Upstate New York Freethinkers helped pass the NYS Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which explicitly prohibits government discrimination based on ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, and sex—including sexual orientation, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare. These protections were adopted into the New York State Constitution starting January 1, 2025.
Alongside abortion rights, the constitutional amendment includes expansive language pledging protections for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual, aromantic, and agender plus other sexual and gender identities (LGBTQIA+) community. This will implement constitutional protections for “pregnancy outcomes.” The state will not be able to curtail reproductive autonomy or access to reproductive health care and is barred from implementing an abortion ban or halting state funding for abortion via Medicaid. Although abortion is currently legal in New York until fetal viability, our constitution will now protect abortion rights. Sixty two percent of New Yorkers, or more than 4.5 million, voted yes on this amendment.
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These victories are made possible by active constituent advocacy. Explore our active campaigns, vote on current church-state legislation, or join our Get Out The Vote initiative.
Upstate New York Freethinkers, a chapter of the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), is formed for the charitable purposes of promoting the constitutional principle of separation of state and church and educating the public on matters relating to nontheism.
We are a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) organization. We do not endorse candidates or political parties; we engage with elected officials across all districts strictly to advocate for church-state separation and religious freedom.
Legislation information, resources, and organization information are provided strictly for educational and identification purposes only, with no endorsement of any candidate. Legislative content is presented continuously, during non-election periods, and consistently without bias.
Upstate New York Freethinkers is not a law firm, accounting firm, or financial services firm, and does not provide legal, accounting, financial, or tax services or advice.