Right-wing groups have seized on the vague wording of a ballot proposal to protect abortion access in New York, arguing that the initiative will open the door to more transgender children in girls’ sports and lead to an erosion of “parental rights.”
Their objection underscores the confusion that awaits voters in November when they vote on Proposition Number One, which its supporters call the Equal Rights Amendment. Advocates and Democrats put the proposal on the ballot in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of the Roe v. Wade decision in 2022. But the word “abortion” does not appear in the ballot initiative. Instead, it explicitly prohibits discrimination based on “race, national origin, age, disability and sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes and reproductive health care and autonomy.”
At a rally near New York City Hall this week, speakers from Moms for Liberty – which advocates for book bans and criticizes the way racism and LGBTQ+ history are taught in schools across the country – claimed the proposal was a Trojan horse for cultural upheaval. Other attendees, including vaccine skeptics and supporters of former President Donald Trump, hurled transphobic slurs.
Elena Chin of Moms for Liberty expressed concern that the proposed age and gender protections would lead to more children undergoing gender reassignment surgery without their parents’ knowledge or consent. She also expressed concern that it would lead to more transgender children playing on girls’ sports teams.
“The law is broad. It’s vague,” Chin said. “People don’t really know what they’re voting for. The marketing of this law is misleading. They make it an abortion issue. They make it an issue of discrimination. That’s not what it’s about at all.”
Inez Stepman of Independent Women’s Voice, which advocates for female athletes to play on teams according to their biological sex, called the proposal a “bait-and-switch strategy.”
“What this proposal will actually do is make spaces and opportunities – including sports, prisons, locker rooms, shelters for victims of domestic violence and all spaces intended only for women – accessible to men,” Stepman said at the rally.
Sasha Ahuja, campaign director for New Yorkers for Equal Rights, which supports the proposal, strongly rejected the demands at the rally.
“This narrative is being propagated by extremists who are using a handful of innocent children as political pawns,” she said. “They are trying to divide New Yorkers and distract them from what this amendment is really about. It is about guaranteeing our personal freedoms and protecting the right to abortion.”
However, she acknowledged that the language was confusing and added that the text “does a disservice to New York voters.”
“It somewhat obscures the essential impact and does not make it clear that this amendment protects all of our rights and freedoms, including the right to abortion,” Ahuja said.
Debate over the intent of the proposal is likely to intensify as the election approaches, with abortion access at the center of the presidential race. Last week, a state Supreme Court judge rejected an attempt by Democrats to force the Elections Board to change the wording of the proposal to clarify that it is intended to protect abortion access and LGBTQ+ rights.
“The central problem with these arguments arises from the wording of the amendment itself,” wrote Judge David Weinstein.
Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, executive director of the Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Center at NYU School of Law, said she would have liked to see “stronger” language on abortion in the proposal, but she called the idea that it would change the way transgender children are treated in schools, sports or medical settings “a disinformation campaign.”
“There are already laws in the state that are not going to change,” she said. “I really think we’re seeing a full-scale (PR) campaign to distract people. … I think it’s important to remember that this is a political strategy.”
