More than 120 House Democrats urge Biden to ratify Equal Rights Amendment

Weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, with a Republican trio in the White House, Senate and House of Representatives, more than 120 Democratic lawmakers on Sunday called on President Joe Biden to take a crucial step towards protection. millions of Americans from Trump’s far-right MAGA agenda by ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment.

The ERA was passed by Congress in 1972 and met the requirement to be ratified by three-quarters of U.S. states in 2020, when Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the amendment.

Yet during his first term, Trump and the Republican Party blocked implementation of the ERA, claiming that nearly 50 years had passed between the amendment’s adoption and the requirements for ratification being met. , the threshold had not been reached within the deadlines set by Congress.

“No Republican would care” about the deadline, said journalist Emma Vigeland, “if the roles were reversed.”

There is no argument for Biden not to do this, except for a 1982 deadline that no Republican would care about if the roles were reversed.

The House and Senate adopted it by overwhelming majorities in 1971 and 1972. It requires 3/4 of the states (38) to ratify it. In 2020, Virginia became the 38th. https://t.co/q73aF9a3F4

-Emma Vigeland (@EmmaVigeland) December 16, 2024

Citing the U.S. Code, Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.) — co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus for the Equal Rights Amendment — led their colleagues to tell Biden that the national archivist, Colleen Shogan, is required to certify an amendment “when the National Archives and Records Administration receives official notice that a proposed constitutional amendment has been approved by sufficient states.”

All Biden needs to do to ratify the amendment, which would explicitly ban discrimination based on sex and gender, is order Shogan to issue the ERA, the lawmakers said.

“Consolidating your legacy of equal rights with final action on the ERA would be a defining moment for the historic Biden-Harris administration and your presidency,” wrote the representatives, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ( DN.Y.), Maxwell. Alejandro Frost (D-Florida) and James McGovern (D-Mass.).

Earlier this month, 46 U.S. senators joined the call for Biden to sign the ERA.

While Trump has bragged about helping to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade and Republicans have advocated for a national ban on abortion, reproductive rights advocates have said that after it is formally added to the U.S. Constitution, the ERA could be invoked by judges to strike down anti-abortion laws.

In Utah, a state-level ERA was invoked in September to suspend the abortion ban.

“A constitutional guarantee against sex discrimination would strengthen protections for reproductive rights, ensuring that individuals have the right to make decisions about their own bodies without political interference or unequal treatment,” the lawmakers wrote.

The signatories noted that parts of the Civil Rights Act and education amendments protect people from government-based sex discrimination, but that gender equality remains “vulnerable to changes in the political landscape, judicial interpretations and changes in public opinion” because the Constitution does not do so. protect it explicitly.

“By adding the ERA to the Constitution, it would establish an unambiguous guarantee that discrimination on the basis of sex is unconstitutional,” the lawmakers wrote. “The ERA would help eliminate gender pay gaps, improve workplace protections and ensure that gender bias no longer affects hiring, promotions or job security. With the ERA enshrined in the Constitution, people who experience sex discrimination would have a clearer legal path to challenge discriminatory laws or policies. The California State ERA did just that, providing protections for women in the workforce and ensuring equal treatment in education and health care.

By ordering Shogan to ratify and issue the ERA, they added, Biden would give unequivocal support to an amendment supported by 78% of Americans, according to a 2020 Pew Research Center poll.

Biden declared on August 26, Women’s Equality Day, that he “has long supported the ERA” and called on Congress “to act quickly to recognize the ratification of the ERA and affirm the fundamental truth that all Americans should have equal rights and protections under the law.” .”

But by “simply ordering the archivist to release the ERA,” the lawmakers said, Biden would “leave an indelible mark on the history of the ERA.”
this nation, demonstrating once again that your legacy is about expanding rights, protecting freedoms, and securing a more inclusive future for all Americans. We urge you to take this final, transformative step to ensure the full promise of equality for every person in the United States.