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New York Democratic Gov. Kathy HochulPhoto by Riccardo Savi/Getty Images for Concordia Summit

(LifeSiteNews) — The Empire State passed legislation last night that will erase sex distinctions in law and further enshrine New York as a haven for abortions through all nine months of pregnancy.

The “Equal Rights Amendment” adds “sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy,” as protected classes to the state constitution’s “equal protection” clause.

The state already has legalized abortion through all nine months of pregnancy under a 2019 law signed by then-Governor Andrew Cuomo. He subsequently ordered the One World Trade Center to be lit up in pink to celebrate abortion.

The change is the “most progressive” version of the ERA in the country, according to the New York Civil Liberties Union.

“New Yorkers used their vote to permanently protect abortion statewide, and showed up for LGBTQ, immigrant, and disabled New Yorkers by approving the most progressive and comprehensive state Equal Rights Amendment in the country,” the group wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

The proposal currently has about 57 percent of votes in favor, according to the state Board of Elections website.

The Women’s Liberation Front criticized the proposal ahead of its passage. The group is pro-abortion but supports the protection of women from gender-confused men in locker rooms and bathrooms.

The group said the ERA “puts women’s rights at danger by eroding the ability to have single-sex spaces and services.”

“While efforts to end discrimination can be applauded for their worthwhile goal, Prop 1 is nothing but an incoherent mix of hot-button, undefined, phrases — the result of which can only be disastrous for women’s civil rights,” the feminist group stated in its analysis.

Pro-abortion and pro-LGBT groups heavily backed the legislation, as LifeSiteNews previously reported.

“The ERA was advanced to protect access to abortion care, enshrine this basic right in our constitution, and protect people from discrimination,” Attorney General Letitia James said, using a euphemism for the killing of innocent preborn babies. “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,” she stated in a June 2024 news release.

“New Yorkers for Equal Rights” supported the amendment. The group is a coalition of left-wing activist organizations, including the ACLU, pro-abortion groups, and the New Pride Agenda.

The latter group explicitly supports placing gender-confused men in women’s prisons.

Meanwhile, the Archdiocese of New York and a conservative advocacy group had warned about the consequences of the amendment.

The amendment will embed “abortion on demand up until the moment of birth into our constitution,” the archdiocese says on its website.

It would also “undermine the ability of parents to make important decisions about their children’s health care. Children could be allowed to make life-altering decisions – such as ‘gender reassignment’ surgery – without parental consent or knowledge,” as LifeSiteNews previously reported.

“It would undermine legal protections based on a person’s age,” the archdiocese warned further. “Restrictions on the sexual activity of minors could be overturned, and bans on assisted suicide could be overturned.”

Religious rights would also be threatened, as institutions could be forced to participate in abortion and so-called “sex change” operations, which surgically and chemically mutilate gender-confused individuals.

The Independent Women’s Law Center previously explained its opposition to the amendment.

The law would say “any person has the right to ‘self-identify’ into women-only spaces, including domestic abuse shelters, sports, locker rooms, and prisons,” the conservative group wrote in a comment to the New York State Board of Elections, concerning the description of the proposal.

It warned the change would be “disastrous for women.”

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