New York judge rules against abortion amendment appearing on ballot

Judge Daniel J. Doyle on Tuesday ruled that a measure to enshrine abortion in the state’s constitution would not appear on voters’ ballots in November. Doyle found that the New York Legislature failed to follow the proper procedures in drafting the amendment to put before the voters of the state. State Attorney General Letitia James told WORLD she plans to appeal the ruling.

How did the legislature do that? The legislature followed improper procedure in drafting and approving the proposed amendment, Doyle said. The state’s constitution requires the legislature to send a draft of the proposal to the New York Attorney General’s office before voting on it. The legislature cannot vote on the amendment until after the attorney general delivers back an opinion on the probable effect of the amendment.

In this case, the New York State Legislature did not wait for James’ opinion before voting on the amendment. Several Republican members of the legislature filed a suit challenging the legitimacy of the amendment. After hearing arguments, Doyle found the proposed amendment to be illegitimate.

What happens now? As of Tuesday’s decision, the proposed amendment will not appear on voters’ ballots in the Nov. 5 election.

Dig deeper: Read Thaddeus Williams’ column in WORLD Opinions about avoiding improper rhetoric when discussing abortion.