Sen. Gounardes: The Equal Rights Amendment Can Protect Reproductive Freedom, LGBT Rights, But we Have to Fight For it

Across the country, Republican leaders are launching increasingly extreme attacks on reproductive freedom. Fourteen states now ban abortion entirely, and eight more have implemented restrictions that would have violated the standard set by Roe v. Wade, which governed reproductive rights until the Supreme Court overturned the decision in 2022.

Maybe you’ve heard the horror stories: Kate Cox was forced to flee Texas for emergency health care after a state court ruled that it would not allow her to get an abortion, despite Cox receiving a fatal fetal diagnosis that posed grave risks to her health and fertility. In Mississippi, a 12-year-old girl who became pregnant after she was raped near her home was forced to give birth after being unable to access abortion care. Another Mississippi teen rape victim was forced to travel over 500 miles for an abortion.

LGBT rights are also under threat. Last year, the advocacy group Human Rights Campaign declared a “national state of emergency for LGBTQ+ Americans” after state legislators across the country introduced hundreds of bills banning educators from talking about LGBT issues or denying access to gender-affirming care.

Here in New York, we don’t have to watch helplessly as ultraconservative legislators advance a regressive agenda that hurts vulnerable communities. This November, we have a unique opportunity to enshrine human rights into our state constitution, protect our communities, and ensure New York remains a beacon of freedom and opportunity for the rest of the country.

That’s because the New York Equal Rights Amendment—also known as the ERA or Proposition 1—will be on the ballot this Election Day. It’s crucial that we vote to pass it.

Despite what you might expect in deep-blue New York, while our state constitution explicitly protects against racial and religious discrimination, it currently makes no mention of other categories, including pregnancy status or gender identity.

The ERA would change that by prohibiting discrimination based on ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, and sex—including sexual orientation or gender identity. It would also protect against government actions that limit reproductive autonomy or access to reproductive health care. 

That means the state could not, for example, pass a state abortion ban, ban private insurance coverage of abortion or criminalize miscarriages. The Amendment would also help domestic abuse victims hold their abusers accountable in court, block judges from taking away child custody based on a parent’s sexual orientation, and prohibit policies that make it harder for seniors or people with disabilities to vote.

These protections may sound like common-sense expressions of compassion and equality. That’s because they are. But that hasn’t stopped New York Republicans from engaging in an absurd right-wing disinformation campaign intended to tank the Amendment and deny New Yorkers the basic rights and protections we all deserve. 

Republicans are stooping to scare tactics because they know their anti-abortion positions are both politically unpopular and morally bankrupt. But that doesn’t mean we can take anything for granted—just a few years ago, state Republicans defeated voting rights protections on the ballot using a similar strategy. 

By passing the Equal Rights Amendment here in New York, we both protect our own communities and send a clear message to the rest of the country: we believe in human rights, and we reject any attempt to criminalize people for expressing their identity or accessing health care. This November, the fight for a better future for Americans across the nation starts right here at home.

Read the full op-ed at BK Reader.