As New York lawmakers gather on Thursday to approve measures meant to further tighten gun laws following a Supreme Court ruling, Gov. Kathy Hochul is signaling she wants the Legislature to also address a separate court decision: The overturning of Roe v. Wade. 

Hochul is urging lawmakers to reach an agreement on the proposed, but stalled amendment to the state constitution that would put equality protections in place for New Yorkers.

The Thursday extraordinary session of the Legislature was called by the governor last week to take up measures to tighten restrictions on where guns can be carried in public and licensing requirements for carrying a firearm. 

"However, as a strong supporter of an equality amendment, I am open to widening that scope a little bit to deal with this," Hochul said Wednesday during an unrelated news conference. "I know it's been worked on for years even in this last session."

The amendment has been stuck in neutral due to disagreements among Democratic lawmakers over religious protection language in the amendment. New York has protections in place for abortion rights and earlier this month legislation was approved meant to strengthen legal protections for women from outside New York seeking abortions as well as providers of the procedure. 

Unlike legislation, a proposed constitutional amendment is not signed by the governor after passage in the Legislature. An amendment must be approved by two separately elected sessions of the Legislature and then put before voters in a referendum. 

Hochul encouraged lawmakers to discuss the issue with her in an effort to broker an agreement. 

"They should talk to me about and let's see what we can do," she said. "I want them to work it out. I encourage them to work it out."