NY-ERA 2024

FLIP YOUR BALLOT. PROTECT OUR RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS.

What is the NY ERA?

• The New York State Equal Rights Amendment is an amendment to New York’s State Constitution that adds explicit protections for people who experience discrimination and will guard access to abortion and reproductive care, even going beyond the protections of the federal and New York State constitutions.
• Adding to existing protections against discrimination based on race and religion, this amendment would prohibit discrimination based on a person’s ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, and sex-including their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes,reproductive healthcare, and autonomy.

Why is the NY ERA important?

• This Amendment will ensure that New York’s founding document contains the strongest legal protections for people who experience discrimination. This is especially important in a time when we are seeing state governments and courts walk back our rights.
• Embedding these protections within the New York State constitution insulates New Yorkers from the political winds that seek to ban, eliminate, or reduce access to abortion care through changes to the state law.
• The ERA will provide discrimination protections for many marginalized groups, including those in the LGBTQ+ community. For example, lawmakers would be prohibited from excluding gay people in public school curriculum or restricting healthcare access to trans individuals.
• The ERA explicitly links sex discrimination and reproductive rights to LGBTQ+ rights and others, showing how an attack on the any one of these freedoms is an attack on all of them.

What can we do?

• The question to vote on the New York State ERA will be located on the back of the ballot in November. Voters should turn their ballot over and vote yes on Prop 1!

Why is the NY ERA important to us as Jews?

• Jewish tradition instills in us the importance of kavod ha’briyot, respect for individual dignity. Enshrining reproductive freedoms in the New York State constitution will help ensure that all New Yorkers are able to make the reproductive health decisions that are right for them.
• As Jews, we believe that all humans are created b'tzelem Elohim – in the Divine image – and deserve dignity and respect regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity. As it says in Genesis, “And God created humans in God’s own image, in the image of God, God created them...” (Genesis 1:27). The expansive discrimination protections the ERA offers are reflective of this important Jewish value.

How can we support this as a501(c)3?

• As a 501(c)3, we can participate in advocacy (lobbying), which includes organizing around ballot initiatives where our values are implicated. Since we have a long history of working on discrimination protections, this is an acceptable form of lobbying.