New York voters approved a controversial amendment enshrining abortion and adding constitutional protections for a person’s “gender expression” and “gender identity” — to an extent Republicans They oppose, calling it a constitutional “Trojan horse” that could grant additional benefits to illegal immigrants and strip away parental rights. rights and trample women’s sport.

New York Proposition 1, called the Equal Rights Amendment by its supporters, amends the equal protection clause of the state constitution to prohibit a person’s rights from being denied on the basis of ” ethnicity, national origin, age and disability” and “gender, including sexual orientation” of a person. , gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive health care and autonomy.

Previously, the clause only prohibited discrimination based on “race, color, creed or religion.” The Associated Press said Tuesday night that the measure would pass, winning 64.8 percent to 35.2 percent, with 60 percent of the votes counted so far.

New York is one of ten states considering abortion-related measures this Election Day — and abortion has been a winning issue for Democrats on state ballots since the law was overturned. Roe v. Wade in 2022. Yet on Tuesday evening, for the first time, a measure promoting greater access to abortion in Florida failed to pass, keeping the state’s six-week ban in effect.

New York’s “Equal Rights Amendment” gave rise to a legal challenge over whether its inclusion on the ballot was constitutional and faced heavy criticism from Republicans for its scope too broad. Given that New York already has strong abortion protections, Republicans criticized the amendment as using abortion – a winning issue – as cover for a host of other, less politically popular, issues than the the amendment would affect.

“Prop One authorizes courts to overturn restrictions, including parental notice or consent, regarding the gender transition of their minor child, applying an increased level of judicial review or strict scrutiny,” coalition said opposed to the measure. said.

Because the amendment adds “ethnicity” and “national origin” as protections, New York GOP Chairman Ed Cox warned that it is a “Trojan horse” that could give taxpayer-funded giveaways to illegal immigrants, like the Sun note.
Proposition 1 was supported by groups including Planned Parenthood of Greater New York, which said it was an “important step toward protecting reproductive rights and access in New York following the U.S. Supreme Court’s erroneous decision to end the federal constitutional right to abortion , established by Roe v. Wade.”