A New York judge has declined to compel state election officials to explicitly mention the word “abortion” in the description of a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at expanding anti-discrimination protections, dealing a setback to Democrats who sought to clarify the measure’s implications for voters ahead of the November election.
In a ruling issued on Aug. 23, Albany County Supreme Court Judge David Weinstein concluded that while the proposed constitutional amendment could impact abortion, it was inappropriate to mandate that the term be included in the ballot’s explanatory text.
The amendment, known as Proposal Number One, seeks to broaden the state constitution’s anti-discrimination provisions by adding protections based on ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, and sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, and reproductive health care and autonomy….