[JURIST] New York Governor Eliot Spitzer said Wednesday the he plans to submit legislation [press release] that would "establish a fundamental, statutory right to privacy for women in making personal reproductive decisions." Spitzer's proposed Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection Act would revise the state's abortion laws to allow late-term abortions when necessary to protect a woman's health and would "ensure the right of all New Yorkers to use or refuse contraceptives."

The US Supreme Court last week upheld [text; JURIST report] a federal law banning so-called "partial-birth" abortion even though the law did not create an exception for the health of the mother. Spitzer said Wednesday:

Basic respect for legal precedent, a sound understanding of scientifically-grounded medicine, and the unequivocal belief that private medical decisions should be left to the women facing them, dictate that we must reaffirm our commitment to a woman's right to choose. In the wake of the recent United States Supreme Court ruling, this legislation is a necessary measure to ensure that a woman's fundamental right to privacy in New York is protected at all costs, and not beholden to either archaic state statutes or an overreaching federal government.