Below is WBASNY’s Legislative Agenda for the 2009 Legislative Session that begins on January 7, 2009.

No-Fault Divorce

WBASNY supports A.9398-A (Bradley) which would amend Section 170 of the Domestic Relations Law to add a new subdivision to provide a new ground for divorce where “the relationship between husband and wife has broken down irretrievably for a period of at least six months, provided that one party has so stated under oath.”

The time has come for New York State to join the 49 other states to allow divorcing litigants to separate without having to assign fault on one party.  Supporters include the judiciary, members of the matrimonial bar, advocates from the domestic violence community, and most importantly, matrimonial litigants themselves. Parties who have endured costly and lengthy court battles, depleting their monetary and emotional resources, have long cried out for necessary remedies to this archaic system.

Reproductive Health Act

The Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York (WBASNY) strongly supports S.5829 (Rules) which would enact the Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection Act. 

WBASNY continues to be a strong supporter of a woman’s fundamental right to choose and make her own reproductive decisions.  The State of New York recognized the importance of protecting this right by enacting its abortion laws in 1970, and the United States Supreme Court solidified this protection when it decided Roe v Wade three years later.  However today, thirty years later, women are witness to this basic right being jeopardized and eroded by the recent United States Supreme Court’s decision in Gonzales v. Carhart, which upheld a federal restriction on certain abortions. 

Same Sex Marriage

The Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York (“WBASNY”) supports A.8590 (O’Donnell) / S.5884 (Rules) to amend the Domestic Relations Law to formally recognize marriages without regard to whether the parties are of the same or different sex.

WBASNY believes that any two mutually consenting adults should have the right to enter into a legal civil marriage.  Legal marriage carries a multitude of rights and duties spanning every area of law.  If a person is denied the right to legally marry, he or she is denied the associated rights afforded only to a legal spouse.  These may include employment benefits, contract rights, property ownership, tax benefits, and inheritance rights.  The denial of marriage rights also impacts the children and extended families of the couple.