Pro-abortion lawmakers in New York are reportedly pushing legislation that would create a state fund to pay for abortion providers and cover costs for women seeking an abortion who are low-income, uninsured, or underinsured.
The New York Times reported Monday that this move comes after a leaked opinion from an abortion case under review by the Supreme Court was published by Politico last week. In the opinion, the Justices voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in all 50 states in 1973.
Democratic pro-abortion Attorney General Letitia James told reporters at a news conference Monday that New York is expecting a surge in abortion patients if the Supreme Court overturns Roe in their final decision.
“We’ve seen states where they seek to criminalize abortion, we have seen states where they seek to deputize and incentivize bounty hunters to report individuals who have had abortions,” James said at a news conference on Monday.
“New York,” she continued, “is a compassionate state, a state that cares about others, and a state that recognizes that if one individual is not free, then all of us are not free.”
The bill states that “abortion is essential health care and integral to the overall health and wellbeing of individuals.”
“In 1970, New York legalized abortion, three years prior to the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, which enumerated a constitutional right to abortion care,” the bill adds.
In December, Townhall covered how James said she wanted the state to establish an abortion fund for non-residents. The New York Post noted that the fund would cover the cost of the abortion, as well as travel and lodging expenses for out-of-state patients.
On the opposite coast, California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has said he wants to boosts the state's "abortion infrastructure" to accommodate more out-of-state patients, specifically from Texas, which enacted a six-week abortion ban last year.
In an interview with the Associated Press in December, Newsom added that the state would be a “sanctuary” for abortion.