
Topic: New York State Equal Rights Amendment (Proposal 1)
Featured Speaker: Jenna Lauter*
Policy Counsel at New York Civil Liberties Union
Tuesday, October 1, 2024
7 pm to 9 pm
Scarsdale Public Library, Scott Room
Event is free and open to the public (league membership not required).
Light refreshments will be provided.
RSVPs are appreciated for planning purposes.
Prop 1 has the effect of cementing existing legal rights into the NYS Constitution, which currently prohibits race and religion based discrimination. The amendment expands coverage to include protections against discrimination by the government based on ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, and sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy.
As we have witnessed on the national front, complacency is dangerous, and laws that we assumed were safe may change overnight with the political tides. Prop 1 is about ensuring that we New Yorkers, not politicians, control our healthcare decisions and personal futures.
Follow these links for more information on the NYS ERA (Proposal 1) that will appear on the back side of the November 5, 2024, general election ballot:
- LWVS Board Press Release
- LWV NYS ERA webpage
- NYCLU’s guide to what you need to know about the NYS ERA
- New Yorkers for Equal Rights Coalition’s website

*Speaker bio:
Jenna Lauter is a Policy Counsel at the New York Civil Liberties Union, where she focuses on issues related to reproductive rights and birth and family justice. She joined the NYCLU as an Equal Justice Works Fellow advocating against family separation and surveillance by the family regulation system (“child protective services”).
During law school, Lauter participated in the Community Advocacy Lab Clinic, where she researched and strategized to combat fees charged to incarcerated New Yorkers. She also interned with the Brennan Center for Justice, Mecklenburg Defenders, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, and the NYCLU. Prior to law school, Lauter worked for several years in government, politics, and advocacy at the city, state, and national levels. She is a graduate of Barnard College (’13) and Columbia Law School (’21).