Since last April, Eagle Forum has been tracking the Equal Rights Amendment in the U.S. House of Representatives. Democrats and ERA activists have falsely claimed only one state is left to pass the ERA.
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Upon passage in 1972, the ERA was sent to the states for ratification. 38 states needed to pass the amendment within seven years. In that time frame, only 35 states passed the ERA and 5 states rescinded their ratifications (Nebraska, Tennessee, Idaho, Kentucky, South Dakota). The ERA failed ratification and in 1982 the Supreme Court in NOW v. Idaho ruled that the ERA was dead.
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To validate their belief that the ERA is still eligible for ratification, the House is attempting to pass H.J. Res. 79, which retroactively removes the ratification deadline. Removing the ERA’s ratification deadline in this manner would be like Congress voting today to overturn a veto by President Carter. In addition, this maneuver sets the dangerous precedent that Congress can legislate away pieces of law that prevent them from furthering their political agenda. To add to this, Congress is undermining the will of the people in Nebraska, Tennessee, Idaho, Kentucky, and South Dakota, who all rescinded ratification, by counting these five states as part of the original 35.
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Consistent with the decision in NOW v. Idaho, the Department of Justice released an opinion on January 8, 2020. The DOJ stated:
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“Congress may not revive a proposed amendment after a deadline for its ratification has expired. Should Congress wish to propose the amendment anew, it may do so through the same procedures required to propose an amendment in the first instance, consistent with Article V of the Constitution.” Upon the release of this opinion, Representatives Maloney (D-CA), Speier (D-CA), Reed (D-NY), and Fitzpatrick (R-PA) released a joint press release. They said: Â
“Virginia’s vote and the outpouring of support from Americans – men and women – across the country have shown that it is finally time to affirm women’s equality in our Constitution and that there is no timeline or expiration date when it comes to achieving it.”
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It should concern everyone that these ERA supporters call the deadline “arbitrary” and believe that the Constitution doesn’t already protect all people, including women, when indeed it does.
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To add to this, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Dillon v. Gloss (1921) that Congress has the power to choose a reasonable time frame for the states to consider amendments. Amendments should have a “contemporaneous consensus” or a time frame that protects the Constitution and Americans from amendments that are no longer relevant to the current day. Most would agree that we’ve come a long way since the 1970s.
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Even if the deadline hadn’t passed, the ERA is still a bad policy that harms women. There are many unintended consequences of not distinguishing between biological males and females. The clause “on account of sex” will surely be interpreted to provide for men identifying as women. Indeed, at the Federal level, the Equality Act and the Violence Against Women Act include provisions allowing men to take advantage of women’s only institutions, like women’s prisons, shelters, sports teams, restrooms, and locker rooms.
In addition, the amendment removes all protections for women merely because men don’t need those same protections. These include workplace practices that accommodate pregnant women, state labor laws for women who do heavy and manual work, government programs that support mothers, like WIC, and laws and presumptions that support women in the areas of alimony, child support, and the requirement of husbands to pay the medical bills of dependent wives. The ERA is sex neutral.
More importantly, the ERA will expand abortion. In both New Mexico and Connecticut, the state’s ERAs were used to overturn abortion restrictions and mandate taxpayer funding of abortion (N.M Right to Choose/NARAL v. Johnson, Doe v. Maher).
The ERA is dangerous and threatens the well-being of women and unborn children. Please ask your Representative to vote NO on H. Res. 79.
Click here for more information on the ERA.
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Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121
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