Reproductive rights

Do not rely on online searches. Instead, try sites operated by legitimate reproductive-rights organizations. Our task force has reviewed these organizations and feel they represent some of the safest resources for finding abortion help.

You can also ask a trusted physician, or even a trusted friend, for a referral.

As you look for a provider, beware of crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs). CPCs have websites that look like health-care providers, but they usually do not provide any medical services and never provide abortions. CPCs are often located close to genuine abortion clinics and might even show up on web searches for abortion clinics.

The National Network of Abortion Funds has a useful clinic-finding guide that includes tips on how to tell if a clinic is reputable and provides real abortion services.

Crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs; sometimes called pregnancy resource centers) are places that try to prevent pregnant people from having abortions – and sometimes even from using contraception. These organizations typically:

• run ads asking if you’re “pregnant, scared, and need help”
• make abortion sound very dangerous
• will not say if they will or will not perform abortions, even if they use the word “choice” in their advertising

Most CPCs are not health care providers. Even if they have medical staff, they do not provide abortion counseling or referrals, and have very limited services. Many are affiliated with religious organizations that oppose abortion, contraception, and education about reproductive health.

If you accidentally go to a CPC instead of a real abortion clinic, the CPC staff will try to talk you out of having an abortion.

Before doing anything at a facility, ask whether it provides abortion services. If they don’t directly answer your question, give you a vague answer, or change the subject, you are probably dealing with a CPC.

Be sure you are at a real health care facility that offers abortion services or referrals before you share any personal information. CPCs are not subject to the same privacy laws as health care facilities.

The Repro Legal Helpline can help you understand your legal rights in your state and find out if you can receive an abortion without notifying your parents or getting their consent. If you live in a state that requires your parents to be involved, this helpline can help you try to get an abortion without telling your parents by getting a judge’s permission (judicial bypass). The free, confidential helpline is answered by lawyers and advocates.

In New York, you have the right to have an abortion without telling your spouse or parents or seeking their permission. If you have questions about having an abortion in New York, call our hotline at 212-899-5567.

Using pills to end an early pregnancy is called a medication abortion. Plan C Pills offers a lot of medical and legal information on medication abortion, and a pill-finder tool for your location. Be aware that it may not be legal to use them in your state.

Medication abortion remains legal and available in New York.

It has remained available in spite of the lawsuit. This is because lower courts ruled to cancel FDA’s approval of the abortion drugs, but their rulings never took effect. 

The U.S. Supreme Court has now ruled that the lawsuit was invalid from the beginning. For now, people’s access to medication abortion in New York is no longer threatened.

Here is a summary of what has recently happened with medication abortion in the U.S.:

• Mifepristone is one of two FDA-approved drugs commonly used together in medication abortion (the other is misoprostol). 
• In November 2022, a group of anti-abortion individuals and health care providers sued FDA. They demanded that the court force the agency to cancel its approval of mifepristone.
• In April 2023, a federal judge in Texas ordered FDA to overturn its approval of mifepristone. If the FDA had done this, the drug would have become unavailable nationwide. 
• When the federal government appealed the Texas judge’s decision, the intermediate court reversed the decision and upheld FDA’s initial approval of mifepristone. However, the court ordered FDA to bring back some medically restrictions on dispensing the medication that it had determined were medically unnecessary. The FDA had lifted some of these restrictions in 2016, and later lifted others in 2021.
• Neither the Texas judge’s decision nor the intermediate court ruling ever went into effect. That was because the federal government appealed the case. The U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay of the rulings while it considered the appeal. 
• In June 2024, the Supreme Court reversed both lower court decisions. The court found that the plaintiffs did not have the right to challenge FDA’s actions in federal court in the first place. 
• As a result, medication abortion remains available in New York under the current conditions set by FDA. 

Even if the availability of mifepristone changes in the future, health care providers may still be able to perform medication abortion. Misoprostol, the second drug used for medication abortion, can be used alone. In addition, other abortion methods, including surgical abortion, remain available and legally protected in New York.

If you seek abortion care, speak with your health care provider about your options.

We will update this FAQ regularly, as the legal landscape is changing quickly. 

You may be able to get help. The National Network of Abortion Funds lists funds across the country that provide financial help for abortion and related needs, like traveling to another state, or paying for housing while you are there. The site also has information about finding out if your insurance will pay for an abortion and guidance on finding a clinic.

If you are in New York to have a legal abortion, our protections include:

• We will not return you to another state that wants to arrest you for a legal abortion you had in New York (unless the state claims that you illegally had the abortion outside New York).
• New York police cannot arrest you or anyone in New York helping you, help another state arrest you, or provide another state with information about your abortion (unless they have a court-issued subpoena or warrant that is not connected to the other state’s attempt to penalize reproductive health care that is lawful in New York ).
• No one in New York can threaten, hurt, intimidate, or interfere with you because you wish to have an abortion or use any other reproductive-health service.
• You can countersue an out-of-state agency or individual who prosecutes you for having a legal abortion in New York.

This is as long as law enforcement in New York can tell that these other states’ requests concern legal abortion care, which New York law enforcement may not be able to do. Note that New York law can protect only what you do in New York. For example, if you go to a clinic in New York and take your first abortion pill there, but then return to your home state and take the second pill, New York law cannot protect your out-of-state actions.

You may have to hire a lawyer. If you would like advice for your specific situation, call our hotline at 212-899-5567.

We provide “know-your-rights” information, legal guidance, and referrals to:

• New York residents
• patients seeking abortions in New York
• people and organizations helping patients by providing money, transport, or lodging
• New York health care providers

You can leave special instructions in your message. For instance, you can ask us to call only during certain hours or to not leave a message.

We can provide translation into 12 languages:

• Arabic
• Bengali
• Chinese
• French
• Haitian Creole
• Italian
• Korean
• Polish
• Russian
• Spanish
• Urdu
• Yiddish

You will speak with an attorney from one of the task force’s partner organizations:

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Center for Reproductive Rights

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP

Debevoise & Plimpton

Fenwick & West LLP

Foley Hoag LLP

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP

If/When/How

Lowenstein Sandler LLP

Milbank LLP

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP

Morrison & Foerster LLP

National Institute of Reproductive Health

New York Civil Liberties Union

O'Melveny & Myers

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

Pregnancy Justice

Proskauer Rose LLP

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP

Shearman & Sterling LLP

Ropes & Gray LLP

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP

Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz

Weil, Gotshal, & Manges LLP

Winston & Strawn LLP

Abortion finder Information on abortion providers and abortion procedures

I need an abortion Information on abortion providers

Legal helpline (If/When/How) Legal advice, information, and referrals for people under 18 in any state who do not want to involve a parent or get a judge’s order for an abortion (note that in New York minors do not have to involve a parent or obtain a judge’s order)

National Network of Abortion Funds Information on accessing financial help, finding a clinic, or getting abortion pills. Note that you may have to make an appointment before applying for financial support.

Attorney General’s recent one-page advisory on how New York protects abortion rights

Reproductive Health Act details about the legislation.

These resources include information about abortion restrictions in each state. Remember that laws change quickly. Check the website and document dates to be sure you are reading current information.

Abortion access tracker (Planned Parenthood)

After Roe fell (Center for Reproductive Rights)

Law tracker (New York Times; requires account)

While abortion is legal in New York, patients, providers, and supporters may face legal situations in other states for abortion, miscarriages, or stillbirths.

Help page (Pregnancy Justice) Provides legal advice, assistance, and referrals for people facing state action related to pregnancy and abortion, stillbirth, miscarriage, or birth, including:

• investigation or charges for pregnancy and drug use, abortion, or pregnancy loss
• forced medical intervention during birth
• “child welfare” case after birth

Help for self-managed abortion (If/When/How) Offers confidential legal advice, information, and referrals for people considering self-managed abortion (ending a pregnancy without a medical provider, including with abortion pills) or facing legal consequences for self-managed abortion in any U.S. state

Repro Legal Defense Fund Covers bail and funds legal costs for people who are investigated, arrested, or prosecuted for self-managed abortion in any U.S. state

Referrals and resources (NAPW) Provides referrals and resources for pregnant people’s concerns about employment, child welfare, drug and substance use, health care, access to services in jails and prisons, homelessness, and other issues

Confronting Pregnancy Criminalization: A Practical Guide for Healthcare Providers, Lawyers, Medical Examiners, Child Welfare Workers, and Policymakers (Pregnancy Justice) Provides practical guidance for health care providers, lawyers, medical examiners, child welfare workers, and policymakers

Reproductive Health Access Project | Self-Managed Abortion - Reproductive Health Access Project (reproductiveaccess.org)  

U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights publication, “Discrimination Based on Pregnancy and Related Conditions: A Resource for Students and Schools" This guidance applies to federally funded educational institutions, including nearly all public and private universities and public K-12 schools, with certain exceptions. Also see information from the federal government on what types of education institutions are exempt from Title IX.

Birth rights guide (Pregnancy Justice)

Choices in Childbirth

New York City Standards for Respectful Care at Birth

Employer guide (Protect Reproductive Health)

Birth control remains legal in all U.S. states. Birth control comes in many forms and includes condoms, prescription pills, vasectomies, intrauterine devices (IUDs), and emergency contraception (“morning-after" pills or “Plan B”).

No. In New York, pharmacists who have registered with the state Department of Health (DOH) can dispense hormonal contraception without a prescription from a health care provider. This includes oral contraceptives (pills), vaginal rings, and patches that release estrogen and progestin to help prevent unwanted pregnancy. 

Yes, fully funded health insurance plans must cover contraceptives (birth control).

Fully funded plans in New York must: 

• provide guaranteed coverage of all FDA-approved methods of contraception without deductible, coinsurance, copayment, or other cost-sharing requirements, and without any restrictions or delays in coverage, such as pre-authorization.  
  • Covered contraceptive methods include all of the following:
    • barrier methods like sponges or diaphragms
    • hormonal methods like birth control pills, injections, transdermal patches, or vaginal rings
    • implanted devices like intrauterine devices (IUDs)
    • sterilization, but not including vasectomies
    • over-the-counter items such as condoms (but your insurer may require you to get a prescription before it will cover them, even though you don’t need a prescription to buy them otherwise)
    • any other FDA-approved birth control method 
  • New York must cover all FDA-approved contraceptive methods. If there is more than one birth control product that uses the same drug or drugs in the same dose and is used the same way, health plans must cover at least one product in that category.
• ensure access to emergency contraception (either with a prescription or over the counter)
• cover a 12-month supply of birth control through a single prescription

If you have a self-funded plan through your employer, federal law provides similar rights to contraception coverage. More information on federal coverage requirements is available.

Only certain religious employers (such as churches) can opt out of offering insurance coverage through group health insurance plans. To do this, they must get approval from the state. However, they must provide written notice to employees listing the services they refuse to cover. If they refuse to cover abortion or contraception, the health insurance company must offer you coverage directly at no additional cost. 

If you have a self-funded plan provided by your employer, federal law provides different but similar rights to contraception coverage. More information about self-funded plans is available.

Only certain religious employers (such as churches) can opt out of offering insurance coverage through group health insurance plans. To do this, they must get approval from the state. However, they must provide written notice to employees listing the services they refuse to cover. If they refuse to cover abortion or contraception, the health insurance company must offer you coverage directly at no additional cost. 

If you have a self-funded plan provided by your employer, federal law provides different but similar rights to contraception coverage. More information about self-funded plans is available.

You can take steps to protect your privacy. The New York Attorney General has a list of tips for digital safety, which includes:

• turning off location services and ad personalization on your phone
• using a private web browser and virtual private network (VPN)
• encrypting your messages
• not posting any sensitive information on social media and making your social-media account private
• managing online privacy settings for your accounts

See the tips for detailed instructions.

Digital Defense Fund has a good guide to abortion privacy that includes everything from protecting your browsing information from tech companies to dealing with anti-abortion protestors who want to shame you. The Electronic Frontier Foundation offers a useful guide about keeping your data safe, which includes tips for phone safety, encryption, and file management. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services also has a good guide about protecting your health information on your phone.

In a fully funded (or fully insured) plan, an employer purchases insurance from a health insurance company and pays premiums to that company. These plans are generally subject to state laws. 

In a self-funded (or self-insured) plan, an employer provides and pays for its employees’ health benefits. The employer can hire insurance companies to administer the plan. These plans are generally governed by federal laws only. 

Contact your employer or insurance company to determine if your plan is fully-funded or self-funded.

The following protections apply at any doctor’s office, hospital, or medical clinic that provides information, referrals, counseling, or medical services about human reproduction, including family planning, abortion, and gender-affirming care:

• Patients and staff accessing or providing reproductive health care are protected from violence, threats of force, or physical obstruction.
• Peaceful protest is lawful free speech. This includes handouts, holding signs, and gathering on public sidewalks without blocking access.
• It is unlawful to intentionally damage or attempt to damage the property of a health care facility because it provides reproductive health services.
• Violations are subject to criminal penalties, as well as fines and fees (including attorney fees). Courts can also establish “buffer zones” to prevent violators from getting too close to facilities, including entrances/exits, parking lots, and driveways.

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, New York passed a series of laws aimed at protecting providers of abortion and gender-affirming care from legal action by another state, as long as the care was legally provided in New York. In connection with that care:

• New York will not arrest or extradite you, unless you were physically present in the demanding state at the time you provided the care and fled from that state.
• New York law enforcement cannot help an individual or out-of-state agency investigate any legally provided reproductive or gender-affirming health care except under certain conditions (which apply to reproductive health care only). Those conditions involve either of the following:
  • The person seeking the information is the patient themself; OR
  • There is a valid subpoena or warrant. This subpoena or warrant cannot be the result of another state’s attempt to penalize reproductive health care that is lawful in New York.
• You cannot be forced to testify as a witness for an out-of-state proceeding, unless the proceeding is brought by the patient and relates to actionable conduct under New York law.
• Your medical license cannot be revoked or suspended, or you cannot be otherwise professionally disciplined in New York.
• A medical-malpractice insurer cannot penalize you. It cannot refuse to renew your contract, raise your rates, change your coverage terms, or report you to other parties.
• If another state or person files a civil lawsuit against you, you can file a counter-lawsuit for triple damages and attorneys’ fees.
• New York defines “legally protected health activity performed in New York” to include telehealth where at least the provider is located in New York, no matter where the patient is. Note: this does not apply to gender-affirming care.
• New York cannot prevent another state from beginning a legal action, and can only provide the protections above if it can identify the out-of-state investigation as concerning legal abortion or gender–affirming care.

If you fear for your own or another’s safety because you provide or assist in abortion care, the New York Address Confidentiality Program can help prevent your address from being revealed in public documents. Apply at The New York State Address Confidentiality Program or call 1-855-350-4595

File a complaint with the OAG’s Civil Rights Bureau. Facilities are encouraged to have complaint forms available on site.
Phone: 212-416-8250
Email: clinicaccess@ag.ny.gov

For violations of the federal clinic protection act (FACE Act), you can file complaints with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in your district.

For information about the provider/helper protections, call the OAG’s Reproductive Health Hotline at 212-899-5567.

Address confidentiality: Executive Law §108(1)
Clinic access, protected entities: Federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, 18 U.S.C. § 248(a)(1); NY Clinic Access Act, N.Y. Penal Law § 240.70 et seq.
Countersuits: N.Y. Civ. Rights Law § 70-b
Extradition, Legally provided services: N.Y. Crim. Proc. Law §§ 570.17, 570.19
Insurers: N.Y. Ins. Law § 3436-a
Professional discipline: N.Y. Educ. Law §§ 6531-b, 6505-d; N.Y. Pub. Health Law §§ 230(9-c), (10)(i-a)
Cooperation of law enforcement: N.Y. Executive Law § 837-x
Witness testimony: N.Y. C.P.L.R. §§ 3102(e), 3119(g)-(h)