Add §§240.80 & 240.81, amd §§240.70 & 240.71, Pen L
Prohibits people from engaging in protests outside a place of religious worship; establishes that protests must be a minimum of twenty-five feet away from a place of religious worship.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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10359
IN SENATE
May 15, 2026
___________
Introduced by Sen. RHOADS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to prohibiting persons from
protesting within twenty-five feet of houses of worship
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 240.80 to
2 read as follows:
3 § 240.80 Criminal interference with religious worship in the second
4 degree.
5 1. A person is guilty of criminal interference with religious worship
6 in the second degree when:
7 (a) by force or threat of force or by physical obstruction, such
8 person intentionally injures, intimidates or interferes with, or
9 attempts to injure, intimidate or interfere with, another person because
10 such person was or is seeking to exercise the right of religious freedom
11 at a place of religious worship; or
12 (b) such person intentionally damages the property of a place of reli-
13 gious worship; or
14 (c) such person or persons engages in protest outside a place of reli-
15 gious worship within twenty-five feet of such place to include its park-
16 ing lot, entrance, driveway or driveway entrance; or
17 (d) such person or persons prevents the entrance to a place of reli-
18 gious worship or prevents the exit from a place of religious worship.
19 2. For the purposes of this section:
20 (a) the term "interferes with" means to restrict a person's freedom of
21 movement; and
22 (b) the term "intimidates" means to place a person in reasonable
23 apprehension of physical injury to themselves or to another person.
24 Criminal interference with or religious worship in the second degree
25 is a class A misdemeanor.
26 § 2. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 240.81 to read
27 as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14578-02-6
S. 10359 2
1 § 240.81 Criminal interference with religious worship in the second
2 degree.
3 A person is guilty of criminal interference with religious worship in
4 the first degree when such person commits the crime of criminal inter-
5 ference with religious worship in the second degree and has been previ-
6 ously convicted of the crime of criminal interference with religious
7 worship in the first or second degree.
8 Criminal interference with religious worship in the first degree is a
9 class E felony.
10 § 3. Section 240.70 of the penal law, as added by chapter 635 of the
11 laws of 1999, is amended to read as follows:
12 § 240.70 Criminal interference with health care services [or religious
13 worship] in the second degree.
14 1. A person is guilty of criminal interference with health services
15 [or religious worship] in the second degree when:
16 (a) by force or threat of force or by physical obstruction, [he or
17 she] such person intentionally injures, intimidates or interferes with,
18 or attempts to injure, intimidate or interfere with, another person
19 because such other person was or is obtaining or providing reproductive
20 health services; or
21 (b) by force or threat of force or by physical obstruction, [he or
22 she] such person intentionally injures, intimidates or interferes with,
23 or attempts to injure, intimidate or interfere with, another person in
24 order to discourage such other person or any other person or persons
25 from obtaining or providing reproductive health services; or
26 (c) [by force or threat of force or by physical obstruction, he or she
27 intentionally injures, intimidates or interferes with, or attempts to
28 injure, intimidate or interfere with, another person because such person
29 was or is seeking to exercise the right of religious freedom at a place
30 of religious worship; or
31 (d) he or she] such person intentionally damages the property of a
32 health care facility, or attempts to do so, because such facility
33 provides reproductive health services[, or intentionally damages the
34 property of a place of religious worship].
35 2. A parent or legal guardian of a minor shall not be subject to pros-
36 ecution for conduct otherwise prohibited by paragraph (a) or (b) of
37 subdivision one of this section which is directed exclusively at such
38 minor.
39 3. For purposes of this section:
40 (a) the term "health care facility" means a hospital, clinic, physi-
41 cian's office or other facility that provides reproductive health
42 services, and includes the building or structure in which the facility
43 is located;
44 (b) the term "interferes with" means to restrict a person's freedom of
45 movement;
46 (c) the term "intimidates" means to place a person in reasonable
47 apprehension of physical injury to [himself or herself] themselves or to
48 another person;
49 (d) the term "physical obstruction" means rendering impassable ingress
50 to or egress from a facility that provides reproductive health services
51 [or to or from a place of religious worship,] or rendering passage to or
52 from such a facility [or place of religious worship] unreasonably diffi-
53 cult or hazardous; and
54 (e) the term "reproductive health services" means health care services
55 provided in a hospital, clinic, physician's office or other facility and
56 includes medical, surgical, counseling or referral services relating to
S. 10359 3
1 the human reproductive system, including services relating to pregnancy
2 or the termination of a pregnancy.
3 Criminal interference with health care services [or religious worship]
4 in the second degree is a class A misdemeanor.
5 § 4. Section 240.71 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 493 of the
6 laws of 2009, is amended to read as follows:
7 § 240.71 Criminal interference with health care services [or religious
8 worship] in the first degree.
9 A person is guilty of criminal interference with health care services
10 [or religious worship] in the first degree when [he or she] such person
11 commits the crime of criminal interference with health care services [or
12 religious worship] in the second degree and has been previously
13 convicted of the crime of criminal interference with health care
14 services [or religious worship] in the first or second degree or aggra-
15 vated interference with health care services in the first or second
16 degree.
17 Criminal interference with health care services [or religious worship]
18 in the first degree is a class E felony.
19 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
