Spitzer Pushes Abortion Law ROCHESTER, NY (WXXI) - Governor Spitzer has proposed a bill, the New York State Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection Act, which would remove references to abortion under the state's penal law, and enshrine the right to chose the procedure in health statute.

Advocates for the bill say that it will protect women's health. Marcia Pappas, president of the New York state chapter of the National Organization for Women, says the move by Spitzer is a defensive one, meant to keep abortion legal in New York state. A recent ruling by the Supreme Court allowed states to change their abortion laws, and Pappas says Spitzer wants to insure that abortion rights are protected in New York.

The bill would also strike language on the books that require that later term abortions be provided in hopsitals only, and language that positions abortion as a type of homocide in cases where a pregnancy is advanced beyond 24 weeks.
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