NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8641
SPONSOR: Glick TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to specifying the
settings in which an ultrasound or similar medical imaging device proce-
dure may be offered
PURPOSE:
To afford patient protections by helping to ensure that ultrasound imag-
ing is performed safely and that patients are provided accurate medical
information and quality, timely care.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Adds a new section 3517 to the Public Health Law entitled
"Performance of ultrasounds." Stipulates settings where an ultrasound,
or a similar medical imaging device or procedure may be offered, as well
as exempted entities and providers. Establishes a civil penalty for
first and subsequent offenses. Stipulates that the Attorney General or a
county District Attorney may bring an action to impose a civil penalty
pursuant to this section and that civil penalties collected shall be
paid to the office of the Attorney General or to the treasurer of the
county for the District Attorney, based on the office that brought the
action.
Section 2: Establishes the effective date. This act shall take effect on
the sixtieth day after it shall have become a law.
JUSTIFICATION:
Ultrasound imaging is used to evaluate, diagnose, and treat a variety of
medical conditions by producing a real-time visual image of internal
organs, tissue, or blood flow. Uses of this medical tool include abdomi-
nal ultrasound, bone sonometry, breast ultrasound, doppler fetal heart
rate monitors, doppler ultrasound, echocardiogram, fetal ultrasound,
ultrasound-guided biopsies, ophthalmic ultrasound, and ultrasound-guided
needle placement.'
This medical technology does not carry the same risks as other types of
imaging that utilize ionizing radiation, such as X-rays or CT scans, and
'has a very good safety record. However, ultrasound energy can cause
heating of the tissues or create cavitation, the long-term effects of
which are unknown.2
According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
(ACOG), there is currently no evidence that ultrasound imaging causes
harm to the fetus, but that does not rule out the possibility of harmful
effects being identified at some point. Therefore, ACOG recommends that
ultrasound imaging be conducted for medical reasons by qualified health
care practitioners.3 The Association for Medical Ultrasound asserts that
ultrasound imaging should be performed by qualified health professionals
for the medical benefit of the patient.4
Although ultrasound imaging is a medical tool that is intended for eval-
uation, diagnosis, and treatment of patients, ultrasounds are offered in
non-medical settings, including certain limited service pregnancy
centers, also known as crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs). CPCs are facil-
ities that portray themselves as reproductive health care clinics, when
they actually endeavor to hinder abortion and even use of contraception.
These facilities may say they offer free pregnancy tests, STI testing,
ultrasounds, and pregnancy counseling, but they are not licensed health
care facilities. As such, CPC staff are not required by law or regu-
lation to provide accurate information to pregnant people and they are
not subject to HIPAA regulations. CPC staff have provided false informa-
tion about the gestational age of a person's pregnancy after doing an
ultrasound in order to mislead the pregnant person into thinking it is
too late to have an abortion. Staff have also provided inaccurate infor-
mation about abortion, including the risks, as well as "abortion pill
reversal." 5
Crisis pregnancy centers have a strong presence throughout the U.S.,
including in New York, and many offer ultrasounds. According to the
Reproaction database, there are 91 CPCs in the State of New York.6 A
study of 1,825 CPC websites in the U.S. found that 77% of CPCs adver-
tised they provide ultrasounds.7 CPCs frequently locate themselves in
close vicinity to legitimate reproductive health care clinics that
provide comprehensive medical services, including abortion care, and
they endeavor to present themselves as medical clinics - pregnant people
who go to a CPC because they want to talk about their pregnancy options
with a health care provider may believe the facility is a licensed
reproductive health care clinic and later realize that the facility does
not support or provide abortion care. A mystery client study of 86 CPCs
in New York State found that during calls, only twelve CPCs automat-
ically disclosed their non-medical status and thirty-six disclosed this
critical detail after direct questioning.8
It is essential that ultrasound imaging be utilized in accordance with
the guidance of professional health care associations and that pregnant
people who have a prenatal ultrasound be given medically-accurate infor-
mation about their pregnancy, including but not limited to the
gestation, so that they can make unimpeded decisions about whether to
keep or terminate the pregnancy in accordance with New York State law.
This legislation will help to afford patient protections by specifying
licensed health care settings in which ultrasound imaging or similar
medical imaging device procedure may be offered.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have
become a law.
1 Ultrasound Imaging, U.S. Food & Drug Administration:
https://www.fda.gov/radiation-emitting-products/medical-imaging/ ultra-
sound-imaging
2 Ibid.
3 Ultrasound Exams, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecolo-
gists: https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/ultrasound-exams
4 Prudent Clinical Use and Safety of Diagnostic Ultrasound, The Associ-
ation for Medical Ultrasound: https://www.aium.org/resources/official-
statements/view/prudent-clinical -use-and-safety-of-diagnostic-
ultrasound
5 Ultrasound Exams, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecolo-
gists: https://www,acog.org/womenshealth/faqs/ultrasound-exams
6 Reproaction Education Fund: The Anti-Abortion Pregnancy Center Data-
base, accessed May 1, 2025 from https://reproaction.org/database
7 Desai, K. S., et al. (2024). Characterizing Services Advertised on
Crisis Pregnancy Center Websites. JAMA Internal Medicine.
doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed 2024.6440
8 Frasik, C, Jordan, C, McLeod, C, and Flink-Bochacki, R. A mystery
client study of crisis pregnancy center practices in New York State.
Contraception, January 2023:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0010782422002244
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8641
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 22, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. GLICK -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to specifying the
settings in which an ultrasound or similar medical imaging device
procedure may be offered
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 3517 of the public health law is renumbered section
2 3518 and a new section 3517 is added to read as follows:
3 § 3517. Performance of ultrasounds. 1. An ultrasound, or a similar
4 medical imaging device or procedure used for a medical, counseling, or
5 diagnostic service or purpose, shall only be offered in the following
6 settings:
7 (a) An organized and licensed clinic that provides direct medical,
8 surgical, dental, optometric, or podiatric advice, services, or treat-
9 ment to patients who remain less than twenty-four hours, and that may
10 also provide diagnostic or therapeutic services to patients in the home
11 as an incident to care provided at the clinic facility.
12 (b) An outpatient setting comprised of any facility, clinic, unli-
13 censed clinic, center, office, or other setting that is not part of a
14 general acute care facility and where anesthesia, except local anes-
15 thesia or peripheral nerve blocks, or both, is used in compliance with
16 the community standard of practice, in doses that, when administered
17 have the probability of placing a patient at risk for loss of the
18 patient's life-preserving protective reflexes.
19 (c) A licensed health facility that is organized, maintained, and
20 operated for the diagnosis, care, prevention, and treatment of human
21 illness, physical, or mental, including convalescence and rehabilitation
22 and including care during and after pregnancy, or for any one or more of
23 these purposes, for one or more persons, to which the persons are admit-
24 ted for a twenty-four-hour stay or longer, including a hospital, acute
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13014-01-5
A. 8641 2
1 psychiatric hospital, skilled nursing facility, nursing home, intermedi-
2 ate care facility, congregate living health facility, hospice facility
3 and a correctional treatment center operated by the department of
4 corrections and community supervision or a county, city, or city and
5 county law enforcement agency.
6 (d) A practice of a licensed physician or surgeon, a medical group
7 practice, including a professional medical corporation organized under
8 and governed by article forty-four of this chapter, another form of
9 corporation controlled by physicians and surgeons, a medical partner-
10 ship, a medical foundation exempt from licensure, or another lawfully
11 organized group of physicians and surgeons that provides health care
12 services.
13 (e) A practice of a licensed chiropractor, as defined in article one
14 hundred thirty-two of the education law, or a lawfully organized group
15 of licensed chiropractors that provides health care services.
16 (f) A practice of a licensed physical therapist, as defined in article
17 one hundred thirty-six of the education law, or a lawfully organized
18 group of licensed physical therapists that provides health care
19 services.
20 (g) A facility affiliated with the settings described in paragraphs
21 (a), (b), (c), (d), (e) or (f) of this subdivision.
22 (h) An exempt entity as described in section thirty-five hundred
23 fifteen of this title.
24 2. This section does not apply to a practice of a licensed midwife
25 providing care pursuant to article one hundred forty of the education
26 law.
27 3. (a) Any person or entity that fails to comply with the requirements
28 of this section is liable for a civil penalty of two thousand five
29 hundred dollars ($2,500) for a first offense and five thousand dollars
30 ($5,000) for each subsequent offense, in addition to costs and fees.
31 (b) An action to impose a civil penalty pursuant to this section may
32 be brought by the attorney general or a county district attorney. For
33 purposes of this subdivision, an offense is each ultrasound conducted in
34 violation of this section.
35 (c) Costs, fees, and civil penalties collected pursuant to this
36 section shall be paid to the office that brought the action as follows:
37 (i) to the office of the attorney general; or (ii) to the treasurer of
38 the county for the district attorney.
39 § 2. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
40 have become a law.
