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NY doctors make final pitch for Prop 1 ballot measure reinforcing abortion rights
By
Caroline Lewis
Published Nov 4, 2024
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Caroline Lewis
Published Nov 4, 2024
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A group of New York doctors is making a last-minute attempt to sway voters in favor of Proposition 1, a ballot measure that would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution.
A letter released Monday with more than 150 signatures from health care providers across specialties argues that Prop 1 is crucial for protecting reproductive health care access in New York amid abortion restrictions and bans in other states that have made it harder for some pregnant patients to get needed medical services — even if they’re not seeking an abortion.
The measure would also prohibit discrimination based on a range of new characteristics such as gender identity, sexual orientation, age and national origin.
**“**The bottom line is that the full range of sexual and reproductive health care decisions must be made between patients and their doctors – without government interference,” the letter states. “Prop 1 blocks New York politicians from interfering in the patient-provider relationship.”
The letter goes on to say that since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, eliminating the constitutional right to abortion at the national level, “many of our colleagues across the country are navigating impossible decisions” with regard to patient care.
Some of the doctors who signed the letter supporting Prop 1, also known as the Equal Rights Amendment, say they have seen firsthand the dangers of restrictions in other states.
Dr. Linda Prine is a family physician in New York and also prescribes abortion pills to patients in other states through the group Aid Access.
She said most of the time, people are able to take the medication without needing in-person follow-up care. But she said there are some cases where people do need medical attention and are either afraid to seek it out or get turned away because of restrictions in their states.
“This is just the most nerve-wracking thing for people to go through,” Prine said.
Some opponents of Prop 1 say it’s unnecessary because there’s no real threat to abortion rights in New York, given the Democratic majority in the Legislature. Abortion has been legal in New York since before Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973, and the state has sought to strengthen abortion access through additional legislation since the Supreme Court overturned the decision.
But those who support the amendment say they don't want to take any chances amid a more volatile political climate.
“We can't risk having to live the way people in Texas are having to live or the way people in Louisiana or Alabama are having to live,” Prine said.
Prop 1 would prevent state lawmakers from overturning abortion rights without again going through the multiyear process of amending the state constitution, explained Katharine Bodde, interim co-director of policy at the New York Civil Liberties Union, which has advocated for the Equal Rights Amendment.
The eleventh-hour missive from health care providers seeks to center reproductive rights in the Prop 1 debate as opponents ramp up their efforts to derail the ballot measure, painting it as an underhanded attempt by the left to advance a much broader agenda.
A TV attack ad from the Vote NO on Prop One Committee warns that the measure will create “special rights for illegal immigrants.”
Meanwhile, opponents with the Coalition to Protect Kids NY have focused on Prop 1’s language around protections for “gender identity” and “gender expression,” arguing that the measure could make it easier for minors to take steps to transition to a different gender without their parents’ consent.
The New York City Bar Association has released a guide to what the amendment will and won’t do, which states that “parental rights” and federal and state immigration laws won’t be affected.
The amendment's main goal is to reinforce existing federal and state laws, Bodde said.
Dr. Chelsea Faso, a doctor with the Institute of Family Health in New York City and chair of the Advocacy Commission of the New York State Academy of Family Physicians, said signing the letter in support of Prop 1 was largely about protecting her ability to do her job.
“It really goes against our medical ethics when we are unable to practice in the best interests of our patients,” Faso said.
Prop 1 is one of six measures that will appear on New Yorkers’ ballots at the polls.
Tagged
new york
Health and Science
abortion rights
election
Caroline Lewis
Caroline Lewis is on the health care beat for WNYC and Gothamist. She has covered COVID, a nurses' strike, the overdose crisis and New York’s marijuana legalization effort, and spent a year investigating patients' medical bills. She always wants to hear about how everyday New Yorkers experience the health system. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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