A judge decided that a change to New York’s rules, meant to stop unfair treatment based on “gender identity” and “pregnancy outcomes,” can’t be voted on in November. This is because lawmakers didn’t follow the right steps when they first said yes to it. Both Democrats and Republicans wanted this change to be on the ballot to get more people to vote.
Democrats came up with this idea last year. They wanted to make sure nobody gets treated unfairly because of things like whether they’re pregnant or how they express their gender. They hoped voters would support it in 2024. This change wouldn’t directly say it’s okay to have an abortion, but it would make it harder for people to discriminate against someone who had one.
This decision is bad news for Democrats who wanted to get more people to vote by talking about abortion rights. They hoped this would make their supporters want to vote more, especially after the Roe v. Wade decision changed things.
Right now, New York’s rules say you can’t be treated unfairly because of things like your race or religion. This change would add more things to that list, like your gender or whether you’re pregnant.
As the 2024 election gets closer, Republicans have started talking loudly about why they don’t like this change. They say it would let transgender girls play in girls’ sports, which they don’t agree with.
The Attorney General, Letitia James, said she’s going to try to change the judge’s decision. She thinks it’s important to protect people’s rights, especially when things like abortion rights are being threatened.
A Republican state Assemblywoman named Marjorie Byrnes started the lawsuit against this change. She didn’t think it was fair. The leader of the New York Republican Party, Ed Cox, said he’s happy with the judge’s decision. He thinks the lawmakers didn’t think enough about this change and didn’t ask the right people about it before saying yes.
