[JURIST] The New York Senate on Wednesday approved a bill which would provide for over-the-counter sales of emergency contraceptives. The current law requires a physician's visit, which State Sen. Nicholas Spano (R-Westchester) [official site], the bill's sponsor, said involves "frequent difficulties". Similar measures had passed New York's Assembly three years in a row, but this was the first time the Senate approved it, by a 34-27 party line vote. A spokesman for Governor George Pataki had no comment on whether the bill would be signed or vetoed, citing the need to review specifics first. AP has more. Morning-after pills have recently become politically and legally contentious, becoming a proxy for the more general abortion debate. Earlier this month Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle threatened to veto [JURIST report] a bill that would ban the emergency contraceptive pill from Wisconsin college campuses; in Washington, House Democrats have introduced a bill that would require [JURIST report] pharmacists to fill prescriptions for the pill.