Saturday, November 16, 2019

Ask Congress: remove arbitrary time limit on ratification of the Equal Rights Act

The Equal Rights Amendment still hasn't been ratified in ARIZONA! 
Petition to Congress:
"Pass H.J. Res 79 to remove the arbitrary time limit on ratification of the Equal Rights Act."
Add your name:
Sign the petition ►
The #MeToo movement led to a wave of women exercising their political power. And now we are poised to complete a century of work and push for the final ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.
Voters recently swept Democrats into control of the Virginia Legislature, a move that could echo across the country. Virginia Democrats have promised to make Virginia the 38th state – out of 38 required – to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment and finally guarantee women equal protection under the law.1It's Donald Trump's worst nightmare. The backlash to the Republican war on women and the rise of the #MeToo movement led to a wave of women exercising their political power. And now we are poised to complete a century of work and push for the final ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.
The one major obstacle left is an arbitrary and unnecessary deadline that Congress imposed in 1972.2 Rep. Jackie Speier introduced a resolution to repeal the deadline and pave the way for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, and she needs our help.
Why is the Equal Rights Amendment as urgent today as it was when first passed in 1972? Just ask an avowed enemy of equality, the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who wrote, "Certainly the Constitution does not require discrimination on the basis of sex. The only issue is whether it prohibits it. It doesn’t."3
The Equal Rights Amendment would enshrine equality for women in the highest laws of our nation, not in legislation that could be rolled back. It would supercharge everything from pay equity to domestic violence laws and prevent Republicans or corporate allies from challenging laws in court. Ending discrimination in healthcare, pay, education and employment will save and change the lives of women across America, especially marginalized women who are most at risk.4
When the ERA passed Congress in 1972, an arbitrary and unnecessary timeline was imposed -- ratification by three-quarters of states was required by 1979, later extended to 1982. Now, more than 20 years later, 37 states ratified the amendment, and Virginia is about to become the 38th and final necessary state.5
There's nothing in the Constitution that requires deadlines, many amendments went to the states without any deadline at all, and others took decades to be ratified. The 27th Amendment, which prohibits immediate congressional pay raises, was ratified 203 years after its introduction.6 The deadline on the ERA was a dirty trick to block its ratification – and if Congress can impose an arbitrary deadline, Congress has the power to remove one just as easily.
Tell Congress: Repeal the deadline to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. Click the link below to sign the petition:
- Nicole Regalado, CREDO Action
Add your name:
Sign the petition ►
References:
  1. Russell Berman, "The Equal Rights Amendment Is an Artifact No More," The Atlantic, Nov. 8, 2019.
  2. Ibid.
  3. Rep. Jackie Speier, "Congresswoman Speier Introduces Resolution to Ratify the Equal Rights Amendment," Feb. 1, 2017.
  4. Emily Stewart, "Virginia’s election results are a big deal for the Equal Rights Amendment," Vox, Nov. 6, 2019.
  5. Ibid.
  6. Ibid.

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