December 13, 2023
Albany, NY

Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Delivers Remarks on Supreme Court’s Decision to Rule on Abortion Pill Access

Governor Hochul: “And as the Governor of New York, as a female Governor of New York, this is something that women of this state need to know that I'll keep fighting for their rights and letting the rest of the nation know that this is a harbor, a safe harbor for all of you to come to should these rights be jeopardized and stripped away by the MAGA Supreme Court.”

Hochul: “Over half of abortions in America are by medication assisted treatment that allows people to do this in the privacy of their home and not have to have a major surgical procedure. And this is not just going to affect MAGA states like Texas and Mississippi where abortion is already restricted, but actually a state like New York. And here's why, if they determined that the FDA was inappropriate in allowing this to be used for abortion, they could ban this across the entire nation.”

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul delivered remarks on the Supreme Court’s decision to rule on abortion pill access.

VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.

AUDIO of the Governor's remarks is available here.

PHOTOS of the event will be available on the Governor's Flickr page.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

I want to acknowledge that we just, in the last 90 minutes or so, received some very disturbing news from the Supreme Court of the United States. Remember, these are the same nine justices who, a year and a half ago, overturned Roe v. Wade, setting back American women 50 years in terms of their progress toward freedom, reproductive freedom.

So, they've decided that they are going to take up the case that could ban medication abortions nationwide in a very short time. And again, over half of abortions in America are by medication assisted treatment that allows people to do this in the privacy of their home and not have to have a major surgical procedure.

And this is not just going to affect MAGA states like Texas and Mississippi where abortion is already restricted, but actually a state like New York. And here's why, if they determined that the FDA was inappropriate in allowing this to be used for abortion, they could ban this across the entire nation.

Now, we'd had an idea that this could happen, so that's why we immediately took action. When we first learned that they were going to be attempting to restrict this, immediately, we secured a five-year supply of this medication – 150,000 doses. So, if there is a banning of this, that New York would have a stockpile at least to have this available for the next five years for the women of New York.

And also, when the Dobbs decision was leaked – remember that memo that came out that we found out even before the decision came out in June of 2022 that we would take immediate action, allocating $35 million to go to abortion providers, anticipating an increase in volume when you look at the fact that women must be going somewhere or else they're being forced to have these government mandated pregnancies.

Even a state like Texas, at one time had 50,000 abortions or about 38 in the last year. So, it's extraordinary. So, we wanted to establish New York as a safe harbor, making sure that we had protections, a shield law to protect any provider that would dispense medication in order to help an out of state individual receive an abortion.

We also had an extraordinary session to ensure that these rights would be protected, not just in our state law, but also enshrined in our constitution, and that'll be on the ballot next November. So, bottom line is women are scared across America. They saw what happened in Texas. They're now at risk of losing this simpler way that relieves a lot of the stress from an abortion by having the medication assisted and that's in danger right now.

And as the Governor of New York, as a female Governor of New York, this is something that women of this state need to know, that I'll keep fighting for their rights and letting the rest of the nation know that this is a harbor, a safe harbor for all of you to come to should these rights be jeopardized and stripped away by the MAGA Supreme Court.

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