ALBANY, NY – A proposed amendment to the New York Constitution that prohibits discrimination based on “gender identity” and “pregnancy results” was restored to the November election vote on Tuesday by a state appeals court.
The court’s decision paves the way for a statewide referendum this fall on an amendment that has been praised by Democrats as a way to protect abortion rights, and attacked by Republicans for the protections it could offer transgender people.
In a short ruling, a panel of mid-level appellate judges overturned a May decision by an upstate judge to take the proposed Equal Rights Amendment off the ballot.
That judge, Daniel Doyle, said state lawmakers made a fatal procedural error in an initial round of approvals of the proposed amendment, approving it a little too quickly without waiting for a required legal memorandum from the state attorney general.
In overturning that decision, the appellate division judges cited a legal technicality of a different kind: They said that the people who sued to block the change had missed the deadline to submit their legal challenge to a four-month statute of limitations.
“This is a huge victory in our efforts to protect abortion access in New York and to protect many vulnerable communities from discrimination,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.
The New York Constitution currently prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, creed or religion. O proposed change I would add to that list ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive health care and autonomy.
The proposed amendment would not explicitly preserve a woman’s right to have a abortionbut it would effectively prevent anyone from being discriminated against for carrying out the procedure.
The lawsuit challenging the measure was filed by Republican state Rep. Marjorie Byrnes, whose office did not immediately return an email seeking comment.
Opponents of the proposed amendment said its broad language around sexual orientation and gender could be interpreted by courts as forcing sports leagues to allow transgender athletes to compete on women’s teams, or weakening the ability of parents to make decisions about transgender healthcare.
The state Republican Party said the case will be appealed to the state’s highest court.
“We continue to believe the legislature violated the Constitution when it adopted the proposal,” party spokesman David Laska said in an email Tuesday. “We will fight this proposal in court and, if necessary, at the polls.”
Former U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, a Republican who lobbied against the amendment, called it “left-wing lunacy” in X after the court ruling, claiming it would infringe on free speech and allow “minors to change their sex without notification or parental permission.” .”
Supporters of the proposed changes said they would not impact parental involvement in medical decisions involving younger children.
State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, a Democrat, said she was “grateful that the courts rejected this frivolous case that was brought by Republican extremists who sought to block equal rights right here in New York.”
“Fortunately, this crucial amendment will be on the ballot in November, giving all New Yorkers the opportunity to once again lead the nation and defend equal rights for all,” she said.
Voters in the 2024 elections would need to approve the amendment for it to become final.
Democrats in New York hope that putting an abortion-related issue on the ballot could boost voter turnout.
Doyle’s initial ruling was that lawmakers incorrectly approved the text of the amendment before obtaining a written opinion from the attorney general.
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
