What New York voters need to know about the equal rights amendment on this year's ballot

This November, voters in New York will have the opportunity to vote on an amendment to the state’s constitution, aimed at ensuring equal rights to all under law.

The current equal protection clause in the state’s constitution already prohibits discrimination based on “race, color, creed or religion.” The amendment will allow New York voters to include additional classifications that people cannot be discriminated against, such as ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, sex, pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

The decision to include the amendment on this year’s ballot came in mid-June. New York’s Attorney General Letitia James said it was “a huge victory in our efforts to protect our basics rights and freedoms.”

“The ERA was advanced to protect access to abortion care, enshrine this basic right in our constitution, and protect people from discrimination,” she said. “We will continue to do everything in our power to protect these rights and ensure everyone can live safely and freely in the great State of New York.”

Advocacy groups at both the state and local level are beginning to spread the word about what the amendment entails. The League of Women Voters of Central Nassau recently held an “Appetizer & Postcard Party,” aimed at educating neighbors on what the ERA is.

The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization working to protect and expand voting rights. It empowers voters and defends democracy through advocacy, education, and litigation at various levels of government, and there are several chapters on Long Island.

Susan Cushman, the advocacy chair for the Central Nassau division, said the idea was to bring people together at the Appetizer & Postcard Party, so the community and members of the league could learn about the amendment, and if they support it, write postcards that were mailed to addresses, provided by New Yorkers for Equal Rights, a coalition that supports the amendment.

At the event, which took place at the Baldwin Diner last month, attendees wrote on their postcards: “On Nov. 5, don’t forget to ‘flip the ballot’ and vote on the new NY ERA for all New Yorkers.”

The event was successful, and 500 postcards were written.

Cushman, a professor at Nassau Community College, where she teaches English and women’s and gender studies, said the amendment is not an abortion access measure.

“Pregnancy outcomes suggests that if women have unexpected issues or problems with their pregnancy, they’re not going to be criminalized for it,” she said. “They have access to services that include protecting their future fertility. That’s really important for people to understand.”

Cushman said she feels people are supportive to the amendment, once they learn what it entails. But, she added, that is the problem — not many people even know about it. Several new people joined the league at its last meeting, Cushman said, it served an important educational purpose for other attendees.

“I do think people are receptive to it,” Cushman said of the amendment, “and I agree that people generally don’t know a lot about it. They think we already have a New York ERA, and that’s enough.

“We want to take action, we want to spread the word — and that’s why we thought the postcard party would be such a great idea,” she went on. “We could put it on our website, or we could email people, but it doesn’t bring a community together.”

On November’s ballot, the amendment will be the first proposal on the ballot, labeled as Prop 1. The current ERA, Cushman said, does not cover the full scope that the new one would, if approved by voters in November.

“That’s why when I try to explain it to people, it’s a pro-health care measure,” she said. “It’s not just about women in pregnancy outcomes — it also protects your discrimination in these other areas, like age, ability, LGBT issues. It’s the 21st century. It’s time to have a stronger New York Equal Rights Amendment.”

Voters interested in learning more about the Equal Rights Amendment, the League of Women Voters of East Nassau will hold a meeting on Aug. 21 at 7 p.m. at the Levittown Public Library. The library is at 1 Bluegrass Lane, Levittown. For more about the league, and to find local chapters, visit LWV.org.