New York ‘equal rights’ constitutional amendment restored for appeals court vote

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.

In a short ruling, a panel of mid-level appellate judges overturned an upstate judge’s May decision to take the proposed Equal Rights Amendment off the ballot.

That judge, Daniel Doyle, ruled that state lawmakers made a fatal procedural error in a previous round of approvals of the proposed change.

In overturning that decision, the appellate division judges cited a different legal issue: They said that people who filed suit to try to block the amendment missed the deadline to file their legal challenge and are now barred from getting relief from the courts because of a court decision. limitation period of four months.

“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 would add ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive health care and autonomy to the list.

The 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.

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.

The countersuit was filed by Republican state Rep. Marjorie Byrnes, whose office did not immediately return an email seeking comment.

Doyle’s initial ruling was that lawmakers incorrectly approved the text of the amendment before obtaining a written opinion from the attorney general.