In its 20th year, FPA focuses on defeating anti-choice legislation, including bills that would criminalize certain abortion procedures, require parental notification for teens under the age of 16, and enact the so-called “Women’s Right to Know Act” which attempts to mandate a 24-hour waiting period before receiving an abortion. FPA also helps delete language in the budget which would cause an undue burden by instituting a waiting period before a Medicaid recipient could receive an abortion. FPA successfully lobbies the Assembly to pass a bill which strengthens penalties for physically blocking access to health care facilities.

FPA helps to defeat Governor George Pataki’s proposed “family cap,” which limits welfare benefits to low-income women. FPA also continues to monitor employers’ insurance coverage for contraceptives, stressing the importance of full healthcare coverage for women.

The Legislature allocates an additional $1.2 million to the family planning budget, bringing the final budget to $19.5 million, and FPA wins approval of $7 million for voluntary pregnancy prevention programs for low-income women and teens. FPA also succeeds in maintaining $4 million in funds for HIV counseling, $1,204,500 for rape crisis and prevention and $2,640,000 for prenatal care assistance programs. FPA stresses the need for Medicaid funding, and for the first time in 20 years, the State Senate does not consider legislation to eliminate Medicaid funding for abortions.

Concerned Clergy for Choice is established by the Education Fund of FPA in an effort to create and engage a network of pro-choice clergy in New York.