In New York, a constitutional amendment provides campaign material for the left and the right

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Democrats pushed to put a constitutional amendment on New York's ballot, believing it could give new momentum to liberals who want to protect abortion rights. Republicans now hope the same amendment will light a fire among a population outraged by transgender athletes' participation in girls' and women's sports.

Voters will decide Nov. 5 whether to approve the state's proposed Equal Rights Amendment, which has already been the subject of a court battle over its general wording. The amendment, referred to on the ballot as “Proposition 1,” has become one of the more unusual ideological battles of the 2024 election season, in part because of disagreements over what it will accomplish if passed.

On paper, the proposed amendment would expand a section of the state constitution that now says a person may not be denied civil rights because of their race, creed or religion. The new language will also prohibit discrimination based on national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, or “reproductive health care and autonomy.”

While much of the coverage of the amendment focused on how it might protect abortion rights, Republicans ran a campaign warning that banning discrimination based on a person's “gender expression” was a constitutional right for transgender athletes would manage to take part in girls' competitions. Sports teams.

“The consequences of changing the state constitution are drastic,” said Lee Zeldin, a former Republican congressman and gubernatorial candidate who is a leading critic of the change.

The leading group opposing the change, the Coalition to Protect Kids-NY, has held rallies across the country and taken out ads against the proposal, arguing that a ban on discrimination based on “national origin” would also apply to non-citizens could enable the right to vote and that the amendment would also be adopted. Parents' right to have a say in their child's medical care will be restricted.

Supporters of the amendment argue the group is trying to mislead voters.

State courts have ruled that other parts of the state constitution already prohibit non-citizens from voting. The New York City Bar Association said the change would not result in overriding existing state laws requiring parental consent for a child's medical care.

“They really want to distract, to divide, to change the subject,” said Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, executive director of the Birnbaum Women's Leadership Center at NYU School of Law. “I think New Yorkers will be able to see through this.”

Supporters of the proposed change say it's true that a constitutional ban on discrimination based on a person's “gender identity” would benefit transgender people, including trans athletes, although not in the dramatic way opponents are proposing.

State law already provides similar anti-discrimination protections for all public school students, said Katharine Bodde, interim co-director of policy at the New York Civil Liberties Union. Under these laws, transgender people already have the right to play on sports teams that match their gender identity, she argued. However, those protections would be codified in the state constitution, making it more difficult for a future legislative session to change the law.

“Opponents' fear-mongering about the small handful of students who already play sports is dangerous and victimizes a vulnerable group of children,” Bodde told The Associated Press.

One of the state's most populous counties outside of New York City recently passed a law banning teams with transgender athletes from using county facilities unless the team is designated as a coed team.

A court battle is underway over whether this Nassau County ban violates state law. New York's attorney general said this was the case.

Lawyers for the district argued in a court filing that the ban is not discriminatory because it does not exclude transgender women and girls from sports but rather forces them to play in a mixed league “with people of the same physical abilities.” Strength, speed, power, not to dominate women’s sports.”

It's also plausible that the amendment, if passed, would become a factor if New York lawmakers ever decide to go along with it 25 states who have enacted laws restricting or prohibiting gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors. Proponents of the amendment said it would ban discriminatory bans in medical care. The US Supreme Court is hearing the arguments in his new term in office, whether such bans enacted elsewhere are unconstitutional or violate federal law.

On the issue of abortion, there has already been some debate in the courts about what Proposition 1 will and will not do.

Democrats in the state legislature voted to place the amendment on the 2024 ballot after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Supporters of the amendment say that while its language does not explicitly enshrine the right to abortion, it would create a legal framework in which future restrictions on abortion would be interpreted by courts as an unconstitutional form of discrimination.

However, in a recent ruling, a state judge found that the actual impact was not so clear.

Judge David A. Weinstein rejected a request to provide written materials to voters at polling stations, saying the amendment would protect abortion rights, in part because of its unspecific language. He assumed it would be the subject of legal disputes in the future.

“I lack the crystal ball necessary to predict how the proposed change will be interpreted in particular contexts,” he wrote.

New York state law currently allows access to abortions until fetal viability, which is typically between 24 and 26 weeks.

Nevada voters approved a similar constitution in 2022 to ban discrimination “regardless of race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, ancestry or national origin.”

This change was then cited in a lawsuit that overturned a state ban on Medicaid coverage of abortion services, with a court ruling that the policy violated the amendment's sex discrimination provision.

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This story corrects that Nassau is among the most populous counties in New York, not the most populous.