John, Last month, after nearly fifty years of legal precedent, the extremist majority of Supreme Court justices overturned Roe v. Wade, denying bodily autonomy for millions of Americans. Abortion bans are already taking effect in numerous states, with Congress currently lacking the numbers needed to codify Roe into federal law. But there’s another option to protect the right to choose: the Equal Rights Amendment. First sent to the states for ratification in 1972, the requisite 38 states have ratified the ERA, prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex. Now it’s up to the Acting National Archivist, Debra Steidel Wall, to certify it as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution. Wall became the Acting Archivist of the United States in May, following David Ferriero’s retirement. Ferriero had refused to certify and publish the ERA, citing a January 2020 memo from former Attorney General Bill Barr’s Justice Department. This change in leadership is all the more reason we must demand certification of the ERA as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution. Sign if you agree: To protect reproductive rights, the National Archivist must certify the Equal Rights Amendment. In April of last year, we authored a coalition letter urging Attorney General Merrick Garland to instruct the OLC to rescind its 2020 advisory opinion, which will clear the way for the National Archivist to publish and certify the ERA as the 28th Amendment. A January 2022 opinion from the OLC made clear that Congress may act to extend the (arbitrary) deadline for ratification of the ERA, but “the Department of Justice is defending the Archivist.” We and over 200 constitutional law scholars agree: the 2020 OLC opinion is wrong and must be rescinded by the Department of Justice. The Constitution does not make the Justice Department a gatekeeper on the legal validity of an amendment, nor does it provide Congress with authority to impose a deadline on ratification. The Equal Rights Amendment has been ratified. It’s time to make it official. Tell Attorney General Garland to rescind the 2020 OLC opinion in full and instruct the National Archivist to certify immediately the ERA. In solidarity,
Free Speech For People | 
