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American Forum - National | 03/12/2021
Now is the time for Congress to recognize there can be no time limit for equality
By Dolores Huerta
, Carol Jenkins
and Eleanor Smeal
OP ED
Now is the time for Congress to recognize there can be no time limit for equality By Dolores Huerta, Carol Jenkins and Eleanor Smeal For the second time in a century, a global pandemic has occurred at the height of a determined movement to expand womens rights under the U.S. Constitution. In 1918, the Spanish Flu nearly halted the drive for ratification of the 19th Amendment on womens suffrage. But advocates rallied, they lobbied President Wilson for support and urged Congress to pass a joint resolution adopting the amendment, followed by ratification by the states resulting in final certification in August 1920. Today, the campaign for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is in the middle of another global pandemic with women losing jobs at a much higher rate than men, especially affecting women of color. In these first 100 days of the Biden-Harris administration and during Womens History Month, there is a real opportunity to make Constitutional history again with lasting change for womens rights and gender equality by adding the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution. The ERA was approved by Congress in 1972 and says, very simply, that equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex. President Biden and Congress now have the opportunity to rally as well. Next week, the House of Representatives will consider a joint resolution clearing the way for the ERA to be added to the Constitution. If the Senate also adopts the resolution, it could become part of the Constitution this year. The ERA has already been ratified by the necessary three-fourths of the states when Virginia became the 38th last year. Earlier, Nevada ratified in 2017 and Illinois in 2018. However, the ERA has yet to be formally enshrined into the Constitution because of an arbitrary timeline in the amendments preamble not the legislative text sent to the states for approval which set 1979 for ratification. Congress changed the timeline by extending it to 1982. Congress can again weigh in by removing the timeline and recognizing the final three states since Article V of the Constitution puts the amending process with the Congress and ratification with the states. Congressional action is needed in support of the attempt by Attorney Generals of Virginia, Nevada and Illinois who went to federal court asking that the national Archivist to include the ERA in the Constitution. But one federal district court judge recently ruled that the three states did not have standing to bring the case and the current time limit is effective. Now is the time for Congress to recognize there can be no time limit on equality. The House and Senate should approve a joint resolution entitled Removing the Deadline for Ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, which would declare that notwithstanding any earlier strictures as Congress recognizes that the ERA is relevant today and needed. The measure, introduced in the House in January already has more than 200 co-sponsors. The vast majority of Americans across demographic and partisan lines agree that women should have equal rights with men in this country. In a 2020 Pew Research Center survey, more than nine in ten U.S. adults said it is very important (79 percent) or somewhat important (18 percent). Fully 78 percent of U.S. adults--including majorities of women, men, Republicans and Democrats, favored adding the ERA to the Constitution. Women of color and young women are the strongest supporters. Abigail Adams is often quoted as saying, Remember the Ladies. In March of 1776, she wrote more than these three words to her husband John just months before the Declaration of Independence was adopted and as he was engaged in drafting the U.S. Constitution, &in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make. I desire that you would Remember the Ladies and be more generous and favorable to them then your ancestors. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies, we are determined to formant a Rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws, in which we have no voice or Representation. That rebellion has been taking place through the hundreds of peaceful ERA marches and rallies that led up to the 2017 Womens March, events which galvanized millions of women and men nationwide to new levels of political activism. The #MeToo movement sparked public outrage over sexual assault and misogyny in the workplace. In 2020, women again far outnumbered men as voters with a gender gap that has become decisive in Presidential, Senate and House elections. And women and men alike supported the Equal Rights Amendment by electing a Pro-ERA majority of members in the House and Senate. An estimated one million more women than men have lost their jobs during the Covid-19 lockdowns and the pandemic shows that the vast majority of essential workers are women, who are disproportionately Black women and Latinas, and who still have the majority of caregiving responsibilities. These along with other economic realities make Constitutional rights for women more urgent than ever before. The pandemic has sparked a re-examination of the role of government and the need for social safety net and economic policies that work for all. In short, the new reality of 2021 demands that Congress approve the ERA resolution. It will mark an historic commitment to womens rights by ensuring equality under the law for current and future generations. ---------------------- Dolores Huerta, President, Dolores Huerta Foundation and Co-Founder, United Farm Workers; Carol Jenkins, President, ERA Coalition; Eleanor Smeal, President, Feminist Majority Foundation
Copyright (C) 2021 by the American Forum - National. The Forum is an educational organization that provides the media with the views of state experts on major public issues. Letters should be sent to the Forum, 1071 National Press Bldg., Washington, DC 20045. (03/12/2021)
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