Comptroller Stringer, NIRH Action Fund, and Coalition of Advocates Call for New York City to be First City in the Nation to Directly Fund Abortion Care

(New York, NY) — Today, New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer, the National Institute of Reproductive Health (NIRH) Action Fund, and a coalition of advocates called for New York City to be the first city in the nation to directly fund abortion care. In the midst of the latest wave of abortion bans across the country, Comptroller Stringer and advocates urged the City to reaffirm its commitment to abortion access and include at least $250,000 in the FY2020 Budget for the New York Abortion Access Fund. This investment matches the organization’s operating budget and will help over 500 people annually in covering the cost of abortion care.

“Our city budget is a reflection of who we are as a city, what our priorities are for the future, and the values we hold most dear. As the Federal government and states across the country turn back the clock on reproductive rights, New York City must lead the way forward and provide a first-in-the-nation investment to ensure access to safe, compassionate abortion care,” said New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer. “While other parts of the country are turning our health care back centuries, New York City has the opportunity to send a clear message in this year’s budget: we believe abortion should be safe, legal and accessible – and we will put our money where our mouth is.”

“The numerous abortion bans coming out of hostile state legislatures are intended to push abortion care out of reach for millions, and often punish those seeking or providing abortions. While some anti-abortion lawmakers are feeling emboldened to take their hostility to new levels, the New York City Council has the opportunity to say loud and clear: ‘New York City is here for you’,” said Andrea Miller, President of the NIRH Action Fund. “With our coalition partners in the #FundAbortionNYC campaign, we are proud to call on the New York City Council and Speaker Johnson to move this critical funding initiative forward, affirming New York City’s commitment to reproductive freedom.”

The Comptroller’s call follows a series of severe limitations on abortion access by state legislatures and other regressive restrictions on reproductive health care by the Trump administration. These limitations and restrictions, including the Trump administration’s rewrite of Title X regulations to ban federally-funded health care providers from discussing or referring patients for abortion, disproportionately harm lower-income, uninsured patients with limited options for accessing care without assistance. In July 2018, Comptroller Stringer sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services outlining the harms of the then-proposed Title X “domestic gag rule” to New Yorkers. A 2017 report by the Comptroller’s Office found that about 148,000 New York City residents receive care supported by Title X funds each year. Across New York, 91 percent of clients served were women, 60 percent had incomes at or below poverty, and nearly one-third (32 percent) did not have health insurance.

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