120 Democrats call on Biden to sign Equal Rights Amendment

House members penned a letter urging President Joe Biden to take steps to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, protecting the rights of all people regardless of gender, before leaving office early in next year.

“As we near the conclusion of your historic administration, we urge you to take immediate action to recognize the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) as the 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution,” they wrote in the letter dated Sunday. “We must continue our efforts to fully affirm and recognize equal rights for all, regardless of gender, under our Constitution, a vital effort that has never been more urgent. »

The House members’ letter follows a similar letter sent to Biden in November, signed by 46 Democratic senators.

The ERA, first drafted in 1923, states that “equal rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any other state on account of sex.” It also gives Congress the power to enforce the amendment.

As the Donald Trump administration approaches and its looming attack on various rights, members of Congress wrote that ratification of the ERA is “essential as we prepare for the transition to an administration that has been openly hostile to reproductive freedom, access to health care and LGBTQIA+. rights.”

The representatives, led by Rep. Cori Bush and Rep. Ayanna Pressley, who co-chairs the Equal Rights Amendment Congressional Caucus, argued that the ERA “has already met the constitutional requirements for ratification.”

“We hoped we could make progress on gender equality and women’s rights, but we are regressing and at this point we are facing an avalanche of destruction,” Bush said. The Washington Post.

“The Equal Rights Amendment was introduced to ensure constitutional equality of the sexes as the law of the land,” Pressley told the newspaper in a statement. “Yet more than a century later, we are still struggling to codify the ERA. »

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand also favors enshrining gender-based protections by ratifying the ERA and has tried to convince Biden to act.

“I worked really hard just to one audience, trying to make my case to (Biden) personally, saying, ‘I want this to be part of your legacy as a president that I respect and admires; you should make this part of your legacy,” she said The New York Times. “I try to give them all the legal and political reasons.”

Even Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lobbied behind the scenes to advance the ERA by speaking to the Archivist about the amendment at Gillibrand’s request.

The constitutional amendments require three-quarters of the states (38 states) to ratify them to take effect. Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the ERA in 2020. Congress approved the ERA in 1972, and a year later, 30 states had ratified it, but a STOP ERA campaign led by conservative activist Phillys Schlafly stopped its progress. Because the 1982 ratification deadline set by Congress has expired and five states – Idaho, Kentucky, Nebraska, Tennessee and South Dakota – have since rescinded their prior approval of the ERA (although that there is precedent for rejecting such retractions), the path forward is still in question.

Members of Congress are now pressuring Biden to “issue a proclamation recognizing the ERA as the 28th Amendment and direct the Archivist to certify and publish it.”

The ERA is popular with Americans, with 78 percent saying in a poll earlier this month that they think the ERA should be part of the Constitution.

“By ordering the Archivist to publish the ERA, you will leave an indelible mark on the history of this nation, demonstrating once again that your legacy is one of expanding rights, protecting liberties and ensuring a more inclusive future for all Americans,” he said. the representatives wrote.

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