"The fact that this is not legal in New York State, one of the most progressive states in the country, makes absolutely no sense," commented Andy Cohen to a group of reporters. 

Cohen, a television star known for his work on Bravo, made the trek back to the Capitol today to urge legislators once again to legalize paid gestational surrogacy. This bill would essentially allow a woman to be paid to carry someone else’s child.

Andy Cohen and a group of Democratic lawmakers made this same pitch last year, but the bill only made it through the Senate not the Assembly. However Governor Andrew Cuomo outlined a proposal today that he says will help strengthen protections for surrogate mothers, which was the biggest reason there were so many Assembly holdouts last year.

This includes creating a Surrogates’ Bill of Rights that guarantees the right of a surrogate to make their own health care choices, including if they want to continue or terminate their pregnancy. It would also allow for the parents receiving the child to adopt the baby while it is in utero instead of waiting for the child to be born.

"I think the opposition lies in people not understanding the issue. I think this is about people who want families, there are women who are dealing with multiple miscarriages who can’t carry at all, for whatever reason, cancer survivors," Cohen said. 

Those in opposition to paid surrogacy, or commercial surrogacy as they call it, say that this is selling women’s bodies. They worry that financially disadvantaged women could feel pressured into being a surrogate.

They also say that there is no screening process for the parents adopting the child.

The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women sent a statement saying “A woman is not a vessel. No one - not the church, nor the state, nor any contractually intended parent or parents—can legitimately “own property” that is both within and joined with her body.  New York State should therefore reject this legislation because it violates women’s human rights. “

Surrogacies can cost between $100,000-150,000.