Payment And Support Resources
Health insurance, including Medicaid, may cover the cost of an abortion. If you are pregnant, you may have special health insurance options. Contact your health insurer to find out what your plan covers.
You may be eligible for New York State Medicaid to cover your abortion procedure. Pregnant New Yorkers can qualify for Medicaid at higher income levels. Find out whether you qualify for Medicaid, or call the NY State of Health Official Health Plan Marketplace at 855-355-5777 for more information.
Some medical offices can check if you qualify for Medicaid at the time of your appointment. If you qualify, they can also enroll you, with coverage starting that day. Before your appointment, ask your medical office if they are a Medicaid enrollment site. Be sure to ask if they require a photo ID or other documents.
As with any other medical procedure, an abortion can be expensive if you do not have insurance coverage.
If you need help paying for your appointment, visit:
- New York Abortion Access Fund, or call its hotline at 212-252-4757
If you need help with travel or lodging costs related to your appointment:
- Haven Coalition provides help with overnight lodging for those who have to travel.
Issue Trends On Twitter
Trending hashtags on Twitter Thursday include #AbortionIsAWomansRight, #WomensReproductiveRights, #YouKnowMe and #IRefuseToApologizeFor.
Senator Ted Cruz Tweeted, “#IRefuseToApologizeFor supporting pro-life policies & efforts to restore a culture of life in our country, where every human life is respected and protected as a precious gift from God. #prolife.”
Actress and talk show host Busy Philipps is asking women who have had abortions to tell their stories as part of a push against anti-abortion legislation, with the hashtag #YouKnowMe.
Thousands of women shared their stories.
Rihanna called the men who supported Alabama’s legislation “idiots.”
When An Abortion Can Be Carried Out
Most abortions in England, Wales and Scotland are carried out before 24 weeks of pregnancy.
They can be carried out after 24 weeks in very limited circumstances for example, if the mother’s life is at risk or the child would be born with a severe disability.
Most abortion services will ask to perform an ultrasound scan to work out how many weeks pregnant you are. The length of pregnancy is calculated from the first day of your last period.
Abortions are safer the earlier they’re carried out. Getting advice early on will give you more time to make a decision if you’re unsure.
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What To Expect From A New York City Abortion Clinic
For over quarter of a century, patients have relied on Parkmed NYCs commitment and dedication to the highest standards of reproduction, abortion and medical care. Parkmed NYCs patient-friendly approach has been evident from the start of the abortion clinic. When a patient calls for an appointment, a multi-lingual phone counselor addresses each question and concern. At Parkmed NYC, we realize that a visit for an abortion or a surgical procedure can be a stressful experience. That is why we have created a patient-centered environment in New York designed to reduce anxiety and make our patients comfortable as they go through their abortion procedure. Contact us today at for the best abortion clinic experience in Manhattan, NYC.
I Have No Money Can You Help Me Get A Free Abortion
Choices can help you in several ways:
- You may qualify for Emergency Medicaid which covers pregnancy-related services, including both medical and surgical abortions. Take our Emergency Medicaid Quiz to see if you qualify here.
- We can help secure funds for you from a funding agency or organization that will cover the cost.
- We can help you work out a reasonable self-pay plan.
Please call 718-349-9100, Ext 520 to speak with a Choices financial counselor who can assist you in abortion funding related questions.
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What Does Calling Abortion A Fundamental Human Right Mean
The R.H.A. sets out the laws purpose to secure for every pregnant woman a fundamental right to choose to carry the pregnancy to term, to give birth to a child, or to have an abortion. The law also says that the state shall not discriminate, deny or interfere with these rights in any other regulations.
This has raised concerns about how this fundamental right may be asserted in the future against hospitals, doctors and other medical professionals who object to abortion in conscience. An official with the New York State Catholic Conference said that the law foresees a time in New York when its a crime to be pro-life. New York State Right to Life, a state political party and lobbying group, argues that this language opens the door to restrict efforts by pro-lifersand prohibit any limits on abortion.
The R.H.A. does not contain any explicit provision requiring anyone to perform or provide abortions, but neither does it explicitly provide any exemption for conscientious objection by health care professionals regarding abortion.
In other words, it is not yet clear what precise legal effect the fundamental right language may have. The pro-life movement is concerned about how it might be used in the future to compel participation in making abortion available, but it is unclear how and if courts would interpret and apply a fundamental right to abortion beyond the existing text of the law.
New York Abortion Laws
Created by FindLaw’s team of legal writers and editors| Last updated May 16, 2019
New York abortion laws are less restrictive than those in many other states, which often impose long waiting periods, consent requirements, strict facility codes, and other statutory obstacles. A bill signed into law in early 2019 adds additional protections for abortion access, such as allowing certain medical professionals who aren’t doctors to perform the procedure and allowing abortions past 24 weeks if the fetus isn’t viable or to protect the mother’s health .
The law also codifies a woman’s right to access an abortion, partly in anticipation of a possible rollback of federal protections under Roe v. Wade. Per the language of the 2019 law, “Every individual who becomes pregnant has the fundamental right to choose to carry the pregnancy to term, to give birth to a child, or to have an abortion, pursuant to this article.” But all states, including New York, have some abortion restrictions.
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Late Termination Of Pregnancy
Late termination of pregnancy describes the termination of pregnancy by induced abortion during a late stage of gestation. “Late”, in this context, is not precisely defined, and different medical publications use varying gestational age thresholds. In 2015 in the United States, about 1.3% of abortions took place after the 21st week, and less than 1% occur after 24 weeks.
Reasons for late terminations of pregnancy include circumstances where a pregnant woman’s health is at risk or when lethal fetal abnormalities have been detected. Later abortion is not associated with any negative physical or mental health outcomes, and the risk of death following a surgical abortion after 20 weeks is less than that of typical full-term childbirth in the United States.
Late termination of pregnancy is more politically controversial than abortion in general. Most countries in Europe only permit abortion in later stages of pregnancy if specific circumstances are present, generally when the pregnancy represents a serious danger to the life, or to the physical or mental health of the woman, or when a serious malformation or anomaly of the fetus is diagnosed.
Bans And Restrictions To Constrict Or Eliminate Abortion Access
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which presented the greatest public health threat in generations and exposed long-present systemic inequities in the U.S. healthcare system, legislators in nearly every state introduced bills that would undermine access to a form of essential health care: the ability to get a safe abortion. The Guttmacher Institute, which tracks state-level abortion legislation, has marked 2021 as the most devastating state legislative session for abortion rights in history.9 Guttmacher reports that as of early June 2021, 561 abortion restrictions have been introduced this year in all but three states.10 And as of early August, states had enacted 97 of those introduced abortion-restrictive statutes into law, bringing the total number of state abortion restrictions enacted since Roe v. Wade to 1,327.11
These newly enacted restrictions compound the harms of abortion-restrictive laws that preceded them. Of the 97 new measures, more than 80 were signed into law in states that already have onerous abortion restrictions, making abortion even harder to access. Mississippi, for example, whose 15-week ban is at the center of Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization, already has laws requiring a 24-hour waiting period and multiple trips to the clinic, a biased counseling requirement, and provisions targeting abortion providers.12 The states one remaining clinic is a party to the pending Supreme Court case.
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Ny On Opposite End Of Spectrum
New York’s Reproductive Health Act was signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Jan. 22 of this year and garnered national attention from supporters and opponents.
Proponents of New York’s abortion law say it installs the rights afforded women under the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision into state law, protecting them if a conservative court were to overturn the landmark case.
Roe v. Wade does allow states to regulate or even prohibit abortion after the point of fetal viability 24 to 28 weeks so long as they make an exception for abortions that protect the mother’s life or health.
Does The Rha Remove Protections For An Infant Born Alive During An Abortion
Yes. The R.H.A. repeals section 4164 of New Yorks public health law. That section had provided that abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy had to be performed in a hospital, and that for abortions after 20 weeks a separate physician had to be on hand to provide medical care for any infant born alive during the procedurewhich is a possibility, even if an unlikely one.
The now-repealed section also specified that a child born alive during an abortion procedure immediately enjoyed the protection of New Yorks laws, and it required medical records to be kept of the efforts to care for the infant. Without section 4164, the public health law is now silent on the status of an infant born alive during an abortion.
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Landscape And Implications Of State Abortion Restrictions
Abortion is essential health care, critical to health equity, reproductive autonomy, and racial, gender, and economic justice it also helps ensure that people can control their own bodies, lives, and futures. The restrictions that some states are enacting disproportionately harm Black, Indigenous, and Latino individuals people with low incomes LGBTQ people young people people with disabilities immigrants and people in rural areas, for whom legal and systemic barriers frequently already put abortion care out of reach.4 Although some of the newly enacted state statutes described in this issue brief willlike Texas S.B. 8be challenged in court, there remains the looming threat that the governing law might change and that certain abortion-restrictive statutes that historically would have been found unconstitutional could take effect. This onslaught of restrictive state laws and the upcoming arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization are part of the anti-abortion movements efforts to legislate and litigate abortion access out of existence.5 Abortion rights are by no means secure throughout the United States.
Does The Rha Allow Non
Yes. The law specifies that a health care practitioner licensed, certified, or authorized under New Yorks medical licensing laws can perform an abortion and make the professional judgments described above. This means that it is possible that licensed nurse practitioners or physician assistants could perform abortions.
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When Abortion Is Legal In New York
New York’s law says abortion is legal if it is under one of these circumstances:
- The abortion occurs before the end of the 24th week of the pregnancy.
- The abortion is “necessary to protect the patient’s life or health.”
- There is an absence of “fetal viability,” or the ability for the fetus to survive outside the womb.
Further, New York took abortion out of the criminal code. The penal code laid out various criminal penalties for those who performed an illegal abortion, including doctors who performed one after the 24th week if the mother’s life was not in danger.
The law leaves it up to the mother’s health-care provider to “use their reasonable and good faith professional judgment based on the facts of the patient’s case” to determine when/if her life/health is in danger.
Another Supreme Court decision, Doe v. Bolton, says “health” refers to “all factors physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman’s age relevant to the well-being of the patient” when it comes to an abortion.
Abortion in America:After Alabama OKs strictest abortion law in nation, Missouri could be next. Where states stand on abortion bans
Book An Appointment Online
Compassionate Care.
People make deeply personal decisions about pregnancy, and we respect everyone we care forno judgments. We also offer a variety of payment options including financial assistance to those who may need it.
Quality Care.
Planned Parenthood offers the full range of abortion options in a safe, comfortable, nonjudgmental environment.
Abortion is Legal.
You can feel confident that Planned Parenthood knows and follows all rules and regulations about abortion, keeping you safely within your rights.
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Quality Respectful Abortion Care
There are two ways of ending a pregnancy: in-clinic abortion and the abortion pill. Both are safe and very common. If youre pregnant and thinking about abortion, you may have lots of questions. Were here to help.
As a trusted abortion provider, we have over 100 years of reproductive health experience in New York and our health centers are conveniently located near you.
Some Are Concerned That Removing Abortion From The Penal Code Will Affect Pregnant Women Who Are Assaulted
The act also amends the definition of homicide. Homicide is no longer defined to include abortion or causing the death of an unborn child when a female has been pregnant for 24 weeks or more. Abortion is also removed as a definition of homicide. The following part of the law was removed under the definition of homicide: an unborn child with which a female has been pregnant for more than twenty-four weeks. The law also removed homicide from being defined as abortion in the first degree or self-abortion in the first degree. This, in essence, moves abortion from the penal code to the health statutes in New York, CBS News explained.
Republicans who opposed the bill were concerned this might make it more difficult for pregnant women who lose their baby in an assault to press criminal charges. Democrats disputed this concern, CBS noted. Republicans have offered proposals for new legal penalties in cases where pregnant women are assaulted. Its not clear at this time what those proposals are or if they will pass.
It appears that under different New York laws, a homicidecan still be deemed if a baby is born alive and then later dies due to injuries inflicted on the mom while she was still pregnant, so that approach still remains. As noted, the situations are complicated and the effect this law change could have on punishments is a complex issue.
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National Background And Context
Each year, a broad cross section of people in the United States obtain abortions. In 2017, 862,320 abortions were provided in clinical settings in the United States.
The U.S. Supreme Court recognized the constitutional right to abortion in the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision and has reaffirmed that right in subsequent decisions.
However, since 2010, the U.S. abortion landscape has grown increasingly restrictive as more states adopt laws hostile to abortion rights. Between January 1, 2011 and July 1, 2019, states enacted 483 new abortion restrictions, and these account for nearly 40% of all abortion restrictions enacted by states in the decades since Roe v. Wade. Some of the most common state-level abortion restrictions are parental notification or consent requirements for minors, limitations on public funding, mandated counseling designed to dissuade individuals from obtaining an abortion, mandated waiting periods before an abortion, and unnecessary and overly burdensome regulations on abortion facilities.
Why Is The New York Law Controversial
Anti-abortion activists have said the New York law is an extreme step that goes too far in expanding access to abortions later in pregnancy, arguing that legalizing abortion for women whose health is at risk a broader category than the prior law gives doctors too much discretion. This radical expansion of abortion on demand through birth is a tragedy to be mourned, not a victory to be celebrated, Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List, said in a statement.
But abortion rights advocates point out that the new law brings state policy in line with legal precedents established by Roe, and the idea that the law allows any woman with a healthy, risk-free pregnancy to have an abortion through birth in the third trimester is flawed.
Its not for everyone, says Erika Christensen, an abortion rights advocate. Its for people after 24 weeks who find themselves with either bad pregnancy indications for the fetus or threats to their own health.
Christensen, who lives in New York and first , had to travel to Colorado to get an abortion in the third trimester of her pregnancy in 2016 after doctors told her the baby she was carrying had a rare compounded muscular condition that would be fatal soon after birth. At the time, the procedure was illegal under New York law because she was 30 weeks pregnant, and her life was not at risk.
She hopes the new law means other women will have more options for care than she did.
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