S05636 Summary:
BILL NO | S05636 |
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SAME AS | SAME AS A06269 |
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SPONSOR | WEBB |
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COSPNSR | COMRIE |
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MLTSPNSR | |
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Amd §§6531-b, 6505-d & 6510, add §6509-f, Ed L; amd §230, Pub Health L | |
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Provides an exception from professional misconduct for the performance, recommendation, or provision of any reproductive health services or gender-affirming care by a health care practitioner performing in the scope of their duties. |
S05636 Actions:
BILL NO | S05636 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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03/10/2023 | REFERRED TO HIGHER EDUCATION | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
01/03/2024 | REFERRED TO HIGHER EDUCATION |
S05636 Text:
Go to top STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5636 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN SENATE March 10, 2023 ___________ Introduced by Sen. WEBB -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education AN ACT to amend the education law and the public health law, in relation to providing an exception from professional misconduct for the performance, recommendation, or provision of any reproductive health services or gender-affirming care by a health care practitioner The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 6531-b of the education law, as added by chapter 2 220 of the laws of 2022, is amended to read as follows: 3 § 6531-b. Exceptions; reproductive health services and gender-affirm- 4 ing care. 1. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the 5 following meanings: 6 (a) "Reproductive health services" shall include[:7(i) abortion pursuant to section twenty-five hundred ninety-nine-bb of8the public health law;9(ii) emergency contraception as defined in section twenty-eight10hundred five-p of the public health law; and11(iii)] all services, care, or products of a medical, surgical, psychi- 12 atric, therapeutic, mental health, behavioral health, diagnostic, 13 preventative, rehabilitative, supportive, counseling [or], referral 14 [services relating to the human reproductive system, including], 15 prescribing, or dispensing nature relating to the human reproductive 16 system provided in accordance with the laws of this state, including, 17 but not limited to, all services, care and products relating to pregnan- 18 cy, assisted reproduction, contraception, miscarriage management or the 19 termination of a pregnancy, including self-managed terminations. 20 (b) "Gender-affirming care" shall mean any type of care provided to an 21 individual to affirm their gender identity or gender expression, 22 provided that surgical interventions on minors with variations in their EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD08626-02-3S. 5636 2 1 sex characteristics that are not sought and initiated by the individual 2 patient are not gender-affirming care. 3 (c) "Health care practitioner" means a person who is licensed, certi- 4 fied, or authorized under this title and acting within their lawful 5 scope of practice. 6 2. The performance, recommendation, or provision of any reproductive 7 health services or gender-affirming care as defined in subdivision one 8 of this section, by a health care practitioner acting within their scope 9 of practice, for a patient who resides in a state wherein the perform- 10 ance, recommendation, or provision of such reproductive health services 11 or gender-affirming care is illegal, shall not, by itself, constitute 12 professional misconduct under this title, or title two-A of article two 13 of the public health law, or any other law, rule or regulation governing 14 the licensure, certification, or authorization of such practitioner, nor 15 shall any license, certification or authorization of a health care prac- 16 titioner be revoked, suspended, or annulled or otherwise subject to any 17 other penalty or discipline provided in the public health law or this 18 title solely on the basis that such health care practitioner performed, 19 recommended, or provided any such reproductive health services or 20 gender-affirming care for a patient who resides in a state wherein the 21 performance, recommendation, or provision of such reproductive health 22 services or gender-affirming care is illegal. 23 3. Nothing in this section shall be construed to expand the scope of 24 practice of any individual licensed, certified or authorized under this 25 title, nor does this section give any such individual the authority to 26 act outside their scope of practice, as defined in this title. 27 § 2. Subdivision 9-c of section 230 of the public health law, as added 28 by chapter 220 of the laws of 2022, is amended to read as follows: 29 9-c. (a) Neither the board for professional medical conduct nor the 30 office of professional medical conduct shall charge a licensee, acting 31 within their scope of practice, with misconduct as defined in sections 32 sixty-five hundred thirty and sixty-five hundred thirty-one of the 33 education law, or cause a report made to the director of such office to 34 be investigated beyond a preliminary review as set forth in clause (A) 35 of subparagraph (i) of paragraph (a) of subdivision ten of this section, 36 where such report is determined to be based solely upon the performance, 37 recommendation, or provision of any reproductive health services or 38 gender-affirming care as defined in section sixty-five hundred thirty- 39 one-b of the education law for a particular patient by such licensee 40 where such patient resides in a state wherein the performance, recommen- 41 dation or provision of such reproductive health services or gender-af- 42 firming care is illegal. 43 (b) When a licensee, acting within their scope of practice, and in 44 accordance with paragraph e of subdivision four of section sixty-five 45 hundred twenty-seven of the education law, performs, recommends or 46 provides any reproductive health services or gender-affirming care for a 47 patient who resides in a state wherein the performance, recommendation, 48 or provision of any such reproductive health services or gender-affirm- 49 ing care is illegal, such performance, recommendation, or provision of 50 such reproductive health services or gender-affirming care for such 51 patient, shall not, by itself, constitute professional misconduct. The 52 licensee shall otherwise abide by all other applicable professional 53 requirements. 54 § 3. Section 6505-d of the education law, as added by chapter 220 of 55 the laws of 2022, is amended to read as follows:S. 5636 3 1 § 6505-d. Evaluation of prior disciplinary history for authorization 2 to practice. 1. An applicant seeking licensure, certification, or 3 authorization pursuant to this title who has been subject to discipli- 4 nary action by a duly authorized professional disciplinary agency of 5 another jurisdiction solely on the basis of having performed, recom- 6 mended, or provided [an abortion pursuant to section twenty-five hundred7ninety-nine-bb of the public health law,] reproductive health services 8 or gender-affirming care shall not be denied such licensure, certif- 9 ication, or authorization, unless the department determines that such 10 action would have constituted professional misconduct in this state. 11 Provided however, that nothing in this section shall be construed as 12 prohibiting the department from evaluating the conduct of such applicant 13 and making a determination to be licensed, certified, or authorized to 14 practice a profession under this title. 15 2. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the follow- 16 ing meanings: 17 (a) "Reproductive health services" shall include all services, care, 18 or products of a medical, surgical, psychiatric, therapeutic, mental 19 health, behavioral health, diagnostic, preventative, rehabilitative, 20 supportive, counseling, referral, prescribing, or dispensing nature 21 relating to the human reproductive system provided in accordance with 22 the laws of this state, including, but not limited to, all services, 23 care and products relating to pregnancy, assisted reproduction, contra- 24 ception, miscarriage management or the termination of a pregnancy, 25 including self-managed terminations. 26 (b) "Gender-affirming care" shall mean any type of care provided to an 27 individual to affirm their gender identity or gender expression, 28 provided that surgical interventions on minors with variations in their 29 sex characteristics that are not sought and initiated by the individual 30 patient are not gender-affirming care. 31 § 4. Subdivision 1 of section 6510 of the education law is amended by 32 adding a new paragraph b-1 to read as follows: 33 b-1. The department shall not charge a licensee, acting within their 34 scope of practice, with misconduct as defined in section sixty-five 35 hundred nine of this subarticle, or cause a complaint made by any person 36 to the department to be investigated beyond a preliminary review when 37 such report is determined to be based solely upon the performance, 38 recommendation, or provision of any reproductive health services or 39 gender-affirming care as defined in section sixty-five hundred nine-f of 40 this subarticle for a particular patient by such licensee where such 41 patient resides in a state wherein the performance, recommendation or 42 provision of such reproductive health services or gender-affirming care 43 is illegal. The preliminary review shall determine if such report 44 reasonably appears to reflect conduct warranting further investigation 45 pursuant to this paragraph. 46 § 5. The education law is amended by adding a new section 6509-f to 47 read as follows: 48 § 6509-f. Limited exemption from professional misconduct; reproductive 49 health services and gender-affirming care. 1. As used in this section, 50 the following terms shall have the following meanings: 51 (a) "Reproductive health services" shall include all services, care, 52 or products of a medical, surgical, psychiatric, therapeutic, mental 53 health, behavioral health, diagnostic, preventative, rehabilitative, 54 supportive, counseling, referral, prescribing, or dispensing nature 55 relating to the human reproductive system provided in accordance with 56 the laws of this state, including, but not limited to, all services,S. 5636 4 1 care and products relating to pregnancy, assisted reproduction, contra- 2 ception, miscarriage management or the termination of a pregnancy, 3 including self-managed terminations. 4 (b) "Gender-affirming care" shall mean any type of care provided to an 5 individual to affirm their gender identity or gender expression, 6 provided that surgical interventions on minors with variations in their 7 sex characteristics that are not sought and initiated by the individual 8 patient are not gender-affirming care. 9 (c) "Health care practitioner" means a person who is licensed, certi- 10 fied, or authorized under this title and acting within their lawful 11 scope of practice. 12 2. The performance, recommendation, or provision of any reproductive 13 health services or gender-affirming care as defined in subdivision one 14 of this section, by a health care practitioner acting within their scope 15 of practice, for a patient who resides in a state wherein the perform- 16 ance, recommendation, or provision of such reproductive health services 17 or gender-affirming care is illegal, shall not, by itself, constitute 18 professional misconduct under this title, or any other law, rule or 19 regulation governing the licensure, certification, or authorization of 20 such practitioner, nor shall any license, certification or authorization 21 of a health care practitioner be revoked, suspended, or annulled or 22 otherwise subject to any other penalty or discipline provided in the 23 public health law or this title solely on the basis that such health 24 care practitioner performed, recommended, or provided any such reproduc- 25 tive health services for a patient who resides in a state wherein the 26 performance, recommendation, or provision of such reproductive health 27 services or gender-affirming care is illegal. 28 3. Nothing in this section shall be construed to expand the scope of 29 practice of any individual licensed, certified or authorized under this 30 title, nor does this section give any such individual the authority to 31 act outside their scope of practice, as defined in this title. 32 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.