Op-ed | In wrongful death cases, women have the same rights they did in 1847: none.

New York’s wrongful death laws were written in 1847, the same year the first women’s rights convention was held in Seneca Falls.  

At that convention, an agenda was set for the women’s rights movement, and 12 resolutions, calling for equal treatment of women, were adopted. The Declaration of Sentiments, as it was called, set forth an ambitious plan. Among the resolutions is one noting that women, “if married, in the eye of the law [are] civilly dead.” 

Last week, on the 175th anniversary of the convention, Governor Kathy Hochul stood in Seneca Falls and delivered remarks that included support for modern-day, federal movements like the Equal Rights Amendment, or ERA.