Hochul airs abortion amendment ad
She doesn’t rule out an extraordinary session to pass an “Equality Amendment”
Gov. Kathy Hochul is airing two campaign ads that highlight her continued push for an amendment to the New York Constitution to protect a person’s right to an abortion. The advertising blitz is taking place despite the scheduled legislative session concluding last week without accomplishing that goal.
It remains possible that the governor will summon lawmakers back to the Capitol before an August deadline to pass an amendment and ensure it can reach the ballot box by 2024. If so, it also could be accomplished ahead of the governor’s potential general election race.
“With so much at stake and Roe v. Wade on the chopping block, governors are the last line of defense to protect abortion and in New York the Republican candidates want to strip it away,” a TV ad that was first released on May 17 states. “But Kathy Hochul won’t let that happen. She’s working to amend the state constitution so that no matter how the Supreme Court rules in Washington, your right to a safe abortion is protected in New York.”
The ad contrasts Hochul with her Republican opponents U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, of Long Island, and Andrew Giuliani. Hochul faces a Democratic primary on June 28 against moderate U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, of Long Island, and progressive New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, neither of whom are mentioned in the ad.
Her campaign released an additional ad Monday that emphasizes Hochul’s desire to pass a constitutional amendment on abortion rights.
“Gov. Kathy Hochul is ensuring that New York always protects the right to an abortion — from health plans to the state constitution,” the ad’s narrator states.
On screen, it shows Hochul speaking at a rally in Brooklyn with an ABC New York quote: “The governor is also calling on the Legislature to pass the Equal Rights Amendment.”
Hochul’s campaign, three weeks out from the primary, deferred comment on whether Hochul still expects to see a constitutional amendment pass the Legislature now that session has concluded until the new year.
Hochul’s office pointed to the work the Legislature was able to accomplish, such as legal protections for people coming from out of state seeking abortions and measures protecting the ability of physicians to prescribe emergency contraceptive treatments through telemedicine visits, including to out-of-state patients. They also pointed to the governor directing $35 million to increase staff and security for abortion providers.
Her office also suggested the constitutional amendment could still get done.
“We remain committed to further enshrining these protections into our constitution and will continue working with the Legislature and advocates to explore how best to do so,” spokeswoman Hazel Cramptonhays said in a statement.
The soonest an abortion rights amendment could make it onto the ballot would likely be in two years, if the Legislature was to find a path to approving it this year. Without voting on the language for a constitutional amendment by around August, it would likely move the prospect of a constitutional amendment to 2026.
The governor could call an “extraordinary session” this year, which would call lawmakers back to Albany to address specific issues; a “special session” would open up the Legislature to address any outstanding issue, which could lead to more controversy and debate.
“I don’t think anybody would be opposed to coming back if we don’t resolve it now,” state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewartcousins said last week, prior to the end of session.
Despite general agreement among the Democratic supermajorities in both chambers, and support from the governor, the proposed legislation did not make it to a vote due to debate over how to craft it.
An “Equality Amendment” was supported by state Sen. Liz Krueger, D-manhttan. She said she had tried 10 or so iterations of it in the waning days of session, which limited the issues lawmakers and advocacy groups had with it down to essentially one: how to protect individual rights to an abortion while holding onto current religious rights exempted in law.
“If somebody wants to come up with language where my leader, the leader of the Assembly and the governor can all go, ‘Whoopee, we’ve done it,’ I would run back to Albany any day, anytime and drag my colleagues with me to get this done,” Krueger said in an interview Monday. “But that really requires something to happen that has not yet happened.”
In 2019, the state passed a protection to an abortion, which was signed into law by then-gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. The proposition by Krueger would go a step further by enshrining the law in the state constitution. New Yorkers are expected to retain their right to an abortion regardless of the outcome in the Supreme Court, which is expected to issue a decision this summer.
Krueger’s legislation is also a broader ask than the right to a safe and legal abortion. It is intended to ensure that “no person shall be denied equal rights” based on their race, ethnicity, disability, sex including pregnancy and gender identity.
It is meant to protect New Yorkers from any erosion of a federal constitutional abortion right and also any potential rollbacks of other individual liberties, such as same sex or interracial marriage. Krueger said working around religious exemptions has become a tricky legal issue, which is why the efforts stalled before the end of session.
“We flunked that assignment just last week, but not for a lack of trying,” the senator said.