Bill Text: NY A00211 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended


Bill Title: Relates to women's health in correctional facilities; establishes a women's health education program; requires HIV and STD testing to be offered to incarcerated individuals; provides pregnant incarcerated individuals with access to prenatal vitamins as well as a specialized diet tailored to pregnancy needs; requires a study and report on women's health in prison.

Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 34-2)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-03-15 - print number 211a [A00211 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-A00211-Amended.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         211--A

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                       (Prefiled)

                                     January 6, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  L. ROSENTHAL, LUPARDO, GALEF, NIOU, DICKENS,
          JEAN-PIERRE, SIMON, SEAWRIGHT, COOK, HYNDMAN, WALKER,  AUBRY,  LAVINE,
          CAHILL,  COLTON, J. RIVERA, WEPRIN, STIRPE, TAYLOR, JACOBSON, EPSTEIN,
          ASHBY, JACKSON, BURDICK, KELLES, BICHOTTE HERMELYN,  McDONALD,  GONZA-
          LEZ-ROJAS,  FAHY,  JENSEN, LUNSFORD, REYES -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M.
          of A. FERNANDEZ  --  read  once  and  referred  to  the  Committee  on
          Correction -- recommitted to the Committee on Correction in accordance
          with  Assembly  Rule  3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill amended,
          ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

        AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to  establishing  the
          women's  health  education  program  for  correctional  facilities and
          rights of pregnant  incarcerated  individuals;  to  amend  the  public
          health law, in relation to requiring certain testing to be offered; to
          amend  the correction law, in relation to providing pregnant incarcer-
          ated individuals with access to prenatal vitamins  and  a  specialized
          diet;  and  to  require  the  department  of health to collect data on
          women's health care in prisons and publish a report

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  The  public health law is amended by adding a new section
     2  207-b to read as follows:
     3    § 207-b. Women's health education program in state and  local  correc-
     4  tional  facilities.  The  commissioner, in consultation with the commis-
     5  sioner of corrections and community supervision and  the  chair  of  the
     6  state  commission of correction, shall establish a women's health educa-
     7  tion program in state and local correctional  facilities.  Such  program
     8  shall  educate  facility  medical  staff on the special medical needs of
     9  women, including training  on  providing  professional,  respectful  and
    10  informed  care  of  women  who have been victims of domestic violence or
    11  sexual violence.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD00398-03-2

        A. 211--A                           2

     1    § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 2308-a of  the  public  health  law,  as
     2  amended  by  section  38 of part E of chapter 56 of the laws of 2013, is
     3  amended to read as follows:
     4    1. The administrative officer or other person in charge of a clinic or
     5  other  facility providing gynecological, obstetrical, genito-urological,
     6  contraceptive, sterilization or termination  of  pregnancy  services  or
     7  treatment shall require the staff of such clinic or facility to offer to
     8  administer  to  every  resident  of the state of New York coming to such
     9  clinic or facility for such services or treatment, appropriate  examina-
    10  tions  or  tests for the detection of sexually transmitted diseases. For
    11  the purposes of this subdivision, the term "facility"  shall  include  a
    12  correctional  facility  as defined in subdivision four of section two of
    13  the correction law.
    14    § 3. Subdivision 2 of section 140 of the correction law, as  added  by
    15  chapter 516 of the laws of 1995, is amended to read as follows:
    16    2.  Subject  to  the  regulations of the department of health, routine
    17  medical, dental and mental health services and treatment is defined  for
    18  the purposes of this section to mean any routine diagnosis or treatment,
    19  including without limitation the provision of gynecological services for
    20  female  incarcerated  individuals,  the administration of medications or
    21  nutrition, the extraction of bodily fluids for analysis, and dental care
    22  performed with a local anesthetic. Routine mental health treatment shall
    23  not include psychiatric administration of medication unless it  is  part
    24  of an ongoing mental health plan or unless it is otherwise authorized by
    25  law.
    26    §  4.  Subdivision 2 of section 505 of the correction law, as added by
    27  chapter 437 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows:
    28    2. Subject to the regulations of the  department  of  health,  routine
    29  medical,  dental and mental health services and treatment is defined for
    30  the purposes of this section to mean any routine diagnosis or treatment,
    31  including without limitation the provision of gynecological services for
    32  female incarcerated individuals, the administration  of  medications  or
    33  nutrition, the extraction of bodily fluids for analysis, and dental care
    34  performed with a local anesthetic. Routine mental health treatment shall
    35  not  include  psychiatric administration of medication unless it is part
    36  of an ongoing mental health plan or unless it is otherwise authorized by
    37  law.
    38    § 5. The correction law is amended by adding a new  section  140-a  to
    39  read as follows:
    40    § 140-a. Prenatal care.  If a pregnant woman is confined to a state or
    41  local correctional facility, she shall be given prenatal care comparable
    42  to  such  care  available  to  women  in  the community. Such care shall
    43  include regular check-ups throughout the course  of  her  pregnancy  and
    44  education  on  healthy lifestyle choices of benefit to the woman and her
    45  child. Pregnant women confined to such facilities shall  also  be  given
    46  prenatal  vitamins  and  a  specialized  diet  tailored to provide their
    47  nutritional needs during pregnancy.
    48    § 6. The commissioner of corrections  and  community  supervision,  in
    49  conjunction  with the commissioner of health shall promulgate such rules
    50  and regulations as may be necessary  to  effectuate  the  provisions  of
    51  section five of this act.
    52    §  7.  1. The department of health, in cooperation with the department
    53  of corrections and community  supervision,  shall  conduct  a  study  of
    54  women's health care in prisons. Such study shall:
    55    a. collect all available data relating to women's health care in pris-
    56  ons;

        A. 211--A                           3

     1    b.  determine  how  often women in prisons are being seen by a medical
     2  professional;
     3    c.  determine  how  long it takes for women in prisons to be seen by a
     4  medical professional;
     5    d. identify what issues women in prisons are  most  often  being  seen
     6  for;
     7    e.  determine the outcomes of women in prisons being seen by a medical
     8  professional; and
     9    f. investigate anything deemed relevant by the commissioner of  health
    10  or  the  commissioner  of  corrections and community supervision for the
    11  purposes of this study.
    12    2. Upon completion of the study required by subdivision  one  of  this
    13  section,  the  commissioner  of  health,  or  his or her designee, shall
    14  prepare a report to be given to the governor and the  legislature  which
    15  shall  include  the  findings  of such study. Such report shall be filed
    16  within one year of the effective date of this act,  unless  the  commis-
    17  sioner of health requests in writing, an extension of time.
    18    3.  All  other  departments  or  agencies of the state or subdivisions
    19  thereof, and local governments shall, at the request of the commissioner
    20  of health or the commissioner of corrections and community  supervision,
    21  provide  expertise,  assistance,  and data that will enable such commis-
    22  sioner to carry out his or her powers and duties.
    23    § 8. This act shall take effect immediately; provided,  however,  that
    24  section  five of this act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth
    25  day after it shall have become a law.  Effective immediately, the  addi-
    26  tion,  amendment  and/or  repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for
    27  the implementation of this act on its effective date are  authorized  to
    28  be made and completed on or before such effective date.
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