Today the NYS Assembly unbundled the elements of the Women’s Equality Act (WEA) and passed an individual bill focused on toughening the penalties for sex trafficking and providing more support for victims.

This seems to signal a break from last year when the Assembly passed the entire 10-point WEA package — including the controversial abortion expansion bill — only to see the whole WEA die at the end of the session when the Senate eliminated the abortion measure but passed the other nine women’s rights components individually. The Assembly, in response, maintained that the abortion plank was an indivisible part of women’s equality and refused to vote separately on any of the individual bills the Senate presented them with. As a result, none of the WEA provisions became law last year.

Now that the Senate Republicans hold the majority in that house after winning in  November, the Assembly’s strategy of holding the whole WEA hostage to the passage of the abortion expansion bill has changed.

Again, it’s an example of how much your vote counts.

Today’s bill passed unanimously. The Senate has already passed their version of this bill.

Assembly breaks up Women’s Equality Act, passes sex trafficking bill ~ Politics on the Hudson