We need your immediate help to phone and email your Illinois State Representative and urge a NO vote on the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) could be voted on tomorrow when the Illinois House begins their veto session. They will be in session Nov. 19-20, and Dec. 2-4 with additional days in early January before the new Illinois General Assembly begins.
The ERA has already been ratified by the Illinois Senate. If the House ratifies it, it will help the unconstitutional "3 state strategy" gain traction and ultimately create a genderless society.
(1) Call the Capitol switchboard at 217-782-2000, and ask to be connected with your own State Representative, or visit: http://www.elections.il.gov/districtlocator/addressfinder.aspx and urge a NO vote on ERA. It is very easy! Call and email today!
(2) Spread the word to every pro-lifer you know!
ERA will require taxpayer funding of abortions. Several states have ruled that ERA requires taxpayer funding of Medicaid abortions because, since only women undergo abortions, the denial of taxpayer funding is "sex discrimination." (N.M. Right to Choose/NARAL v. Johnson, Nov. 25, 1998.) The same reasoning could extend to all insurance through Obamacare. We must NOT give courts the power to force us to pay for abortions!
Please call the Illinois Capitol office TODAY at 217-782-2000, ask to be connected with your State Representative, and urge a NO vote on ERA. (The operator will tell you who is your own Representative.) We must not let Illinois make the terrible mistake of voting for ERA.
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.
Please call and email your state senator again and continue to encourage them to vote no on the ERA. Remind them that because the amendment is poorly worded, it will actually harm women by overturning many laws and practices that benefit women. It will prohibit all restrictions on abortions. Finally, the 3 state strategy being used to resurrect the legally dead ERA is in violation of the U.S. Constitution. Encourage them to support women, their families, and our society by voting against the ERA (SJRCA 75). If they want an amendment for women in the Constitution, encourage them to write a better amendment that doesn't bring about so much harm to women and our society.
What can I do?
(1) Please contact your State Representative today to urge them to vote NO on the Equal Rights Amendment. You can find contact information for your state legislators at (217) 782-2000 or visit: http://www.elections.il.gov/districtlocator/addressfinder.aspx
(2) Please pass this on to others and encourage them to contact their state legislators too.
If we all take action, our voices will be heard. Thanks for all you are doing to protect our families, our society and our religious freedoms!
More information about the ERA:
There is currently 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).
Clearly the ERA will harm women, families, society, and the structure of our government. Please contact your state senator and state representative today to urge them to vote NO on the Equal Rights Amendment. You can find contact information for your state legislators at (217) 782-2000 or visit: http://www.elections.il.gov/districtlocator/addressfinder.aspx
