Cuomo Women's Rights Plan May Hinge on Abortion Proposal Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, in Albany on Tuesday, announced a legislative plan called the Women's Equality Act. Mr. Cuomo was joined by about two dozen representatives of women's groups. ALBANY - Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Tuesday unveiled his long-promised Women's Equality Act, a 10-point plan whose controversial final element, which includes codifying federal abortion rights into state law, could determine the fate of various other antidiscrimination provisions included in the bill. A rally in support of the Cuomo women's rights plan was held at the Capitol. The prospects for the measure are uncertain. The governor has made the proposal a central part of his plan to reclaim New York's progressive mantle, and cement his own reputation as a defender of women's rights, something that could be critical to any presidential bid. But the legislation's prospects were unclear in the State Senate, which is currently controlled by a coalition of independent Democrats who support abortion rights and Republicans who generally oppose abortion. On Tuesday, Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, sounded cautiously optimistic about the bill's chances. "We do not have any assurances," he said in a news conference attended by about two dozen representatives of women's groups. But the language of this bill, I believe, this is a bill that can and should pass. But Senator Dean G. Skelos of Long Island, the Senate Republican leader, does not plan to consent to bring the abortion portion of the act up for a vote, according to his spokeswoman, Kelly Cummings, though she added that Republicans felt they would come to agreement on all other nine parts of Mr. Cuomo's plan. Because the Senate's leadership coalition is new this year, it is not clear whether opposition from the Republican leader on abortion will actually prevent a vote. Senator Jeffrey D. Klein, a Bronx Democrat who leads the four-member Independent Democratic Conference that shares control of the Senate, said he supported an even broader plan for women's rights than the governor's 10-point act, but also hoped "that abortion does not become a political football used to divide legislators." The language about abortion in the measure is spare: five sentences at the end of a 59-page bill. The sentences would guarantee a woman's right to an abortion as established by Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized the procedure. The measure would secure a right to late-term abortions when the health of the pregnant woman is at risk or when the fetus is not viable, as determined by a doctor. Current state law allows abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy only if the mother's life is in danger; but the state law is superseded by federal court rulings that allow for late-term abortions to protect a woman's health. In his announcement, Mr. Cuomo took pains to insist that the abortion element of the act did not expand or extend abortion rights, but simply protected existing rights for New Yorkers in case federal court rulings change. But groups opposed to abortion disagreed in a flurry of statements, including one from Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, the Roman Catholic archbishop of New York, who said the governor's bill "runs the serious risk of broadly expanding abortion access at all stages of gestation." The inclusion in a single bill of the abortion rights language and less controversial women's rights provisions was most likely to pose a challenge for some Republicans. Jessica M. Cherry, counsel to Senator John J. Bonacic, a Hudson Valley Republican who believes abortion should be "safe, legal, and rare," said Mr. Bonacic, for one, felt the governor should separate the 10 issues out. Mr. Cuomo said that all 10 points were "vitally important," and that he - and other members of a coalition of women's groups who helped devise the legislation - want all 10 passed. "I think it will bring clarity and transparency to the people of New York," the governor said. They have a right to know how their elected officials feel on each and every one of these 10 points. In the Assembly, where Democrats have a big majority, the abortion measure is likely to pass. But in the Senate, where Democrats hold a narrow numerical majority but do not have a functional majority, even if the measure came to the floor for a vote, it is not clear what would happen; most but not all Senate Democrats support abortion rights, and most but not all Senate Republicans oppose abortion.