such
42 invalidity shall not affect the provisions, words, phrases, clause or
43 applications of this act which can be given effect without the invalid
44 provision, word, phrase, clause or application, and to this end, the
45 provisions, words, phrases, and clauses of this act are declared to be
46 severable. If the application of this act to the period of pregnancy
47 prior to viability is held invalid, then such invalidity shall not
48 affect its application to the period of pregnancy subsequent to viabil-
49 ity.
50 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
