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Friday, March 29, 2024 - 06:54 AM

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

First Published in 1994

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF
UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

ERA is DOA

Today the House voted to remove the ERA’s 7-year ratification deadline (H.J.Res. 79). For Members of the House supporting H.J.Res. 79, this was a purely symbolic vote. The ERA doesn’t give women anymore protections than they already have. The 14th Amendment, as well as many other laws like Title IX, the Equal Opportunity Act of 1963, the Equal Employment Opportunity Discrimination Act, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, and the Equal Pay Act provide women equal rights.

Kirsten Hasler and Tabitha Walter

Kirsten Hasler and Tabitha Walter

Removing the 7-year ratification deadline doesn’t bring the Amendment any closer to ratification. For 24 of the states that passed the ERA, their votes to ratify the ERA explicitly expired on March 22, 1979. To add to this, in 1982, the Supreme Court ruled in NOW v. Idaho that ERA failed ratification and was effectively dead. Earlier this year, the DOJ released an opinion supporting this decision.

On Tuesday, a Vox headline said, “Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has “…dealt a fatal blow to the Equal Rights Amendment.” According to Justice Ginsberg, the ratification process must start over for the ERA to become enshrined into the Constitution. Phyllis Schlafly and RBG agree: ERA is dead on arrival.

The article went on further to say that, “Ginsburg’s comments are likely to be the death knell for the ERA. Without Ginsburg’s vote, it’s tough to imagine that five members of the Supreme Court would agree the ERA was properly ratified.”

“Congress should heed RBG’s advice instead of passing a Resolution removing a deadline that can’t be removed. In doing so, these Members have failed to protect the many women who’ve elected them.” said Eagle Forum President Eunie Smith. “Under the guise of “women’s equality,” the ERA will remove every distinction between the sexes and enshrine abortion into the Constitution. The ERA is not about protecting women. The Senate will be wise to not consider the measure.”

Eagle Forum’s Washington, D.C. staff, Tabitha Walter and Kirsten Hasler, were able to witness the vote in the House Gallery.

For more information on the ERA, please visit Eagle Forum’s website and listen to episode 6 of our podcast, Engage with Eagle ForumKirsten HaslerTabitha Walter, and Anne Schlafly Cori have also written on the harms of the ERA.

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