It's Somehow Still Legal To Fire A Woman For Having An Abortion

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK – It will soon be illegal to fire a woman in New York City because she had an abortion or a child out of wedlock, Brooklyn lawmakers announced.

City Council voted Thursday to pass the NYC Boss Bill, which will protect New Yorkers from discrimination based on their reproductive health decisions, city records show.

"Rights that can be undercut by reproductive retribution and discrimination are not rights at all," said City Councilman Jumaane Williams, who sponsored the bill. "It's time we took a stand against reproductive injustice."

Under the new law, women like Michelle McCusker, a Queens woman fired from a religious school for becoming pregnant outside her marriage, will be protected from retribution at work, lawmakers said.

The NYC Boss Bill adds sexual and reproductive health decisions — such as birth control use, STD testing and treatment and abortions — to the protected rights listed in the city's Human Rights Law, records show.

"Women still face challenges in exercising their constitutionally protected rights to make reproductive health decisions," said Council Woman and Majority Leader Laurie Cumbo, who co-sponsored the bill. "I'm committed to ensuring that a women's reproductive healthcare choices remain a fundamental right, and to implementing penalties against those who violate those very rights."

The bill is slated to take effect after 120 days.

Majority Leader Laurie Cumbo and Council Members Carlina Rivera and Margaret Chin and Jumaane Williams show support for the NYC Boss Bill. (Photo Credit: Kevin Fagan)