Governor Hochul: "All these latest attempts to tear down our resolve and to wear us down into submission, that will never happen. We are emboldened, we are fighting back, and I want women across this country to know we'll be there to support you, whatever we can do."

Hochul: "These anti-abortion extremists all across the nation are energized. They're empowered. They think the narrative and the law is now on their side. It may be our bodies, but they say it's their choice. Here, in New York as the Governor of the State that is the birthplace of the Women's Rights Movement, we have a special responsibility conferred on all of us as leaders to continue to fight for these rights and do anything in our power to give hope to women across the nation who are now oppressed. We're demanding with one united voice and saying we'll always remain a sanctuary for women's rights, that abortion will remain safe, accessible, and legal..."

In the wake of multiple attacks on abortion access — including a federal court ruling in Texas restricting access to abortion medication and Florida's passage of a 6-week abortion ban — Governor Kathy Hochul today joined with Attorney General Letitia James, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and other legislative and advocate leaders to vow to continue fighting to protect abortion rights.

VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Good afternoon. I'm delighted to be joined by fellow champions of freedom. We have gathered here this afternoon - hastily, I might add - but I'm delighted that we could be joined by our United States Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, our Attorney General Tish James, and our Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, as well as advocates, champions from Planned Parenthood, Kristen Dart from Planned Parenthood Empire State Acts, and also a number of other members of my administration.

My question is this: When will this stop? Women across this nation are sick and tired, tired of being treated as though we have no rights. Started with Dobbs, not even a year ago, when they wiped out all the gains that women had fought for, my mother's generation fought for, and that my generation and my daughter's generation perhaps took for granted - the right to have a legal abortion in the United States of America.

With the Dobbs decision, it's hard to imagine it could get much worse, but what we saw this week was a very dark week in the history of our nation and the history of women across this country. So, I would say this from the extremist MAGA judge in Texas who thinks he knows more about science and facts and research than the entire thousands of workers at the FDA to last night in the dead of night, under the cover of darkness, with the stroke of a pen, what the Governor of Florida did was basically reduce women to having no rights at all because the right to an abortion is a fundamental right.

And now for them to say an abortion is only legal up to six weeks, well, I can speak about this because as a mother, as a pregnant mother, I didn't even know I was expecting the first three months. So, six weeks is just absurd, an absurd standard to have imposed on women. And Florida was one of the few places in the south where women in search for an abortion could find a safe harbor. That harbor has been shut down, so we're sick and tired of men telling us what to do. These anti-abortion extremists all across the nation are energized. They're empowered. They think the narrative and the law is now on their side. It may be our bodies, but they say it's their choice.

Here, in New York as the Governor of the State that is the birthplace of the Women's Rights Movement, we have a special responsibility conferred on all of us as leaders to continue to fight for these rights and do anything in our power to give hope to women across the nation who are now oppressed. We're demanding with one united voice and saying we'll always remain a sanctuary for women's rights, that abortion will remain safe, accessible, and legal, and ensure that we'll focus on our providers as well. In the aftermath of the Dobbs decision last June, we allocated $35 million, knowing that New York would become a safe haven, that people from other states would come in search of their legal rights in our state.

We also mandated insurance companies doing business in New York cover abortion. And I signed a package of bills supported by our legislature that protected providers and patients. But I'll say this: All these latest attempts to tear down our resolve and to wear us down into submission, that will never happen. We are emboldened, we are fighting back, and I want women across this country to know we'll be there to support you, whatever we can do.

And even when it comes to what the judge in Texas did, questioning the FDA's approval of an abortion medication that was used and safe for 23 years, we, in the State of New York, will make sure that this is available for the women of our state in case that decision stands.

We'll also, if that decision stands, allocate an additional $20 million because what will happen is if this medication is taken off the shelves and no longer available for providers to give to patients, there will be more procedures as opposed to the option of having a medication abortion. More procedures will cost more money. More people will be coming to New York, so we're proposing that if that ban stands, we'll allocate another $20 million, in addition to stockpiling the medication abortion.

We're also going to require - we're working with the legislature, and again, I'm grateful to have Andrea Stewart-Cousins here, our leader, and Senator Webb, who's a champion as well fighting in the Senate, as well as Assemblymember Pat Fahy. I thank them for joining us today. We're working with the legislature to require private insurance to cover medication abortion when it's prescribed off-label.

And we refuse to go backwards wherever they turn, whatever stroke of a pen where they try to wipe out women's rights - we'll be there to counter. We'll be there to stand strong because we know what real American values are. People love to talk about American values. They're about freedom. Freedom means a lot of things to a lot of people, but I'll tell you what it means as a woman: it's a freedom to decide what you want to do with your own body, when, if you choose to have a family, that will occur.

These are personal decisions between a woman and her doctor, and we are sick and tired of men, whether they're on the Supreme Court, a judge in Texas or a governor of another state, taking away these rights. American values are freedom, autonomy and equality.

And I can't think of another instance in American history where men have been singled out, denied any kind of their rights, but somehow it continues to happen to women — but we refuse to go backwards. As I mentioned, this is New York, the birthplace of the Women's Rights Movement, the place where the Statue of Liberty stands tall in our harbor. We will be that beacon of hope, that guiding light to bring others to our state when necessary; but let the women of this state know, as long as I'm the Governor of the State of New York, your rights are protected here.

We will never stop fighting for what's right. We'll always be that place to come. We have so many outstanding partners in this fight because it's taken on so many faces in the courts, in legislatures, and on our shelves of medication. One of our greatest champions is Kirsten Gillibrand, our Senator in Washington. She is out there leading this charge at the federal level because she knows they will not stop until there is a national ban on abortion. So, we're grateful to have her as a New Yorker and a champion in defense of women's freedoms, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.