April 2025
TO: MEMBERS OF THE LONG ISLAND JEWISH
ORGANIZED MEDICAL STAFF
On March 23, 2025, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation, (S. 36A/A.2145A):
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law and the public health law, in relation to prescription labels for mifepristone and misoprostol
PURPOSE:
This is a chapter amendment that makes changes to provisions of L.2025 C.7 to permit prescription labels for mifepristone, misoprostol, and their generic alternatives to include the name of the prescribing health care practice instead of the name of the prescriber at the prescriber’s request.
This will enable providers who prescribe medications used to perform abortions to request that the dispensing pharmacy print the name of their practice on prescription labels, instead of their personal name.
As a result of the “Dobbs” decision, which overturned the constitutional right to abortion, many states have moved to limit access to abortion, and in some cases impose severe penalties on both the patient and physician.
The legislation strengthens New York’s Shield Law, – enacted in 2023, initially designated to provide extensive protection for New York-based doctors serving patients in those restrictive states through telehealth- by offering these additional protections to physicians prescribing medications used to perform abortions in states that enacted strict abortion bans.
From the Governor’s press release, “research from the Society for Family Planning indicates that one in five abortions conducted in December 2023, were via telehealth, with an estimated 48 percent of these procedures performed by doctors in states with shield laws similar to New York’s.”
Respectfully submitted,
Schaum Law Offices