WBASNY 2010 Legislative Agenda 

On behalf of the over 3,800 members of WBASNY, below are the association’s legislative priorities for this year.  These issues are important to our members and we believe will benefit the public and the judicial system without requiring financial input from the State. 

WBASNY’s mission is to advance equality and diversity in the legal field, and in society at large.  We believe the following proposed legislation promotes these principles and will create a more efficient judicial system.  

We believe that these issues are not only essential to promoting equality and a better judicial system, but they also reflect and respect the diversity of all New Yorkers. 

No-Fault Divorce 

WBASNY supports A.9753 (Bing) / S.3890 (Hassell-Thompson) 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. 

Funding for Civil Legal Services 

Many of our members work for organizations that receive funding from New York State for civil legal services.  In fact, a survey of the major civil legal services programs across New York State shows that over 70% of the attorneys working at these organizations are women.  In addition, this same survey estimates that the majority of the clients they serve are women.  

We are all acutely aware that New York State is in a fiscal crisis.  However, as you know, many New Yorkers are facing grave economic troubles of their own which require the assistance of legal counsel.  Without such assistance, these citizens must many times seek other forms of costly help from New York State.  It is on behalf of these New Yorkers, and the attorneys that represent them, that WBASNY urges you to respond to the immediate crisis resulting from the precipitous drop in the IOLA account and seriously consider providing a permanent funding source through the state budget for civil legal services that would supplement the IOLA fund. 

Family Health Care Decisions Act 

WBASNY supports A.7729-D (Gottfried) / S.3164-B (Duane) which would enable family members and other loved ones to make health care treatment decisions on behalf of a patient unable to make such decisions.  

Reproductive Health Act 

The Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York (WBASNY) strongly supports the enactment of 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.7732 (O’Donnell) / S.4401 (Duane) which would 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.