New York’s Prop. 1 misrepresented online | Fact check

An Oct. 26 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) urges New York residents to vote against a proposition on the ballot in the 2024 election.
“ALERT NY STATE: Democrats are trying to pass Proposition One on the November 5 ballot, which will strip parental rights and grant benefits and voting rights to illegal aliens,” it reads in part. 
It goes on to list five more things it claims the proposition would do:
Another version of the claim on Instagram was liked nearly 1,500 times before it was deleted. The claim also circulated on X, formerly Twitter.  
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The post exaggerates the proposition’s impact on multiple fronts. The post is wrong about voting, as the proposition doesn’t contain any reference to granting voting rights to people in the country illegally. The post also attributes policy changes on parental rights and benefits for immigrants to the proposition, when such measures are already in place. An expert said the proposition is a “backstop” that would help retain the referenced rights if other existing legal protections are dismantled.
Proposition 1, also known as the Equal Rights Amendment, is a proposed state constitutional amendment that would expand anti-discrimination protections for certain groups, including immigrants and those who have changed their gender identity.
Here’s the full wording of the proposition, with proposed changes in bold: 
No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws of this state or any subdivision thereof. No person shall, because of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, creed [or], religion, or sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy, be subjected to any discrimination in their civil rights by any other person or by any firm, corporation, or institution, or by the state or any agency or subdivision of the state, pursuant to law. 
b. Nothing in this section shall invalidate or prevent the adoption of any law, regulation, program, or practice that is designed to prevent or dismantle discrimination on the basis of a characteristic listed in this section, nor shall any characteristic listed in this section be interpreted to interfere with, limit, or deny the civil rights of any person based upon any other characteristic identified in this section. 
The statement serves as a “backstop” if existing laws pertaining to such characteristics – reproductive rights, for example – are eliminated, said Andrew Lieb, an attorney with expertise in constitutional law and managing partner of the New York-based firm Lieb at Law.  
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“Whenever rights are protected in the constitution, it’s harder to then pass a statute due to political whims to weaken them,” said Syracuse University law professor Katherine Macfarlane.  
The experts and the New York City Bar said the claims in the post are largely baseless. Here’s a rundown of why they said that is:
Ultimately, Macfarlane said the actual language in the proposition has little relation to how it is being characterized on social media.
“The idea that we want to write (such protections) into the constitution isn’t something revolutionary or radical, it’s just enshrining them in a more legally sound way,” she said.  
USA TODAY has debunked an array of claims related to legislation on gender identity, including false assertions that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signed a bill that redefined “sexual orientation” to include pedophiles, that a Michigan bill would make misgendering someone a felony and that a California bill could remove custody from parents who refuse gender-affirming surgery for their children.  
USA TODAY reached out to users who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive responses.
Lead Stories and PolitiFact also debunked versions of the claim.
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