Albany, N.Y. - Lawmakers in the State Senate are voting on a bill to expand abortion in New York.
Democratic Party lawmakers say that the bill decriminalizes abortions and codifies Roe v Wade as a State Law, should it ever be struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court. It would also require insurers to cover contraceptives.
Critics of the Reproductive Health Act say the bill removes previously existing health and safety regulations for late-term abortions. Others say the bills passage will make those dangerous procedures available on-demand.
The bill had been blocked for years by Republicans in the State Senate. Democrats now control the Senate. Democrats in the assembly have already passed the bill.
Governor Cuomo, in his State of the State message to lawmakers, called for the law to be passed as a State Constitutional Amendment. To do that, two separately elected sessions of the Legislature would need to pass the amendment before being put in front of voters in a referendum.