LOCAL LAW "D" FOR 2024
A LOCAL LAW OF THE COUNTY OF ALBANY, NEW YORK CREATING CHAPTER 182 OF THE ALBANY COUNTY CODE, PROHIBITING FALSE AND MISLEADING STATEMENTS BY CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTERS
Introduced: 4/8/24
By Plotsky, Reidy, McLean Lane, Cunningham, McLaughlin, Lekakis and Pedo:
A local law creating Chapter 182 (Healthcare) of the Albany County Code to prohibit inaccurate and misleading statements and advertising by crisis pregnancy centers in Albany County.
BE IT ENACTED by the Albany County Legislature as follows:
Section 1. Title.
This local law hereby creates Chapter 182, Healthcare.
Section 2. Crisis Pregnancy Centers
This local law hereby creates Chapter 182, Article 1, Crisis Pregnancy Centers.
Section 3. ? 182-1 - Legislative Purpose and Intent.
New York has traditionally protected access to reproductive services, including abortion care. In 2022, the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending legal abortion in states throughout the country. However, over the years, anti-abortion facilities often affiliated with religious groups have appeared throughout New York. These facilities are often referred to as crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs).
In New York, crisis pregnancy centers outnumber abortion clinics - there are 120 of these crisis pregnancy centers compared with 74 abortion clinics, with 8 crisis pregnancy centers located in Albany County. None of these crisis pregnancy centers are licensed medical facilities, and their staff are not licensed medical professionals. These facilities attempt to convey the impression that they are medical clinics - often dressing staff in scrubs and lab coats and setting the centers up with "exam rooms" with medical equipment, where staff perform ultrasounds - yet the facilities and their staff are exempt from the regulatory, licensure, credentialing and ethical oversight that applies to health care facilities and professionals, and are also not subject to rules related to informed cons...
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