America Should Lead, Not Lag: Support the Equal Rights Amendment
Renewing its commitment to women's rights, the American Civil Liberties Union has strongly endorsed the reintroduced Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the U.S. Constitution and urges all Americans to recommit to the struggle for women's equality by supporting the proposed amendment.
The ACLU first endorsed the Equal Rights Amendment in 1970. Congress first approved the ERA in 1972 and sent it to the states for ratification. Unfortunately, it fell 3 states shy of the 38 needed for ratification.
The proposed amendment (SJ Res 11/HJ Res 37), was re-introduced on March 2003 by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA). It reads: "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."
If passed by Congress and ratified by the states, the ERA would ensure that women have equal rights in virtually every realm of public life: in public education, in the criminal justice system and in access to government benefits. The United States can no longer remain one of the few countries to fail to provide explicit equality between the sexes.
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The Equal Rights Amendment will guarantee full equality to women.
In the last 30 years, women have made extraordinary gains toward achieving equality, but have never been granted full equal protection under the Constitution. The Equal Rights Amendment would provide an overriding guarantee for the rights of women and protect these advances of this important decades-old struggle.
Political gains made on reproductive rights and women's health issues remain imperiled without the Equal Rights Amendment.
Hundreds of bills that place limitations and restrictions on vital reproductive heath care services have been passed by Congress and state legislatures. The Equal Rights Amendment would provide another important weapon in the battle to resist this legislative onslaught aimed at destroying women's rights to make their own reproductive decisions.
Without the Equal Rights Amendment, women's rights remain subject to the interpretation of the Supreme Court.
Over the next four years there are likely to be one or more new appointees to the Supreme Court. These new appointments may shift the balance toward the view, now held by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices Scalia and Thomas, that gender does not entitle anyone to heightened protection under the 14th Amendment.
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