On April 11, 2018 the Illinois Senate passed the Equal Rights Amendment as Senate Joint Resolution Constitution Amendment 4 (SJRCA4). The ERA was introduced to the states in 1972. An objective reading of the language and history of the ERA makes clear that expansion of abortion rights has always been a principle objective of the ERA proponents. In 1983 when Congress attempted to re-introduce the ERA to the states, the proponents of the ERA rejected proposed abortion neutral language. The writings of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg reveal the intended scope of the ERA is to greatly increase the scrutiny of pro-life legislation.
A vote for the ERA is a vote for overturning abortion restrictions and enshrining abortion rights in the US Constitution. A vote for the ERA is a vote against the unborn child. State court judges have held that their state ERAs mandate “HB40” style taxpayer funding of elective abortions. The ERA further threatens parental notification and consent laws throughout the country, along with every reasonable regulation on abortion.
While we are disappointed with all 43 Senators who voted for abortion, we are gravely disturbed by those who solicited pro-life support and presented themselves as pro-life but voted for the ERA. Their vote was a vote in opposition to life and will not be ignored.
The following all voted for the ERA...
Senator SueRezin (R), and
The fight now goes to the House. The Illinois Federation for Right to Life PAC, Illinois Citizens for Life PAC, Illinois Family Action PAC, Illinois Family PAC, and Lake County Life PAC will not endorse or support any legislator that casts a vote for such a sweeping pro-abortion piece of legislation as the ERA.
Please contact your state representative by phone and email and encourage them to vote NO on the ERA (Bill #SJRCA4). Remind them that this poorly written amendment will harm women and the unborn child. ERA will overturn all abortion restrictions and mandate taxpayer funding for all elective medicaid abortions.
More information on the ERA can be found from the links below.
To find contact information for your legislators, click here.
The ERA will harm our unborn children by overturning all restrictions on abortions and mandating taxpayer funding for elective medicaid abortions.
Leading pro-abortion groups – including NARAL, the ACLU, and Planned Parenthood -- have strongly urged state courts to construe state ERAs, containing language virtually identical to the language of the 1972 federal ERA proposal, to invalidate laws that treat abortion differently from other “medical procedures,” including laws restricting tax-funding of abortion and laws requiring parental notification or consent for minors’ abortions.
More information about the ERA visit: http://eagleforum.org/topics/era.html
For additional documentation on the ERA-abortion connection, see the NRLC website at http://www.nrlc.org/federal/era.
