It couldn't have been closer, as the pro-abortion side tried a last day maneuver to force a vote.
Thanks to Ed Mechmann for sending around the first two (upstate political) articles. We have posted excerpts from each article; hit the links for the full stories, which are well worth reading.
This article contains a video of Klein -
Capitol confidential: Klein, Savino explain what just happened
Sen. Jeff Klein and Diane Savino expressed deep regret at the IDC’s
failure to attach the abortion plank of the Women’s Equality Act to a
Marty Golden bill pertaining to medical records, and said it was a sad
demonstration of what his conference has been saying: There aren’t 32
senators willing to support a woman’s right to choose.
Thirty-two members of the house voted against the procedural move:
all the Republicans plus Simcha Felder, a Democrat who caucuses with the
GOP, and abortion opponent Ruben Diaz Sr.
“The Independent Democratic Conference is all pro-choice,” he said.
Klein said that he shared his plans with Republican Leader Dean Skelos,
but not with women’s groups.
By 1 vote, Senate blocks amendment on abortion
After months of debate and a pledge from Republicans to block a bill that
would cement federal abortion rights in state law, Senate Co-Leader
Jeff Klein, D-Bronx, attempted to force a vote by introducing the measure as a “hostile amendment”—an occasionally used by rarely successful procedural method that allows a bill to be changed as its being debated on the floor.
Lohud/Journal News did not have in-depth coverage -
N.Y. Senate blocks abortion vote; bills on women's issues stall
Here is the NY Times coverage - the title shows the proabortion legislative emphasis, willing to sacrifice the other parts of the Woman's agenda.
All-or-Nothing Strategy on Women’s Equality Legislation Ends With Nothing
But after more than five months of advocacy by the governor — including a
trip to Seneca Falls, a landmark of the women’s suffrage movement —
lawmakers ended their annual session over the weekend without approving a
single element of the proposal, in large part because one of the
measure’s provisions would have strengthened abortion rights language in
state law.
The bill’s failure followed an abrupt strategic shift in the final days
of the session. Until then, Mr. Cuomo, as well as women’s right’s
advocates and other Democratic elected officials, insisted that they
would accept nothing less than the entire 10-point package, even if
dropping the abortion language might allow them to win nine of the
proposed provisions. But on Friday, the advocates splintered — Naral Pro-Choice New York
stood by the all-or-nothing approach, while others, including Mr.
Cuomo, urged accepting a partial victory — and the entire package sank.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The Assembly, controlled by Democrats, voted for the entire package, but
the Senate, controlled by a coalition of Republicans and independent
Democrats, approved only the nine provisions not about abortion. When
the leader of the independent faction of Democrats, Senator Jeffrey D.
Klein of the Bronx, tried to attach the abortion language to a bill on
medical records, the effort failed by one vote.
Some advocates of the legislation now want the Assembly to come back and
approve the non-abortion measures, even while hoping to strengthen
abortion law at some other time. The Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver,
has not ruled that out.
“The bottom line is the other nine points provide important protections
for women in the workplace and in the community,” said Donna Lieberman,
the executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, “and it’s a
disappointment that with such broad support, and such broad bipartisan
support, those have yet to become law.”
But some lawmakers were adamant that the abortion issue was inseparable from other women’s rights concerns.
“I think it’s inappropriate and unfair to leave out women’s health when
you’re claiming to be an advocate for all these other parts of a woman’s
life,” said Assemblywoman Didi Barrett, a Hudson Valley Democrat who is
a former board member of Planned Parenthood of New York City and Naral.
“They’re all really important, but if a woman can’t make choices about
her own body and her own reproductive health, you’re really not
delivering equality in these other areas.”
Undoubtedly, the abortion Bill will re-surface in the future!