NEW YORK — New York City will begin offering free abortion pills starting Jan. 18, initially at a Bronx sexual health clinic and later at three other similar city-run centers, Mayor Eric Adams announced Tuesday.
In this way, New York underlines its vocation as a “refuge city” at a time when several states in the country are restricting the right to free termination of pregnancy, thus forcing many women to travel to more tolerant states to have an abortion.
“New York has always been a beacon of leadership in this nation, and we will continue to be,” the mayor said at an appearance dedicated to announcing improvements in women’s sexual health.
The four clinics that will join this free pill initiative in 2023 have the capacity to issue up to 10,000 pills per year, according to municipal sources cited by the Gothamist portal.
These clinics have the particularity that they do not require medical insurance from patients, which makes them much easier to access for low-income women who are not covered by insurance; unlike them, hospitals that provide abortion pills usually do so on presentation of insurance.
