LWVUS Urges US House to Support Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) for Centennial

LWVUS sent a memo to the US House urging them to support H.J. Res. 25, a resolution to affirm the validity of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), during the 100-year anniversary of the ERA's first introduction.

July 20, 2023

From: Virginia Kase Solomón, CEO, League of Women Voters 

Re: Marking the centennial of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)  

This weekend marks the centennial anniversary of Alice Paul introducing the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) at the Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, NY. The ERA will constitutionally protect the equality of rights under the law regardless of sex. 

The fight for women’s equality is far from over, but there is legislation that Congress can move to uphold the rights of more than half the population. The League of Women Voters urges you to support H.J. Res. 25, a bipartisan resolution affirming that the ERA is a valid part of the US Constitution. 

The ERA has satisfied all requirements outlined in Article V of the Constitution and should be published as the 28^th Amendment. In 1972, the ERA was passed by Congress with well over the necessary two-thirds vote and was sent to the states. In 2020, Virginia became the 38^th and final state needed to meet the three-fourths state ratification requirement. The effective waiting period has now come to an end, and the amendment is enforceable. The best way to ensure that the will and ratification rights of the states are respected is by removing any doubt about the validity of the ERA. 

Despite the significant legal and legislative advances that have been made in recent decades, women and other individuals continue to face discrimination on the basis of sex. The symptoms of this systemic discrimination are clear in the ongoing fights against unequal pay, workplace harassment, pregnancy discrimination, and domestic violence, among others. It is not enough to treat the symptoms of inequality; we must address its root causes by amending the Constitution. 

One hundred years after its introduction, support for the ERA remains strong. Nearly 75% of Americans support the ERA according to polling from Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research[1]. If you believe in equality for all regardless of sex, the League urges you to support H.J. Res. 25 and critically affirm the enshrinement of equality into the Constitution once and for all.

[1] https://apnews.com/article/42b93fd7386089110543f4e1827ded67