Health care providers ask New York to strengthen shield laws
Over the next few days, the New York State Legislature has an opportunity to protect both patients and medical providers who provide lifesaving, medically necessary care by passing bills to extend the reach and enforceability of New York’s shield laws (A.5480-C (Bronson)/S.4914-B (Hoylman-Sigal)) and to ensure prescriber confidentiality to help execute these shield laws (A.6927 (Simone)/S.6422 (Hoylman-Sigal)).
In particular, these provisions will help ensure that our providers can continue to provide appropriate care to our transgender and gender-diverse patients.
You can help push the legislature to pass these bills by calling your representatives – feel free to use this script below or personalize it!
Assembly (find your Assembly Member here)
“Hi, I’m___________ and I am a constituent in Assembly Member [legislator]’s district. I am calling today to ask [legislator] to bring bills A.5480-C and A.6927 to a vote to protect gender-affirming care in New York. These essential bills will ensure that patients can access medically-necessary care and providers can feel secure in providing that care.”
Senate (find your Senator here)
“Hi, I’m___________ and I am a constituent in Senator [legislator]’s district. I am calling today to ask [legislator] to bring bill S.6422 to a vote to protect gender-affirming care in New York. This essential bill will ensure that patients can access medically-necessary care and providers can feel secure in providing that care.”
Additionally, a letter this week from 300 healthcare providers to NYS Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and NYS Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie reads in part:
“New York took an important step in 2023 by enacting shield laws to protect gender-affirming healthcare providers, patients, and their families, building on earlier efforts to safeguard reproductive health access in the wake of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court decision. Yet, critical gaps remain, and they are already being exploited to investigate and intimidate providers. We must act now to fortify our defenses by passing A.5480-C /S.4914-B, which will:
· Extend shield protections to all professionals involved in gender-affirming care
· Prohibit compliance with out-of-state subpoenas or investigations related to such care
· Empower the Attorney General to defend New York providers against out-of-state legal threats
· And ensure parents or guardians supporting a young person’s gender-affirming care are not targeted by other states.
“Complementing this, A.6927/S.6422 will protect the privacy of patients and the safety of providers by allowing prescription labels for gender-affirming medications to list the name or address of the dispensing healthcare practice, rather than the individual provider—aligning with the spirit of the enhanced Shield Law.
“Together, these proposed measures are not just policy – they are a lifeline for the more than 315,000 transgender and gender-diverse New Yorkers and the countless others who receive gender-affirming care in our state. By advancing these protections, the Legislature will send a powerful message: New York stands with its healthcare providers and with its transgender and gender-diverse communities in the face of exponentially growing hostility nationwide.”