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Cuomo's move comes just as President Donald Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh as U.S. Supreme Court justice. Kavanaugh's decisions have typically sided against women's rights to contraceptives and abortions.
Cuomo, of New Castle, announced new actions to protect reproductive rights as Congress starts the confirmation process with Kavanaugh, a conservative judge who could sign off on rolling back advancements in reproductive health care.
Through regulations by the Department of Financial Services and Department of Health, New York state will ensure an insurer must cover over-the-counter emergency contraception.
Insurers must also cover all other contraceptive drugs, devices or other products for women approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and, as well as the dispensing of 12 months of contraceptive at one time, all without co-insurance, co-pays or deductibles.
Also on Tuesday, Cuomo called on the State Senate to reconvene and vote on codifying the protections of Roe. v. Wade into State law.
The state Assembly has passed legislation to codify the protections of Roe v. Wade for the last six years, including during the 2018 Legislative Session.
"In the face of this federal assault, New York is going to protect itself because this state has always been the progressive capital of the nation," Cuomo said. "This is the time to fight back. This is the time to resist. This is the time to make your voice heard. This is the time where every New Yorker has to say, 'You're not taking women's right to reproductive rights away.' We're going to protect ourselves because this is the state that has always stood up for what's right."
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