A hard-hitting TV advert claims a New York poll measure meant to enshrine abortion rights within the state structure will even profit unlawful immigrants and “open the door” to permitting non-citizens to vote in New York elections.
“The border is damaged. New York is paying the worth. And Proposal 1 would make it worse,” the narrator warns within the 30-second advert, paid for by the Vote No on Prop 1 Committee.
“This isn’t about equal rights. It’s about particular rights for unlawful immigrants,” the narrator says.
The message performs over footage of migrants storming the border and even stomping on a police officer.
The advert notes that the textual content of the proposed constitutional modification would supply equal rights protections based mostly on “nationwide origin” — which critics declare may “block native efforts to cope with the migrant disaster, give illegals a constitutional proper to taxpayer advantages and open the door to non-citizens voting.”
“Combat again. Vote No on Prop 1,” the TV advert calls for.
A rep for the Vote No on Prop 1 Committee stated the TV advert will air statewide starting Monday evening. The advert purchase is anticipated to be substantial — even reaching seven figures, although the rep didn’t present a precise price.
The obscure language of Prop 1 has been roundly criticized, even by supporters.
Whereas promoted as an modification to codify the best to an abortion within the state structure, the proposition doesn’t embody the phrase “abortion” within the textual content of the poll query. New York has among the many strongest abortion rights legal guidelines within the nation, and the best to terminate a being pregnant will not be threatened on the state stage.
The poll measure requires equal rights based mostly on “being pregnant, being pregnant outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy.”
It additionally proposes equal rights based mostly on “ethnicity, nationwide origin” in addition to “gender identification” and “gender expression.”
Opponents stated that language will enable organic males who establish as transgender to compete in opposition to girls in sports activities or enable youths to get sexual reassignment surgical procedure with out parental notification or approval.
Critics have additionally claimed different language within the proposal may remove merit-based standards for acceptance into New York Metropolis’s specialised excessive colleges and discriminate in opposition to Asian American college students who’re disproportionately enrolled.
The “Vote No on Prop 1” committee was solely registered with the state Board of Elections in late September. It’s but to file any disclosure studies.
The group of primarily Democratic-aligned backers who’re pushing Prop 1 is well-funded. Their poll difficulty committee, New Yorkers for Equal Rights, has spent over $2.8 million pushing the measure over the past two years.
The measure’s main backers embody the New York Civil Liberties Union, Deliberate Parenthood, Make the Highway New York, Service Workers Worldwide Union and New York State United Lecturers.
New Yorkers for Equal Rights have accused opponents of scaremongering. Polling has proven {that a} majority of voters help the measure, although opposition has grown in suburban districts the place there are battleground congressional races.
The opposite major anti-Prop 1 committee, Coalition to Defend Children, has run a much more lean operation, solely spending $46,000 to this point, based on their filings with the state elections board.