How a N.Y. ballot measure became a battleground in the culture wars

One measure on the ballot in New York state this November means two very different things to its supporters and its opponents. 

The measure, Proposition 1, seeks to expand the state’s Equal Rights Amendment by adding “sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy,” as protected classes. The New York Constitution currently protects against unequal treatment based on race, color, creed and religion.

Advocates of the measure argue that it is simply a way to codify New Yorkers’ right to reproductive care. But, because the language of the proposition is vague and does not explicitly include the word “abortion,” opponents are arguing the measure has an ulterior motive: expanding transgender rights for minors and taking parental rights away. 

The Coalition to Protect Kids-NY has taken to calling the measure the “Parent Replacement Act.” The group argues that the measure would be used to strip rights from parents and push transgender rights for minors, in particular. 

The coalition alleges the measure has three main goals: deprive parents of their authority to make medical decisions for their children, allow minors to engage in transgender medical interventions without parental notice or consent, and provide schools with more control over students than their parents regarding gender-affirming care.

“Once you understand the real-life, legal ramifications of this poorly written one-size-fits-all amendment, you’ll quickly understand just how absurd it is,” a statement from the group says. 

The coalition’s website includes no articles or other information about the ballot measure seeking to codify a right to abortion. Instead, it focuses almost exclusively on the potential for minors to obtain gender-affirming care, transgender kids to compete on sports teams that align with their gender identity, and the state having more authority in children’s medical decisions than their parents.

Advocates in favor of Proposition I say these points are unfounded and are being used to scare voters out of checking “Yes” on their ballots. 

“What the opposition is saying is complete misinformation,” Sasha Ahuja, campaign director for New Yorkers for Equal Rights, told NBC News. “Parental consent is already required for young people to get gender-affirming health care; that does not change.”

When voters learn about what the proposition actually says, she added, they’ll see the need for the measure and that it seeks to protect freedoms that are being threatened in other parts of the country.

“The opposition is spreading misinformation, quite frankly, as an attempt to divide and distract New Yorkers from Prop 1 and what it’s all about,” Ahuja said.

“First and foremost,” she added, the proposition protects reproductive rights. 

“Voters know and see that with the national threat and rollback to reproductive rights, Prop 1 is about protecting abortion and protecting our freedoms and making sure that no New Yorker can be discriminated against because of who they are,” Ahuja said. 

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, 14 states have banned abortions with exceptions only for maternal health, and in four of those states, rape and incest. Another nine states have passed restrictions on abortions. Ten states have abortion access on the ballot this November, including Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York and South Dakota.

The clear disconnect on what Proposition 1 would impose on New Yorkers is also clear by the statements of the state’s leaders on the measure. 

Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, echoes the measure’s advocates by saying it primarily seeks to ensure a right to abortion. 

“It’s critical voters know that an abortion amendment is on the ballot in New York this year,” Hochul said Wednesday in a statement to NBC News. “New Yorkers deserve the freedom to control their own lives and healthcare decisions, including the right to abortion regardless of who’s in office, and this important investment will get that message out across the state.”

Hochul’s office has helped lead the state’s Democratic Party to spend over $1 million to advertise in favor of the measure, including local ads, campaign yard signs and mailers.

In stark contrast, U.S. Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, a Republican who is running in a close re-election bid on Long Island, has said that the measure is aimed at harming minors and threatening parents’ rights. 

“Proposition 1, on November’s ballot, is an extreme, far-left initiative to use your taxpayer dollars to fund experimental surgeries on children without parental consent,” the congressman wrote last month in a post on X. 

He went on to say that by voting for the measure, New Yorkers would “unfairly allow men into women’s bathrooms and sports.” 

While D’Esposito is only one of several Republicans who have argued transition-related surgeries are on the rise, those surgeries are rarely performed on minors, according to a study published by Harvard in July.

When it comes to state measures affecting transgender students, 26 states now have measures in place banning or limiting gender-affirming care for minors, 26 states have measures prohibiting transgender youths from playing on sports teams that align with their gender identity and at least seven states prohibit trans people from using restrooms that align with their gender identity in K-12 schools, according to the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ think tank.

Despite the conflicting messages aimed at voters, Ahuja said she is confident in the work New Yorkers for Equal Rights has done in favor of Prop 1, including creating partnerships with labor unions and civil rights organizations across the state, including the New York Civil Liberties Union. 

“Increasingly, every time we talk to New York voters, more and more New Yorkers are saying, ‘Hey, yeah, absolutely. I’ve heard about Prop 1, and I know it’s on the ballot, and I know what I need to do — flip my ballot and vote yes,’” Ahuja said.