ERA was not called for a vote in the House. Thank you for all of your hard work in the past couple of weeks. You raised your voices and reached out to many others to increase our voice, and it worked. We have been greatly blessed! Thank you for standing up so vigilantly for women, their families and our society.
What is the ERA?
We know that they will continue to try and push this harmful amendment. They may even try to pass it in the veto session that begins November 19th.
What is the ERA?
The ERA is a U.S. Constitutional Amendment that has not yet been fully ratified. The supporters of the amendment claim that if they can get 3 more states to ratify it, it will become a binding US Constitutional Amendment. The main wording of the amendment 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."
The amendment originally sought to give women equal rights, but its vague, overly broad language would actually harm women, their families, and our society by removing important legal safeguards. The ERA would create a genderless society by nullifying all laws and government practices that make any distinction based on gender. The broad language of the ERA will empower the federal government to regulate every aspect of our lives. An immediate example includes abortion.
More information about the ERA:
There was an attempt to pass the original federal Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in Illinois in an effort to have three more states ratify the amendment. The supporters of the ERA have a complex legal argument in which they claim that the time deadline of 1979 can be extended. If three more states ratify the ERA, it could become a binding national constitutional amendment. The Illinois House passed it in 2003, but it was blocked in the Illinois Senate. The Equal Rights Amendment will not help women; instead it will harm women, their families, and our society.
The ERA will further entrench abortion in our society and legally mandate taxpayer funding for elective abortions. The New Mexico Supreme Court recently ruled under their state ERA that since only women undergo abortions, the denial of taxpayer funding is "sex discrimination" (N.M. Right to Choose/NARAL v. Johnson, 975 P.2d 841, 1998).
