New York votes in favor of Proposition 1

WATERTOWN, N.Y. (WWTI) - The polls have closed and New York voters have approved Proposition 1.

The amendment to the New York constitution would forbid discrimination based on "gender identity" and "pregnancy outcomes." The vote on the proposition is serving as a referendum on transgender and abortion rights.

The state constitution currently forbids discrimination based on race, creed or religion. However, the amendment would add language that prevents the denial of civil rights due to age, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes or “reproductive healthcare and autonomy.”

Tonight, New Yorkers stood up for women and LGBT, immigrant, and disabled New Yorkers by approving the most progressive and comprehensive state Equal Rights Amendment in the country. With this vote, New York enshrines the right to abortion in the New York State Constitution and expands anti-discrimination protections to those who have been excluded for far too long. 

This vote is a rejection of a regressive national movement to roll-back our hard-won freedoms that has gained in other states. New Yorkers resoundingly said ‘hell no, not here’ to abortion bans and attacks on immigrants and trans people. What’s more, New Yorkers strengthened our rights and freedoms in the face of a multi-million-dollar opposition campaign financed by right-wing, anti-abortion, out-of-state billionaires who peddled fear and lies.

NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman

The proposition was put on the ballot by state Democrats in the hopes of boosting voter turnout.

Last week, the New York State Sheriffs’ Association came out against Proposition 1. The agency claims its passage would be “disastrous” for the criminal justice system.

New York State Sheriffs’ Association President Craig DuMond issued a statement Friday, saying any “absolute” ban on discrimination by age, sex, or gender identity could make it legally difficult for prisons to separate inmates based on those qualities, throwing the criminal justice system into “chaos.”

Many of the protections included in Proposition 1 are already offered in state laws, but codifying them into the constitution would make them more difficult for future lawmakers to change or remove.