The US House of Representatives will take up a measure this week in an attempt to force the failed Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) into the Constitution decades after its ratification deadline passed.
We need you to contact your federal senators and representatives and tell them to oppose this pro-abortion measure. If ratified, the ERA could require taxpayer funding of abortion and provide legal justification to strike down pro-life legislation across the country.
The National Organization for Women says the ERA "could negate hundreds" of pro-life laws. NARAL says "the ERA would reinforce the constitutional right to abortion...[it] would require judges to strike down anti-abortion laws..." Many other pro-abortion organizations have made similar statements, which you can read here.
The ERA, which was proposed in 1972, had a seven-year ratification deadline that expired 42 years ago. Despite this, pro-abortion politicians in Congress will take up House Joint Resolution 17 this week. This resolution claims to retroactively remove the deadline from the dead amendment, thereby adding it to the constitution.
The Senate companion measure is Senate Joint Resolution 1. It could be taken up as soon as the week of March 22. If the measure passes the House of Representatives, only a filibuster by pro-life politicians could stop it. Pro-abortion senators would need a 60-vote majority to end a filibuster.
Click here to see the list of US congress members from Illinois. You can click on their names to find their contact information. Please call your legislators and tell them to oppose these ERA revival measures.
