State of the State Proposal Would End New York’s Ban on Surrogacy, Create Legal Certainty for Families Using Assisted Reproductive Technology.
NEW YORK — The Protecting Modern Families Coalition, a coalition of women’s, LGBTQ, infertility, faith and other organizations dedicated to easing the burden in New York for families who rely on assisted reproductive technology, lauds Governor Cuomo’s inclusion of the Child Parent Security Act in his 2020 Executive Budget proposal.
“On behalf of the Protecting Modern Families Coalition, I’m thrilled that Governor Cuomo is again prioritizing the Child-Parent Security Act,” said The Rev. Stan. J. Sloan, CEO, Family Equality. “Last year, Gov. Cuomo’s leadership helped us get closer than ever before to passing this important legislation which helps all New Yorkers who rely on medical advances to build a family. We are ready to roll up our sleeves and work with him again in 2020 to get this bill to his desk and help improve the lives of so many families.”
The measure, which was approved by the state Senate in 2019, would:
- Lift the State’s harmful ban on gestational surrogacy. Under current law, paid surrogacy is punishable by a fine, and unpaid surrogacy agreements are unenforceable and not legally binding.
- Create the Surrogates’ Bill of Rights, which will guarantee the strongest protections in the nation for surrogates, ensuring the unfettered right of surrogates to make their own health care decisions, including whether to terminate or continue a pregnancy, and that surrogates have access to comprehensive health insurance and independent legal counsel of their choosing, all paid for by the intended parents.
- Create legal protections for parents of children conceived by reproductive technologies such as artificial insemination and egg donation.
- Establish criteria for surrogacy contracts to protect all parties in the process.
- Eliminate the burdensome requirement for lesbian couples to undergo a second-parent adoption for the nonbiological mother to ensure her parenthood rights are protected in every scenario.
“Governor Cuomo has been a clear and consistent champion for women and families struggling with infertility,” said Risa Levine of RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association. “The Child-Parent Security Act will end New York’s ban on surrogacy and replace it with a measure that has the strongest protections for women acting as surrogates of any measure in the country. We applaud Governor Cuomo for standing with all New York families and look forward to partnering with him to get this critical legislation over the finish line in 2020.”
Groups supporting the legislation include the Women’s Bar Association of New York, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the National Council of Jewish Women – New York, Chick Mission (which works to ensure female cancer patients have a fertility future), the New York City Bar Association, and the New York State Bar Association.
About Family Equality
Family Equality advances legal and lived equality for LGBTQ+ families, and for those who wish to form them, through building community, changing hearts and minds, and driving policy change. Family Equality believes every LGBTQ+ person should have the right and opportunity to form and sustain a loving family, regardless of who they are or where they live. Learn more at familyequality.org.
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Media Contact
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