The decision to give birth is personal. Pregnancy can significantly impact your education and livelihood, and take an enormous toll on your mental, emotional, and physical health. Forced pregnancy and birth create barriers to equal opportunity, civic engagement, and the full enjoyment of fundamental human rights. 

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ruling that the Constitution does not protect or confer the right to an abortion. In the United States, our right to bodily autonomy has perhaps never been under greater threat. That’s why I am joining with women and girls across the country to say, ‘I need the ERA’.

By enshrining equal rights on the basis of sex in the Constitution, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) would enable the legislative and judicial branches to defend against restrictive abortion bans and safeguard access to reproductive healthcare based on equality rather than privacy. Despite the fact that 38 states have ratified the ERA, which is the necessary threshold, it still has not been incorporated into the U.S. Constitution. 

As part of the ERA Coalition, Equality Now is one of the few international organizations working to advance the Equal Rights Amendment. Together with Davis Polk the law firm and organizations from around the world, we filed a joint amicus brief earlier this year urging the DC Court of Appeals to reconsider a 2021 decision against certifying the ERA as the 28th amendment to the Constitution. The brief explains that the U.S. is not only out of step with the international community, it is in breach of treaty commitments, international law, and human rights standards for failing to guarantee women’s equality in the Constitution. 

While we are hopeful that the court’s decision will move us closer to women’s full, legal equality, there is still much work to be done. We need your support now more than ever and our friends at the InMaat Foundation have generously offered to match every gift we receive by December 31st up to $50,000. Give today and your contribution will have twice the impact in our fight for equal rights.

Join us in the fight to pass the ERA and ensure that women’s equal rights are protected by the highest law of the land.

In Solidarity, 

Gabby Chalk
Development Officer