Establishes a pregnant persons' bill of rights; requires posting and disclosing such bill of rights; establishes a penalty for failure to post or disclose such bill of rights.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1756
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 14, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ROSENTHAL, PAULIN, SEAWRIGHT, JACKSON -- read
once and referred to the Committee on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to establishing a
pregnant persons' bill of rights
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Title 6 of article 2 of the public health law, as added by
2 chapter 342 of the laws of 2014, is amended by adding a new section
3 266-a to read as follows:
4 § 266-a. Pregnant persons' bill of rights. 1. Any healthcare profes-
5 sional who could reasonably foresee having pregnant persons as patients
6 shall conspicuously post a pregnant persons' bill of rights to be issued
7 by the department. The bill of rights shall be written in plain English,
8 and shall be made available in other languages, including but not limit-
9 ed to Spanish, French, Chinese and Russian. The pregnant persons' bill
10 of rights shall include, but not limited to the:
11 (a) right of decisionally capable pregnant persons to refuse treat-
12 ment, even if the refusal could result in the loss of life;
13 (b) requirement of doctors to receive informed consent from a pregnant
14 person before performing any medical procedure;
15 (c) requirement that coercion may not be used to receive that consent,
16 nor may appeals to conscience or morality;
17 (d) requirement that care should be provided in a culturally sensitive
18 environment;
19 (e) requirement that counseling and therapy should be made available
20 to anyone who experiences an adverse outcome as a result of refusing
21 treatment, but such counseling and therapy should not be required and
22 pregnant persons have the right to refuse the therapy;
23 (f) requirement that pregnant persons have the right to choose which
24 medical procedures such pregnant person agrees to, without pressure
25 throughout pregnancy and delivery;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04851-01-5
A. 1756 2
1 (g) right to request room, doctor or nurse change at any point;
2 (h) right to know doctor's methods;
3 (i) right to change such pregnant person's mind with respect to any
4 treatment decision at any point;
5 (j) right of pregnant persons to be in any position they want so long
6 as it is medically indicated as safe;
7 (k) right of pregnant persons to know the risks associated with any
8 and all tests or procedures;
9 (l) right of pregnant persons to receive or refuse any type of
10 emotional, social, psychological or physical support people have before,
11 during and after labor;
12 (m) right of pregnant persons to choose birth setting;
13 (n) right of pregnant persons to refuse or accept any administered
14 drug/treatment; and
15 (o) right of pregnant persons to receive information about any poten-
16 tial direct or indirect effects, risks, hazards to such pregnant person
17 and fetus because of a drug or procedure.
18 2. Before a healthcare professional commences a physical examination
19 or any treatment of a pregnant person, the healthcare professional
20 conducting the exam shall inform the person of the pregnant persons'
21 bill of rights by providing a copy of such bill of rights and offering
22 to explain such rights.
23 3. Failure to comply with the provisions of this section shall result
24 in a penalty of five hundred dollars for the first violation, and for
25 the second and each subsequent violation, the penalty shall be one thou-
26 sand dollars.
27 § 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall
28 have become a law.
