New York’s Prop 1: A vital step in protecting reproductive rights after Roe

One of the biggest impacts of Donald Trump’s presidency — perhaps second only to unlocking and encouraging the worst nature of his supporters — is the three appointments he made to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Had those appointsments gone to Hilary Clinton, or even if former president Barack Obama hadn’t been denied one of his, it’s likely the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision— which gave federal protection to abortion rights and struck down a Texas abortion ban — would still be in place.

But it isn’t because, June 24, 2022, Trump’s three justices — Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh — joined conservative stalwarts Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas in striking down the Roe decision, returning the decision on reproductive rights to the states.

Chief Justice John Roberts, appointed by George W. Bush in 2005, voted with the three liberal justices.

According to CNN, abortion is now banned, with little or no exception, in 13 states, and a further two states, Arizona and Florida, severely restrict the window in which an abortion can happen.

To date, reproductive rights have not been under threat in New York State, but a proposal on the ballot in November is designed to ensure they never will be.

Prop 1, as it’s colloquially known, would amend Article 1, Section 11 of the state constitution to expand the number of groups included under equal protection of the law, meaning they cannot be legally discriminated against.

“No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws of this state or any subdivision thereof. No person shall, because of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, creed [or], religion, or sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy, be subjected to any discrimination in [his or her] their civil rights by any other person or by any firm, corporation, or institution, or by the state or any agency or subdivision of the state, pursuant to law,” the proposal reads.

The bold sections above represent added language, and the four bracketed words would be deleted, if Prop 1 passes.

And it should pass.

If the Trump presidency taught us one thing, or should have, it’s we dismiss populist demagogues at our own peril. And now that Trump has grown desperate and frank about his fascist intentions, nothing should be considered sacrosanct if he’s granted another term in November.

With Roe v. Wade gone, Prop 1 would use the power over reproductive rights returned to the states in essentially the opposite way of those states that have banned abortion in Roe’s absence. Prop 1 would prevent any administrators of New York’s state government from ever enacting laws that would ban reproductive rights because it would make those in need of such rights a protected class.

In a second section, Prop 1 would allow for any previous discriminatory laws to still be undone and would not prevent any new antidiscrimination law from passing.

The idea we are still discussing and adjudicating the right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy more than 50 years after the matter was federally settled is as strong an indicator as we’ve had in that time that rights aren’t rights if the government — or three judges appointed by a would-be despot — can take them away.

So those rights must be reestablished and reinforced. 

As strong as religious feelings can be on this issue, otherworldly belief must give way, in this case, to both science and the unwavering rights granted to the individual by both the Constitution of the United States and the New York State Constitution.

Unfettered abortion granted at any point in a pregnancy is not at stake, and never was, in the eyes of anyone reasonable. So this issue is one of body autonomy and freedom from subjugation and persecution, through either legal or biological bonds. New York’s Prop 1 is a good-faith attempt to head off any attempt any current or future state official might make to strip that autonomy, and that freedom, from anyone.

Vote to make it a reality.