(NEW YORK ) — In New York State next month, voters will decide on Proposal 1, an effort to protect reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights, among others. 

Prop 1 is a ballot initiative that would amend part of the New York State Constitution and expand the criteria for protection from state government discrimination. According to NYC Votes, “The proposal adds protections to the State Constitution’s Bill of Rights to prohibit discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, origin, age, disability, and sex — including sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, and pregnancy outcomes. It would also protect New Yorkers who seek access to reproductive healthcare from discrimination on that basis.”

Caitlin Hunter, Region 3 Community Organizer at Planned Parenthood of Greater New York Action Fund, who supports the constitutional amendment, spoke to The Click about what New Yorkers should know about the issue before voting. 

This conversation has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

THE CLICK: Tell me why passing Prop 1 is important, and whom it would protect. Prop 1 is about abortion and issues surrounding that, but it’s also related to transgender rights and gender identity, right? 

Hunter: Prop 1 is an amendment to our state constitution to protect New Yorkers’ rights and reproductive freedoms. So, who does Prop 1 protect? Currently in our state constitution, only race and religion are protected against state government discrimination. 

Prop 1 would amend our state constitution to protect New Yorkers based on age, disability status, sexual orientation … national origin, and ethnicity. Also, we’re talking about gender, that’s a key component of Prop 1. And then pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes including reproductive healthcare. That’s the key piece here and how abortion is included in this ballot initiative. [With] reproductive healthcare as we’ve seen, it’s not only abortion that’s under attack, it’s access to contraception, it’s access to fertility treatments including IVF. 

And we’re [also] talking about trans rights absolutely. The sexual orientation piece of Prop 1 is inclusive of that, because we know that trans rights are under attack across the country. So, in New York State, this moment is really important to protect all New Yorkers, no matter who you are, where you come from, who you love – this is the chance to protect them from government discrimination.

What would you say to people who say “New York City and New York State is progressive, we don’t need Prop 1.” 

New York is a lot more purple than we think. There are liberal pockets, but it’s important to note that in our last gubernatorial election, an anti-abortion candidate came within five points of the governor’s mansion. New York has a long history of having anti-abortion legislatures … it hasn’t always been democratically held. [ . . . ] We have the opportunity to solidify New Yorkers’ rights in our state constitution, because laws can be overturned. We want to make sure that New Yorkers aren’t discriminated against by any politicians, it doesn’t matter what side of the aisle they’re on.

Can you talk about organizing strategies? What are opponents of Prop 1 doing?

Our organizing strategies have been very classic of what you would see in any campaign. Classic ground game, text bank, phone bank, high visibility event tabling, crowd canvassing, door knocking. Now it’s full-court press, people are really starting to pay attention. They’re like, “Oh yeah, an election is happening in five weeks!”  . . . As far as opposition goes, I don’t have time to worry about them, because I have been singularly focused on one thing, and that is winning on Nov. 5.

If people are reading this in New York and support Prop 1, what can they do – what would be most impactful?

The first thing that would be most impactful would be to vote yes on election day for Prop 1, it will be on the back of your ballot. Depending on the amount of time anyone has, there’s different levels of ways that people can get engaged. The lowest lift [would be] to follow the campaign on any of the socials, and repost. If someone is really committed, there’s a Mobilize Link that has volunteer opportunities from now until election day. If you want to volunteer for the Prop 1 campaign in New York State, every single day there’s an opportunity through Mobilize.