Dear Friend,

New Yorkers across the state gathered to voice their support for the Equality Amendment to protect New Yorkers from discrimination last week (A.1283). I’m excited to announce that I voted to pass this resolution that would memorialize in our state Constitution protections against discrimination based on an individual’s ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, or sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression as well as pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes and reproductive health care decisions. Current constitutional protections include protections against discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion or creed and this expansion builds on and reaffirms the state’s commitment to protecting all New Yorkers from unjust and prejudicial treatment on the basis of their identity.

Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s devastating decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, enshrining reproductive rights in our state constitution is paramount. This measure builds on New York’s record of protecting people’s fundamental right to choose.

Here in the Assembly, we fought to codify Roe v. Wade into state law. Last year, the Assembly also passed laws to protect health care providers and patients from other states’ attempts to limit lawful access to abortion in New York State (Chs. 218, 219, 220, 221 and 222 of 2022).

What does the passage of the Equality Amendment mean for you? After passing both houses of the Legislature for a second consecutive year, the Equality Amendment will now go before voters as a ballot referendum in November 2024.

As your representative, I’m always here for you. For more information on the Equality Amendment, please visit here.

Sincerely,

Tony Simone