The New York State legislature has passed an “equal rights” amendment to the state Constitution that would bolster protections for “affirmative action” programs and strengthen a woman’s right to abortion by treating denial of the procedure as an act of discrimination based on sex.
The Equal Rights Amendment (S.8797B), which passed the state legislature on July 1, seeks to modify the New York State Constitution by adding a new section that expands the list of classes protected against discrimination and stipulating that one of these classes includes the right to abortion.