Proposition 1, an amendment to enshrine abortion rights in New York state’s constitution, passed Tuesday, according to the Associated Press, coming to the relief of state Democrats after a rockier-than-expected rollout.
Democrats placed the so-called Equal Rights Amendment on the ballot partially in the hopes of boosting voter turnout for the presidential and congressional races.
The ballot proposal will add language to the constitution that says no one can be denied civil rights because of national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy — or “reproductive healthcare and autonomy.”
As of Tuesday evening, over 72% of voters favored the amendment, with just over 30% of the votes in so far.
The proposal’s vague language and limited voter outreach made the amendment less of a boon to Democrats than they had hoped.
The broad language opened the door to attacks from right-wing opponents who argue the amendment would also allow transgender athletes to play on girls’ sports teams and have linked the proposal to the migrant crisis, saying the amendment would allow migrants to vote.
Transgender student-athletes are already able to participate on sports teams that align in accordance with their gender. Voting is determined not by national origin but by citizenship status, so the amendment is very unlikely to have any impact on migrants’ right to vote.
Although abortion is already legal in New York through 24 weeks of pregnancy, state lawmakers voted to put the proposal on the ballot after the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
New York is among several states with abortion-related amendments on the ballot this election cycle, although most states did not take the Empire State’s roundabout approach of penning the amendment as an anti-discrimination measure.
New York City voters also considered five other proposals on their ballots.
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