ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo looked more like Gov. No-Go as he watched major agenda items derailed in the final hours of the legislative session last night — chief among them a provision to strengthen New York’s abortion law.
The abortion bill was part of the Democratic governor’s 10-point “Women’s Equality Act,” which called for things like pay equity, an end to discrimination of domestic violence victims, and “zero-tolerance” sexual harassment policies.
The abortion proposal would have brought a 1970 state law up to speed with federal law to guarantee abortion rights should the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision be overturned.
The Assembly passed all 10 points, but the GOP co-president of the Senate, Dean Skelos, refused to let the abortion bill have a floor vote. An amendment by the Senate’s Democratic co-president, Jeff Klein, to get a vote on the abortion law failed by just one vote.
“New York has historically been a leader in the fight to protect a woman’s right to choose. In light of what happened on Tuesday in Washington DC, it is clear that we can no longer take those rights for granted,” Klein said, citing an anti-abortion bill passed by the GOP-led US House.
Cuomo also failed to win passage of other key items such as decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana and campaign finance reform.
He said he will sign a bill exempting retired cops from a ban on high-capacity ammo clips.