With just one day until the general election, advocates and electeds gathered at the Peekskill gazebo in front of State Sen. Peter Harckham’s campaign headquarters Monday at 3:30 p.m. to rally in support of Proposition 1. Harckham was joined by both local and state officials including New York State Attorney General Letitia James.
The statewide ballot proposal seeks to update the Constitution for the first time since 1938 to include new protected classes including ethnicity, disability, age, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy or pregnancy outcomes and reproductive health care and autonomy.
Harckham told the Herald that the proposal is important to protect women’s reproductive health care freedom and further codify Roe v. Wade into the Constitution.
“The Constitution hasn’t been updated since 1938, so it’s pivotal that we have equal protections for every New Yorker under the law, and that’s what this does,” he said.
Speakers at the event included both Harckham and state Sen. Shelley Mayer (NY-37), Mayor Vivian McKenzie, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, Deputy County Executive Ken Jenkins, Assemblywoman Dana Levenberg, Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion—Choice Matters President Catherine Lederer-Plaskett, and Attorney General James.
A.G. James told the Herald she came to both support Democratic candidates in their re-election bid and dispel all of the myths that have been advertised about Prop 1.
“It’s really critically important that individuals vote yes for Prop 1, that we enshrine into our Constitution reproductive rights,” James said. “Because given what is happening in Texas and in Georgia, where four women have died in Texas and women in Georgia are bleeding out in bathrooms, we don’t want that happening not only in Georgia and in Texas, but also in New York. And although a lot of people think that New York is blue, the reality is that we can’t take a chance and we can’t gamble on that.”
Levenberg told the Herald Prop 1 was one of the most important propositions on the ballot in years, particularly with the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
“Having something in law is not enough,” Levenberg said. “…We need to enshrine what is currently in New York State law into the State Constitution to make sure women’s rights are protected, as well as many other individuals rights who are not currently protected.”
Michelle Keller, an advocate for Prop 1, said she found a sense of commonality, freedom, and love for human beings at the event.
Elena Walker, a longtime Peekskill resident, was one of two protesting the event. She said that abortion rights were already legally codified in the state and that she was against the proposal because it affects parental rights.
“We need to vote this down,” Walker said. “We do not need further protection. We need to protect our parents, the schools can do what they want with our kids and do transitioning. If this passes, they can get them vaccinations without our permission.”
State Sen. Harckham’s opponent in his bid for re-election, Gina Arena, is also against the ballot proposal and has claimed it would allow men in girls sports. Harckham described such concerns as being fearmongering.
“This does not expand rights, it just guarantees existing rights,” Harckham told the Herald. “And the notion that this will allow immigrants to vote or men to play in girl sports is really just hogwash and a distraction to try and get folks who might be inclined to vote to protect reproductive health care freedom to think twice.”
