New York's legislative dysfunction has one benefit: horrible laws passed in the upper chamber tend not to become law, a sentiment presumably shared by the arch-conservative republican Senate majority when they consider the actions of the lower house. The upside of a legislature that doesn't do much of anything is that it also doesn't do that much harm.

Though, to their credit I guess, some republican Senators do try very hard. Consider Serph Maltese, probably one of the most fertile anti-choice legislators in the country. NARAL has the details on what he's sponsored this year.

Bill Number: NY S6645
Defines pregnancy and conception in such a way that it could jeopardize access to contraception. Requires women receive state-mandated lecture which includes medically inaccurate information prior to obtaining abortion service and prohibits abortion unless women wait an additional 24 hours after receiving lecture. Subjects abortion providers to burdensome restrictions.
Sponsor: Maltese (R)

Bill Number: NY S6644
Allows certain individuals to refuse to perform any abortion services in all or most circumstances. Allows certain individuals to refuse to provide or dispense contraceptives in all or most circumstances.
Sponsor: Maltese (R)

But wait, there's more.

Bill Number: NY S3117
Amends definition of person in several sections of the criminal code to include "unborn child at any stage of gestation."
Sponsor: Maltese (R)

The only other anti-choice bill offered in the Senate in 2008 was Frank Padavan's NY S4431. The likely effects of these bills on women's reproductive freedom are profound. Maltese's three bills represent a three-pronged attack on women themselves: by defining a fetus as a person, during pregnancy, a woman is a ward of the state, responsible to the government, not her family or her doctor, for the well-being of a citizen. No comparable burden exists for men under any circumstances. By allowing providers to refuse to dispense contraceptives, and to refuse to provide required medical services, women are reduced to second-class citizens in a vital area of their lives, their health.

As to lectures by the state, and interposition of the state into medical decisions, it's hard to imagine the outcry if the same conditions were attached to the purchase of Viagra. Maybe someone should point out to the good Senator that women, even in the time they can have children, are citizens, too.