New York Assembly Bill A01011

New York 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/8/25
• Refer: 1/8/25
• Refer: 1/7/26

Caption

Provides that hospitals which offer medical residency training in obstetrics, gynecology, internal medicine, women's health and osteopathy shall provide training which follows the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education or the American Osteopathic Association special requirements for obstetrics-gynecology; provides for experience with induced abortions and complications thereto except where residency program has a religious, moral or legal restriction which prohibits residents from performing abortions within the institution.

Summary

This bill would require hospitals that receive reimbursement under the Public Health Law and offer residency training in obstetrics, gynecology, internal medicine, or women’s health to provide training that meets specified Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education or American Osteopathic Association requirements for obstetrics-gynecology. The required curriculum would include structured didactic and clinical instruction in the full range of family planning methods, including reversible contraception, natural methods, sterilization, and management of complications, with training in performing these procedures allowed to occur outside the hospital if necessary. The bill also requires residency experience with induced abortion, except for residents who have moral or religious objections. All residents must receive training in managing abortion complications, and programs with religious, moral, or legal restrictions on in-hospital abortion training must still ensure residents receive adequate education and experience in abortion care and complications, including access to training at another institution for residents without objections. Hospitals that do not comply would become ineligible for reimbursement under the relevant Public Health Law provisions.

Impact

The bill would add a new section to the Public Health Law governing hospital reimbursement and residency training standards. It would condition reimbursement on compliance with mandated family planning and abortion-related training requirements for certain residency programs, effectively creating a state-level enforcement mechanism tied to public funding. The measure would affect hospitals offering qualifying residency programs, residency directors, and medical trainees, while also interacting with institutional religious, moral, or legal restrictions by requiring alternative training arrangements rather than eliminating the training obligation entirely.

Sentiment

No committee transcripts or recorded votes were provided, so there is no direct evidence of debate or formal support/opposition in the available record. Based on the bill text and caption, the measure appears to be framed as a medical education and access-to-training bill, with an emphasis on ensuring comprehensive residency preparation in reproductive health care. The inclusion of explicit exemptions for residents with moral or religious objections suggests an attempt to balance training requirements with individual conscience concerns.

Contention

The main point of contention is likely to be the abortion-training mandate, especially for hospitals and residency programs with religious or moral objections to abortion. The bill anticipates this conflict by allowing objecting residents to opt out and by permitting training outside the institution, but it still requires programs to ensure abortion-related education and complication management for all residents. Another likely issue is the use of reimbursement eligibility as an enforcement tool, which could be viewed as a strong state mandate on hospitals and residency programs.