Opinion: New Yorkers should decide on reproductive justice — not politicians. Vote 'yes' on Prop 1
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Zohran K. Mamdani represents Astoria and Long Island City in the state Assembly and is a 2025 New York City mayoral candidate. Eagle file photo by ryan Schwach
By Zohran K. Mamdani
Unimaginable pain. No medical recourse. A slowly spreading infection that shuts your organs down and kills you. This is not the result of a rare disease — this is what is at stake in New York’s upcoming general election.
Let me explain.
My name is Zohran Kwame Mamdani, and I represent Astoria and Long Island City in the State Assembly. Every year, I go to Albany from January to June to fight to pass legislation to ensure my constituents can live more dignified lives. Making our public transit reliable, safe, and universally accessible; funding CUNY; and fighting back against utility shut offs are all on my legislative agenda for 2025. However, there is one issue that we as lawmakers should have no power over: reproductive rights.
Yet after the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, a wave of politicians have fought tooth and nail to repeal Americans' rights to reproductive healthcare, including in New York. While we may think of New York as a safe haven for abortions, our State Legislature and governor can repeal laws protecting reproductive healthcare. At a moment's notice, New Yorkers' right to receive life-saving healthcare can disappear.
On November 5, New Yorkers have an opportunity to change this reality: voting for Proposition 1. Prop 1 is a constitutional amendment that offers first-of-its-kind protections for reproductive rights, including access to abortion, birth control, and IVF.
Access to sexual and reproductive healthcare should be guaranteed for New Yorkers — not dependent on who is in office. Without Prop 1, New Yorkers may very well face deadly consequences.
New York’s Future Hanging in the Balance
Take Georgia, for example. This past September, reports emerged detailing how two Georgian women died excruciating deaths due to the state's newly passed anti-abortion laws. Amber Nicole Thurman and Candi Miller experienced a rare but serious complication after taking abortion pills — the need to expel remaining fetal tissue left over from the procedure. Facing a complication known to sometimes happen after abortions, unintentional miscarriages, and stillbirths, Miller and Thurman needed a routine operation. However, they were unable to get it because it was deemed illegal under Georgia's new abortion ban. Any doctor who violates these laws can face up to ten years behind bars, meaning many healthcare professionals cannot help patients seeking simple yet life-saving healthcare, even if the situation is deemed an emergency
For Thurman and Miller, an infection developed and spread, doctors were unable to help them, and with family members watching, they died in agony. As ProPublica reported, their deaths were classified as entirely preventable. But Georgia's newly passed bans outlawed a simple, life-saving procedure due to it technically being a form of abortion.
What separates my constituents from stories like this is they live in a blue state in which abortion is currently protected. But that can easily change. After all, Governor Kathy Hochul beat her anti-abortion challenger Lee Zeldin by 300,000 votes in 2022 — only 5 percent of the vote. Zeldin, who lauded the overturning of Roe v. Wade as a "victory for life, for family, for the Constitution,” came dangerously close to becoming our state’s ultimate decision-maker when it comes to abortion. It wasn’t so long ago that New York was controlled by Republicans looking to restrict reproductive rights. A pro-choice trifecta has only ruled Albany since 2019 — Republicans controlled the Senate from 2011 to 2018, and Republicans controlled New York’s governorship and Senate from 1995 to 2006.
Worse yet, 22 states now ban or restrict abortions across the country — already almost 14 percent of calls to the NYC Access Abortion Hub come from out of state. Even before the overturning of Roe v. Wade, researchers found higher maternal mortality rates in states with more restrictive abortion policies. Prop 1 can stop this trend from reaching New York.
A golden opportunity
Formerly known as the New York Equal Rights Amendment, Prop 1 offers us a golden opportunity to guarantee New Yorkers' access to abortion and ensure that broader reproductive rights are permanently enshrined in New York's Bill of Rights.
Unlike current laws, Prop 1 prevents future politicians from rolling back New Yorkers' rights to reproductive healthcare. It also protects clinics state-wide that provide abortion and reproductive healthcare, and stops bad actors looking to block private insurance from covering abortions. Ensuring that no New Yorker faces a tragic death like Miller’s and Thurman’s, Prop 1 prevents the criminalization of miscarriages and stillbirths.
Another major benefit is that Prop 1 closes loopholes in New York's constitution so that New York lawmakers cannot create discriminatory policies. New York’s constitution currently only provides protections based on race, creed, color, and religion — leaving seniors, disabled community members, pregnant New Yorkers, and our LGBTQIA+ neighbors behind. With Prop 1, lawmakers will no longer be able to enact discriminatory laws targeting our neighbors based on who they are, what they look like, who they love, or the healthcare they need.
While it may feel like pro-choice leaders will always be in control in New York, we are not immune to anti-abortion extremism — now and in the future.
Well-organized anti-abortion activists and lawmakers are working hard to kill Prop 1. But we can’t let them succeed. A vast majority of New Yorkers believe that abortion should be legal, safe, and widely available.
Prop 1 is our key to making that a reality.
Zohran K. Mamdani represents Astoria and Long Island City in the New York State Assembly and is a 2025 New York City mayoral candidate.
