Senate Advances Amendment to Codify Abortion, Contraception, and Stronger Equal Rights in State Constitution

The New York State Senate advanced the first passage of an amendment to codify the right to an abortion and the right to contraception in the State Constitution. The amendment will also update the existing Equal Rights Amendment to extend current protections to several new classes, including on the basis of sex, disability, national origin, ethnicity, and age. Read the Senate Majority Release.

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said, “The reversal of Roe v. Wade made it clear that New York State must continue to stand up and be a national leader to protect women and individual rights. That is why we are proactively codifying broader equal rights under the law and ensuring the constitutional right to abortion and contraception in New York. This is a massive step forward for our state while others move backwards, and an important stance against the Supreme Court’s attacks on our rights. I am incredibly proud of our conference for advancing these historic changes to our constitution and thank Speaker Heastie and Governor Hochul for their partnership in getting this done.”