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BY MS. EDITORS | On Thursday, October 21, advocates testified before the House Oversight & Reform Committee on the Equal Rights Amendment, including president of Feminist Majority, Ellie Smeal; actor and activist Alyssa Milano; Virginia state Senator Jennifer McClellan; president and CEO of the ERA Coalition, Carol Jenkins; founder of the TransLatin@ Coalition, Bamby Salcedo; and constitutional law scholar Victoria Nourse.

During the hearing, members of Congress and ERA advocates outlined the need for the ERA and detailed how it has met the amending process requirements, as outlined in Article V of the Constitution, and therefore should be immediately added as the 28th Amendment. They testified on the dramatic impacts the amendment would have on women, people of color and the trans community, and how the proposed 28th Amendment could help shore up gaps in abortion access.

As a collective, the testimony made a legal, constitutional and ethical case for one demand: ERA now.

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