ALBANY — Looking for cover from women’s groups, the Democratic co-leader of the state Senate has agreed to introduce a controversial abortion bill that Gov. Cuomo was pushing but it remains doubtful the measure will get a full vote.
The agreement breaks Cuomo’s “Women’s Equality Act” in to 10 separate bills. The most controversial bill would guarantee current abortion rights afforded under federal law should the landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision be overturned.
By breaking the provision out, Cuomo hopes to force lawmakers to go on record and cast a vote professing whether they are pro-choice or against abortion rights. GOP Senate co-leader Dean Skelos opposes it and has said he won’t let it get to the floor.
“It’s just a pressure move,” one source told The Post. “The choice language will still be blocked by the Senate.”
A spokeswoman for Skelos said that nothing had changed and everything but the abortion provision will get a vote.
Democratic Senate Co-Leader Jeff Klein, who is pro-choice, was up until now unwilling to even introduce the measure because he said the governor didn’t have the votes to get it passed. Women’s groups have hammered him in recent days and staged a sit-in protest in front of his office.
The groups have said the power-sharing agreement Klein has with Republicans was useless because he couldn’t get important Democratic legislation to the floor.
While the abortion vote isn’t expected to have a practical effect on the current lives of New York women, it will be a litmus test for lawmakers come election time. Cuomo has been clear that the measure was intended to force lawmakers to go on record profess whether they are pro-choice or against abortion rights.
The other nine points to the governor’s Women’s Equality Act – including provisions to reduce human trafficking, crack down on sexual harassment, and guarantee equal pay for women among others – will be voted on separately. Women’s groups and the governor had previously threatened an all-or-nothing deal on the legislation.