NYCLU: Legal Effort to Thwart the New York ERA Is Political and Pedantic

LIVINGSTON COUNTY – Following today’s ruling in Marjorie Byrnes v. The Senate of the State of New York — a lawsuit to deny New Yorkers the opportunity to vote on the New York Equal Rights Amendment in November — the New York Civil Liberties Union issued the following statement, attributable to Executive Director Donna Lieberman:  

“Anti-abortion activists are throwing every attack they can at the New York Equal Rights Amendment because they know, if given the chance, New Yorkers will always vote for their equal rights and freedoms. There are years of precedent for how the State Senate moved this amendment forward. We are confident the ERA will ultimately be on the ballot this Fall and New Yorkers will have the opportunity to vote on it.

“Voters in state after state have gone to the polls to protect abortion rights. Now, as New York moves to protect abortion from shifting political winds, it’s never been more clear why we need the New York Equal Rights Amendment. When we move to protect abortion or protect New Yorkers from government discrimination, we face desperate opposition at every turn — we won’t back down.”

The New York Civil Liberties Union is working alongside New Yorkers for Equal Rights to pass the Equal Rights Amendment.