A proposed amendment to New York's constitution to bar discrimination over “gender identity” and “pregnancy outcomes” will appear on the ballot this November, the state's high court ruled Thursday.
The decision from the Court of Appeals affirms a lower court ruling from June, dismissing an appeal “upon the ground that no substantial constitutional question is directly involved," effectively declining to take up the case.
Democrats are hoping the ballot question will drive turnout in their favor this fall as the party frames the “equal rights” amendment as a way to protect abortion rights.
Republicans also have begun to strategize around the proposed amendment, moving to animate voters against the protections it might offer to transgender people.
A Republican state lawmaker had sued to block the ballot question, arguing that Democrats in the Legislature made a technical error when passing the amendment.
The state's Constitution currently bans discrimination based on race, color, creed or religion. The proposed amendment would add ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes and reproductive health care and autonomy.
It would not explicitly protect abortion rights in New York, where access to the procedure is already considered very safe. Instead, the proposed amendment would stop a person from being discriminated against for having an abortion.
The ballot question has been a crucial part of Democrats' election strategy in New York. The party has tried to center key House races in New York on abortion access, warning voters that Republicans would try to curtail access to the procedure and betting that Democrats would cast ballots to protect abortion rights after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Republicans in turn have moved to use the proposed amendment to energize their base, with some officials arguing it would allow minors to access gender-affirming health care without parental notification. Supporters of the ballot question have said it would not impact a parent's involvement in such medical decisions.
In a statement, New York Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox said the court was wrong to reject the legal challenge and said the proposed amendment “is a radical departure from common sense."
FILE - The New York Capitol is seen, June 30, 2022, in Albany, N.Y. A proposed amendment to New York's constitution to bar discrimination over “gender identity” and “pregnancy outcomes” will appear on the ballot this November, the state's high court ruled Thursday, July 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink, File)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A female student was killed and another student was wounded Wednesday in a shooting in a Nashville high school cafeteria, police said.
The 17-year-old shooter, who was also a student at Antioch High School, later shot and killed himself with a handgun, Metro Nashville Police spokesperson Don Aaron said during a news conference. Police identified him as Solomon Henderson.
Police Chief John Drake said the shooter “confronted” a 16-year-old female student in the cafeteria and opened fire, killing her. Police identified her as Josselin Corea Escalante. Drake said police are looking into a motive and whether the students who were shot were targeted.
The male student who was wounded suffered a graze, and was treated and released from the hospital, Drake said. Another student was taken to a hospital for treatment of a facial injury that happened during a fall, Aaron said.
There were two school resource officers in the building when the shooting happened around 11 a.m. CDT, Aaron said. They were not in the immediate vicinity of the cafeteria and by the time they got down there the shooting was over and the gunman had killed himself, Aaron said.
The school has about 2,000 students and is located in Antioch, a neighborhood about 10 miles (16 kilometers) southeast of downtown Nashville.
At a family safety center close to a hospital, officials were helping shocked parents to reunite with their children.
Dajuan Bernard was waiting at a Mapco service station to reunite with his son, a 10th grader, who was being held in the auditorium with other students on Wednesday afternoon. He first heard of the shooting from his son who “was a little startled,” Bernard said. His son was upstairs from the cafeteria but said he heard the gunfire.
“He was OK and let me know that everything was OK,” Bernard said.
“This world is so crazy, it could happen anywhere," he said. "We’ve just got to protect the kids, and raise the kids right to prevent them from even doing this. That’s the hardest part.”
Fonda Abner, whose granddaughter is a student at the school, said Antioch High does not have metal detectors that would alert officials to the presence of a gun. She said her granddaughter had called her a couple of times but that she only heard commotion and thought it was a pocket dial. They spoke briefly before being cut off.
“It’s nerve-wracking waiting out here,” Abner said.
Adrienne Battle, superintendent of Nashville schools, said public schools have implemented a “range of safety measures," including partnerships with police for school resource officers, security cameras with weapon-detection software, shatter-resistant film for glass, and security vestibules that are a barrier between outside visitors and the main entrance.
“Unfortunately, these measures were not enough to stop this tragedy,” Battle said.
She noted that there are questions about whether stationary metal detectors should be considered.
“While past research has shown they have had limitations and unintended consequences, we will continue to explore emerging technologies and strategies to strengthen school safety,” Battle said.
Wednesday’s school shooting comes nearly two years after a shooter opened fire at a separate Nashville private elementary school and killed six people, including three children.
The tragedy prompted a monthslong effort among hundreds of community organizers, families, protesters and many more pleading with lawmakers to consider passing gun control measures in response to the shooting.
However, in a Republican-dominant state, GOP lawmakers refused to do so. With the Republican supermajority intact after November’s election, it’s unlikely attitudes have changed enough to consider any meaningful bills that would address gun control.
Instead, lawmakers have been more open to adding more security to schools — including passing a bill last year that would allow some teachers and staff to carry concealed handguns on public school grounds, and bar parents and other teachers from knowing who was armed.
Antioch has endured other prominent shootings in recent years. A 2017 fatal shooting at Burnette Chapel Church of Christ killed one woman and wounded seven people. And in 2018, a shooter killed four people at a Waffle House.
Associated Press writers Kimberlee Kruesi in Nashville and Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee, contributed.
Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake talks to media following a shooting at Antioch High School in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
School buses arrive at a unification site following a shooting at the Antioch High School in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Students wait to get off a bus at a unification site following a shooting at the Antioch High School in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
A students and a family member walk from the Antioch High School after a shooting in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
People wait as school buses arrive at a unification site following a shooting at the Antioch High School in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
School buses arrive at a unification site following a shooting at the Antioch High School in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Families wait as school buses arrive at a unification site following a shooting at the Antioch High School in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
An ambulance leaves the Antioch High School following a shooting in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
An ambulance leaves the Antioch High School following a shooting in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Families wait a school buses arrive at a unification site following a shooting at the Antioch High School in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Dasia Pleitez prays as she waits for her daughter at a unification site following a shooting at the Antioch High School in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
School bus arrives at a unification site following a shooting at at Antioch High School in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
School buses arrive at a unification site following a shooting at Antioch High School in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
A school bus arrives at a unification site following a shooting at the Antioch High School in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
People wait as school buses arrive at a unification site following a shooting at the Antioch High School in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
An ambulance leaves the Antioch High School following a shooting in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
A school bus arrives at a unification site following a shooting at the Antioch High School in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)