New York Must End Mandatory Abortion Surveillance
New York has long been a leader in abortion rights. From the first in the nation law, legalizing abortion care in 1970 to Governor Kathy Hochul’s recent refusal to cooperate in the first criminal case brought against a provider prescribing medication abortion by invoking our state’s novel shield laws, New York has been a leader on reproductive rights. However, the state’s archaic and invasive abortion reporting laws now threaten the privacy of the tens of thousands of people who seek abortion care in New York State each year, as well as the privacy of the health care professionals who provide this essential care.
New York law requires that health care practitioners individually report each abortion they provide on forms that include detailed patient and provider information. Anyone who was able to access this information would easily be able to identify both those who receive and provide this care. As a result, our state is amassing an abortion database that, if in the wrong hands, could be extremely dangerous to the reproductive freedom of all New Yorkers.
In the few short weeks they have been in office, the Trump Administration has been quick to show its hostility toward reproductive health care. From signing an Executive Order that reinterprets the Hyde Amendment to the Department of Justice’s new policy that it will not enforce clinic access laws and the pardoning of anti-abortion protesters that have violently attacked reproductive health care clinics and their staff, the Trump Administration has only just begun its attack on our reproductive freedom.
We know that the Administration will continue to implement policies that will limit access to and chill the provision of care, including going after those who receive and provide abortion. Project 2025 has repeatedly called for the Trump Administration to collect abortion information from states. This surveillance would not be unprecedented—in the last Trump Administration, the Centers for Disease Control tried to leverage data use agreements with states to get at broad swaths of personal health information held by state governments and we know they will do this again. These efforts are part of a calculated effort to undermine our personal privacy and reproductive freedoms.
Other states have taken notice and are acting to protect the confidentiality of patients and providers alike. Michigan recently passed legislation that ended the state’s abortion reporting requirements and Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs announced her intention late last year to end her state’s reporting of these services. Just last week, the Guttmacher Institute issued a recommendation that states end mandatory abortion reporting. New York must join these efforts.
Legislation introduced by Assemblymember Amy Paulin and Senator Michelle Hinchey would ensure patient and provider confidentiality by ending abortion reporting. New York lawmakers must ensure that the enacted budget includes this bill to protect our reproductive freedoms and ensure continued access to essential health care.
Michelle Casey, President + CEO, Planned Parenthood of Central & Western New York
Crystal Collette, President + CEO, Planned Parenthood of the North Country New York
Chelly Hegan, President + CEO, Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood
Vincent Russell, President + CEO, Planned Parenthood of Hudson Peconic
Wendy Stark, President + CEO, Planned Parenthood of Greater New York
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