In an unprecedented move, the administration of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has established a free healthcare program for sex workers, sparking concern among critics who view this as an indirect endorsement of decriminalizing prostitution.
The state’s Department of Health has earmarked $1 million in public funds over two years to finance the “sex worker health pilot program,” awarded to two contractors.
These funds will facilitate health care provision to sex workers in New York City and western New York, including primary, sexual, behavioral, and dental care services.
Despite these claims of promoting health, detractors condemn this initiative, arguing it normalizes and encourages behavior typically considered socially harmful.
The program has bypassed legislative approval, raising questions about its legitimacy and stirring concern over its funding source — taxpayer dollars.
State Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo (R-Staten Island) denounced the program, stating, “The Democrats in New York are pushing everything that is antithetical to the norms of society.”
He adds, “What are they going to have, a prostitution card? This is a 100 percent step in the direction to decriminalize prostitution.”
Pirozzolo stresses that the ultimate goal should be to discourage prostitution, not promote it.
Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, was also highly critical of Gov. Hochul’s policies, including her stance on crime and the homelessness crisis.
He added, “Now she wants the taxpayers to fund health care for street prostitutes, the likely outcome of which will be to destroy the quality of life for New Yorkers.”
Firms Callen Lorde and EHS Inc./Evergreen Health have each been contracted to receive $250,000 a year over the program’s two-year span.
They will grant sex workers access to medical care via the Health Department’s AIDS Institute.
The Department of Health remains steadfast in its commitment to this initiative, with a spokesperson stating, “Access to comprehensive sexual health services improves the quality of life for everyone.”
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The spokesperson also pointed to the discrimination, violence, and emotional distress often faced by individuals in this line of work.
New York City-based Callen Lorde, a healthcare provider for sex workers and the LGBTQ community, has been clear about its stance on sex work, advocating for its decriminalization.
The organization’s website emphasizes its pledge to uphold the rights and dignity of sex workers and facilitate their access to non-judgmental, fear-free healthcare.
The Buffalo-based Evergreen Health, the second contractor involved in the initiative, has declined to comment.
In a separate but related development, the Hochul administration has also been bolstering funding to healthcare facilities to augment medical staffing and care for the state’s transgender patients through another two-year pilot program.
This policy, too, has met with criticism, with opponents calling it “morally irresponsible.”
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