Hochul Announces $35M For NY Abortion Clinics' Security, Access

NEW YORK — Anticipating a Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday announced a $35 million investment in support of abortion providers.

She directed the health department to create a $25 million fund to help reproductive health care centers expand capacity and ensure access for patients seeking abortion care in New York. She also announced that $10 million in security grants will be available to them through the state's Division of Criminal Justice Services.

"Like millions of Americans, I was horrified by that draft Supreme Court decision that came out last week," Hochul said in an online news conference, calling what the justices are willing to do to a right Americans have supported for half a century "absolutely unconscionable."

"New York has always been at the forefront of the fight for abortion rights, and as the first female Governor of New York, I will not let us go backward," Hochul said.

State health officials are expected to soon release an expedited application for the Abortion Provider Support Fund. The goal is to begin distributing grants and reimbursements by the time a final Supreme Court decision would be released, in late June.

A request for proposals through which organizations can apply for safety and security improvement grants is expected to be issued by the time a final Supreme Court decision would be released.

The two initiatives are essential, said Catherine Lederer-Plaskett, president and chair of WCLA - Choice Matters. The financial support will mean that clinics across the state can improve access and security without having to raise fees or flatten the sliding scales that many use to help clients based on income level.

"I'm looking forward to learning the details. I want to see the money gets out expeditiously in a well-thought-out process," she told Patch.

The security funding initiative will be modeled after Hochul's Securing Communities Against Hate Crimes program, which provides grants to strengthen safety and security measures at buildings owned or operated by nonprofit organizations at risk of hate crimes or attacks because of their ideology, beliefs, or missions, state officials said.

"Rights are only as good as your ability to access them, especially for time-sensitive reproductive care," Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Westchester) said in the announcement. "As New York stands at the national forefront of the pro-choice fight, we must ensure that these services are adequately supported so that no one is boxed out of care due to strained resources."

Stewart-Cousins pointed out that the state Senate had codified Roe v. Wade into state law in 2019 to allow New York to withstand any future Supreme Court decision.

"Our state first opened its doors to those who need abortion care five decades ago, and three years before the Court decided Roe," Executive Director of the New York Civil Liberties Union Donna Lieberman said as part of Hochul's announcement. "As federal reproductive rights are decimated and states continue to ban access, New York will be a beacon for people who need abortion care."

Pro-choice advocates do need to think of their neighbors as well as worry about people coming from out of state, Lederer-Plaskett said. Just 42 percent of New York counties have abortion clinics, which means women living in the others also have to travel long distances.

"Our New York women will need assistance too," Lederer-Plaskett said.

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