Assemblymember Fred W. Thiele (D-Sag Harbor) today announced that last week the New York State Legislature passed an Equality Amendment to enshrine equal rights into the State Constitution and solidify the right to abortion access in New York. This concurrent resolution (A.41002) will ensure that the New York State Constitution protects individuals against discrimination based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, creed, religion or sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity or expression. To become law, the measure will need to pass again in the next legislative session before going to the voters for ultimate approval.

Assemblyman Thiele said, "The recent reversal of Roe v. Wade by the United States Supreme Court made it clear that New York must continue to stand up and be a national leader to secure women and individual rights. In 2019, the State Legislature codified Roe v. Wade into law and, just last month, passed new measures to protect doctors, providers and patients seeking a legal abortion. This resolution is a further step forward in ensuring that protections for women’s reproductive health care and equal rights for all New Yorkers are preserved in our State Constitution, not just under the law.

Year after year I have fought to make our state a better place for all Long Islanders and New Yorkers and I am proud to have contributed to the passage of the most comprehensive constitutional protection against discrimination of any state in the nation. I will keep fighting to move New York forward, not backward."