With the Equal Rights Amendment on the ballot this November, New York Democrats are hopeful that more voters will turn out to vote in favor of protecting abortion rights, but state Republicans are highlighting possible ramifications of the amendment, such as the removal of a drinking age.
The ERA includes a dozen potential new protected classes such as age, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy. Groups opposing the amendment, such as Protect Kids NY, argue that the measure will open up Pandora’s box by weakening laws meant to protect against elderly abuse, statutory rape, and minors choosing to receive gender-affirming care.
“Let’s take a moment and ask ourselves some questions about what it means to be able to ‘discriminate’ based on things like age,” Protect Kids NY says on its website.
Republicans in New York are steering away from highlighting abortion, recognizing the nationwide trend in elections since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022. What they see is a different way to oppose the ERA.
New York GOP Chairman Ed Cox considers the topic of abortion to be a settled issue in the state, which has among the strongest abortion protections in the country. While Democrats focus a $20 million campaign on the abortion component of the ERA, Republicans are keying in on what they see as poor and ambiguous writing in the measure, which Cox argues could take away parental rights.
“To have a minor have a sex change without parental consent — that’s really shocking,” he told Politico. “Issues like that are issues that I think may in the end be more important than the abortion issue.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to the New York Democratic Party for comment.
With the margins for victory in the House very slim, Democrats are looking to use the abortion issue to bring out more voters in order to tip majority control in their favor. But Protect Kids Executive Director Greg Garvey sees the effort as a “ploy” stretching beyond abortion.
“New York has the most liberal policies in the country,” Garvey told the outlet. “The idea that suddenly these laws are going anywhere is surely political theater. This is a GOTV [Get Out The Vote] ploy by the governor.”
The ERA is facing a legal challenge from Assemblywoman Marjorie Byrnes, who argues that the amendment was rushed through by state Democrats. According to the state’s constitution, the legislature needs to give the attorney general 20 days to review amendments before voting on them.
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“It was introduced and voted on on the same day in both houses,” Byrnes said. “In order to amend the constitution, the majority violated the constitution.”
In 1975, the first rendition of the Equal Rights Amendment failed to pass in New York, thus contributing to the ERA’s failure to be ratified at the federal level. The idea was brought back to life in 2017.
