Also known as New York Proposal 1, the amendment would add language to the New York Bill of Rights to provide that people cannot be denied rights based on their "ethnicity, national origin, age, and disability" or "sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy."
A "yes" vote supports these additions. A "no" vote would oppose adding this language.
Talking about this on the "Washington Watch" program, Jason McGuire of New York Families Action said his organization has another name for this ballot initiative.
"We prefer the term the Gender Amendment or even the Parent Replacement Act because this amendment goes further than many of the other states. This is adding not just the fundamental right to an abortion 
inside our state constitution, but it's also elevating some other protected class statuses such as gender identity, gender expression, and yes, pregnancy outcomes, sexual orientation, other things that will elevate those protected class statuses to essentially the same fundamental right as my right to religious liberty."
That, said McGuire, is "why this is so dangerous" in New York.
"You'll always be one court decision away from losing your parental rights. So, if Prop 1 is successful, all it would take is a court decision, a judge somewhere, and in a very liberal state like New York they're not hard to find, who would really elevate the rights of that child over parental rights. So, if a child says perhaps 'I don't want to be homeschooled any longer,' or 'I don't want to attend a private school,' or 'I think I want to change my gender identity or my name or whatever,' it might be that will be up to a judge's decision rather than mom or dad. It pits parents against their children here in in New York."
Setting back equality for women
Proposal 1 puts women’s public spaces in grave danger, writes Inez Stepman in an op-ed for Townhall.com.
“The reality is that important differences between the sexes not only exist but must be recognized and respected in order for women and girls to enjoy the privacy, opportunity, and even basic safety to which they are entitled. Prop 1 will make acting on this simple truth—that men and women are equal, but not the same or interchangeable—unconstitutional in the state of New York. In practice, this will erase women’s rights,” Stepman writes.
