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Court Upholds New York Abortion Restriction Law

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From Associated Press

A state law that excludes abortions from health care services for thousands of poor working women was upheld Thursday by New York’s highest court.

The Court of Appeals said critics of the state’s Prenatal Care Assistance Program failed to prove that it unconstitutionally forced some women to have babies that they don’t want.

The court’s 6-0 decision, written by Chief Judge Judith Kaye, overturned two lower court rulings.

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“The timing is wonderful,” said Kathleen Gallagher, spokeswoman for the New York State Catholic Conference. “It’s a marvelous Mother’s Day present for hundreds of poor and near-poor pregnant women and their unborn children.”

Women’s rights groups had considered the case New York’s most important court case over abortion in two decades. They pronounced the decision a disappointing setback that will intensify battles in the Legislature.

“Many needy women will now be foreclosed from obtaining services that they need,” said Donna Lieberman, director of the reproductive rights section of the New York Civil Liberties Union.

The federally funded prenatal care program, or PCAP, was established in New York in 1990 and helps pay for prenatal care for poor women who are just above the Medicaid eligibility threshold. About 15,000 women use the program.

Even though New York is one of 12 states that pays for abortions through Medicaid, the Legislature and Gov. Mario M. Cuomo agreed to exclude abortions from the list of services paid for by PCAP.

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