FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 19, 2016

Speaker Heastie Statement on the State's Newest Laws to Protect Women and Families


For many years, the Assembly Majority has fought to achieve the strongest most comprehensive protections and solutions in support of women and families across the state. I am proud of the great strides we have made with the enactment of a number of measures that were signed into law and take effect today, among them, pay equity, protections against sexual harassment and protections for domestic violence survivors. Several longstanding Assembly priorities such as ending human trafficking, ending gender-based workplace and housing discrimination, as well as stronger workplace accommodations for expectant mothers, have at last become law in New York State.

More work needs to be done, and in the coming weeks we will continue taking steps to deliver on our promise to defend every woman's right to control her own reproductive choices. The Assembly has fought long and hard for these vital protections because we believe that decisions that are as personal as reproductive health belong to the individual and the individual alone. Safeguarding a woman's right to make personal, private reproductive health care decisions is fundamental and we will never stop the fight to ensure this becomes law.