For decades, anti-abortion extremists have systematically worked the court system and legal loopholes to ban abortion and take away our reproductive freedoms across the country. In 2022, their efforts succeeded nationally when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, leaving every state vulnerable to the whims and ideologies of the politicians in power. Now those same anti-abortion actors are taking a page from the national playbook and working to roll back the protections in place here in New York.
While some may feel abortion is safe and protected here in New York, that complacency poses a dangerous risk. Roe fell because too many of us thought it could never happen. But we have a chance to rectify that this November.
Recently, anti-abortion extremists sued to block New Yorkers from voting on the New York Equal Rights Amendment. The NY ERA will constitutionally protect our right to an abortion — so it’s no surprise abortion opponents want it off the ballot.
And while we’re certain their legal efforts will not succeed and the NY ERA will be on the ballot in November, this latest anti-abortion attack is further proof that we need to permanently enshrine our reproductive freedoms in the Constitution — because these extremists will stop at nothing to take them away.
From overturning Roe to enacting dangerous abortion bans across the country, anti-abortion extremists have taken aggressive steps to strip us of our right to make decisions about our own bodies and futures. New York stepped up: the state Legislature passed legislation to put the NY ERA on the ballot. The last step to amending the Constitution comes down to the voters on Election Day. If New Yorkers approve the amendment in November, they will permanently protect against any government interference that would curtail a person’s reproductive autonomy or access to reproductive health care, including abortion.
The anti-abortion extremists trying to keep the NY ERA off the ballot claim the Legislature didn’t follow the correct process; in reality, the process to bring this bill to a vote followed the same path of 18 other amendments that made it on the ballot in recent years.
These opponents also claim the amendment was rushed through; in reality, the NY ERA was introduced in 2019 and received ample attention. The amendment was voted through two separate legislative sessions — over two years. Further, the anti-abortion plaintiff driving this lawsuit, an assemblymember, did not ask one single question during the bill discussion in conference, committee, or on the floor to be voted on.
Let’s be clear: for the opponents of the NY ERA, this is about one thing: preventing New Yorkers from voting to protect their rights and freedoms. And there’s nothing they won’t say to try and get their way. They’re worried — because when we pass the New York Equal Rights Amendment, they lose their chance to attack and roll back our rights.
There’s no time to wait: since Roe was overturned, at least 21 states have enacted abortion bans. Nationally, anti-abortion extremists have continued to use the courts to go after medication abortion and emergency room care for women suffering dangerous pregnancy complications. Our rights are more fragile than many believe, and we have to act to protect them.
Without constitutional protections, one law passed and signed in Albany could strip us of our reproductive freedoms. And this scenario is not merely a distant possibility: in 2022, a staunchly anti-abortion candidate came within five points of the Governor’s Mansion.
Elected officials who believe in our right to abortion have only controlled the state Legislature for eight of the past 58 years. And after years of anti-abortion majorities, New York’s Reproductive Health Act was only passed in 2019. Political winds change — as residents of Florida and Arizona will tell you. Rather than leave our right to bodily autonomy to the whims of whichever politician is in charge, we need to enshrine these rights in our constitution — to protect us and our rights and freedoms, permanently.
From Alabama to Arizona to Texas, we’ve all watched as anti-abortion extremists attempt to use the courts to revoke reproductive freedoms — including abortion bans, IVF bans, even attacking birth control. This latest legal maneuver against the NY ERA is no different.
While we’re confident this attack will fail and the NY ERA will be on the ballot, this latest legal challenge is a clear signal that the anti-abortion faction will spare no effort to deprive us of our rights. So when we have the chance to protect our rights and reproductive freedoms this November, we should take it.
Ahuja is the campaign director of New Yorkers for Equal Rights on the New York Equal Rights Amendment ballot initiative.
