Virginia's Senate and House of Delegates voted Wednesday to ratify the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment). The ERA (which legally died in 1979) now has the support of 38 states according to activists, the number required to ratify the amendment into law.The ERA simply states "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." Advocates believe that if this language were to be inserted to the Constitution of the United States, any legislation that would limit access to abortion would become unconstitutional. They argue that abortion regulation is discriminatory because it forces women to give birth when they don't want children. Since giving birth does not affect men in the same way, they see any regulation as discriminatory.
“This is an attempt to air-drop into the Constitution a sweeping provision that could be used to attack any federal, state, or local law or policy that in any way limits abortion — abortion in the final months, partial-birth abortion, abortions on minors, government funding of abortion, conscience-protection laws, you name it,” said National Right to Life Senior Policy Advisor Douglas D. Johnson.
The Department of Justice issued an opinion restating the fact that the Equal Rights Amendment died over 40 years ago, and cannot be added to the constitution. David Ferriero, Archivist of the United States, said, “NARA defers to DOJ on this issue and will abide by the OLC opinion, unless otherwise directed by a final court order.”
The House of Representatives is expected to vote on H.J. Res. 79 in the future, a resolution that would retroactively change the ratification deadline. Advocates claim that the resolution can pass with simple majorities in the house and senate. Constitutional amendments must pass the house and the senate with two-thirds votes in both houses before being passed onto the states for consideration.
NRL’s Johnson said, “This resolution is a legislative mutant – nothing like it is described in the Constitution. Its authors claim it can reach backwards in time and change the terms of a constitutional amendment resolution that a different Congress passed with two-thirds votes nearly 48 years ago – and even more remarkably, this mutant resolution can accomplish this time-warping feat on the strength of simple-majority votes.”
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