The vote to lead by 72% to 28% when Associated Press called the race after 9 p.m. Eastern time with less than a third of the ballot.

The amendment amends the constitution to prevent the denial of a person’s rights based on “ethnicity, national origin, age and disability” or “sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcome, and reproduction.” health and autonomy.”

The Equal Rights Amendment had already passed the New York legislature last year in two consecutive sessions, but it also had to be ratified by a simple majority vote in November to become part of the Empire State constitution.

Although Democratic supporters of the Equal Rights Amendment argued that the measure was necessary to protect access to abortion in the state, the campaign against Proposition 1 argued that it was not necessary to protect access to abortion.

“New York legalized abortion in 1970 and is under no threat of repeal,” he said statement from the New York Republican Party on the measure said.

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New York State’s Reproductive Health Act, passed in 2019, legalizes abortion up to 24 weeks of gestation, which is often considered the approximate length of pregnancy that a fetus can survive outside the mother’s womb. It also allows abortion at any point in pregnancy to protect a woman’s life or health.

Coalition for the Protection of Children-NY criticized the amendment uses “dramatically vague” language that would, in effect, eliminate parental consent for decisions related to minors’ sexual orientation, gender identity and reproductive health. In the final days of the election season, the group New Yorkers for Equal Rights is spending up to $2.4 million on ads in support of the amendment. In September, the group spent only about 25 percent of its budget on direct voter mobilization.