Why are women still fighting for equality in 2024? The gender pay gap persists. Reproductive freedoms are under attack post-Dobbs. Women across the U.S. face unfair treatment in pay, health care, and beyond. The election empowered forces adamantly opposed to women’s rights. There is no time to lose: we must demand action now.
The Equal Rights Amendment states: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” It has met every requirement to become the 28th Amendment to the Constitution. In 2020, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify it, fulfilling the process outlined in Article V.
Yet the ERA remains unpublished — blocked by a non-binding advisory opinion from Trump’s Dept. of Justice.
Without the ERA, there’s no clear constitutional protection against sex-based discrimination. Women remain vulnerable to exploitation, inequality, and erosion of our rights. The ERA would provide a powerful legal foundation to address unfair treatment in pay, health care, and beyond. In states with their own ERAs, courts have used the amendments to strike down unjust laws, showing how a federal ERA could help fight sex-based discrimination nationally.
President Biden has the power to fix this. He can direct the archivist to fulfill their legal duty and publish the ERA, enshrining sex equality in the Constitution. Every day he doesn’t act is a failure of leadership.
What You Can Do:
1. Flood Biden’s Office: Write to him every day. Email, call, send letters. Demand action.
2. Light Up Your Networks: Share this message on social media, with friends, family, and your communities. Start conversations and amplify the urgency. Encourage everyone you know to do the same. Together, we can create a movement too powerful to ignore.
Republicans wouldn’t hesitate to amend the Constitution if it served their agenda. So why should we hold back? The ERA is our sword and shield in an era of open hostility to women’s rights.
This is about our future. Our freedom. Our equality. Demand the publication of the ERA. The time is now.
Molly Hall
Oak Park