Dear MoveOn member,
In the U.S., equal rights to all people regardless of sex is still not protected.
Right now, President Biden has not only the authority but also the responsibility to publish the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and enshrine this critical protection for women, girls, and LGBTQIA+ and gender-diverse people ahead of the second Trump administration.
For more than 101 years, advocates have been fighting to pass the ERA. And now, as gender equity, bodily autonomy, and reproductive rights are under attack across the country, it is as urgent as ever that we ensure equal protections under our Constitution. With Donald Trump and JD Vance poised to take office next month—along with a Republican-controlled Congress and conservative Supreme Court—we must do everything we can to protect the rights currently in place and safeguard against the attacks to come.
Congress passed the ERA 50 years ago, and four years ago Virginia ratified the ERA, pushing it over the required three-quarters state ratification needed for amendments to take effect.1 But the Trump administration blocked the national archivist at the time from certifying the ERA and officially adding it to the Constitution.2 It is the only proposed constitutional amendment that has met the requirements of Article V but has not been certified and published.
Tell President Biden: Certify the Equal Rights Amendment before Donald Trump takes office!
Democratic senators have joined together to urge President Biden to take action to enshrine the ERA. Recently, 46 senators signed a letter to President Biden calling on him to direct the U.S. archivist to certify and publish the ERA as the 28th Amendment, stating that it would be “the most effective means at our disposal to prohibit restrictions on … reproductive care nationwide.”3
Republicans in Congress have been blocking the passage of the ERA because they are concerned that these protections under the Constitution will interfere with their backward and hateful agenda to strip away the rights of women and gender-diverse people, including plans to roll back abortion rights, restrict reproductive health care, and ban trans health care.
And Republicans in Congress should be concerned.
By passing the ERA, advocates and champions in Congress are hoping it can establish that discriminatory restrictions to reproductive care are unconstitutional—and help guard against the worst of the next administration’s attacks against reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy.4
Nearly 85% of voters across party lines support the passage of the ERA.5 This is not only about dignity, gender equity, and safeguarding our rights—it’s about respecting the will of the people. And respecting the decades of efforts by women—particularly Black women, women of color, and LGBTQ+ folks—who fought to get the ERA to this point.
We just need President Biden and the U.S. archivist to get it over the finish line.
When he ran for office back in 2020, President Biden expressed his commitment to passing the ERA.6 Now is the time. We need him to witness the overwhelming public demand for the ERA in order for him to make it a priority in these last few weeks before Trump takes office.
Thanks for all you do.
–Aliya, Alexis, Jensine, Nakia, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. “Virginia Ratifies The Equal Rights Amendment, Decades After The Deadline,” NPR, January 15, 2020
https://www.npr.org/2020/01/15/796754345/virginia-ratifies-the-equal-rights-amendment-decades-after-deadline
2. “What Comes Next for the Equal Rights Amendment?” Center for American Progress, August 26, 2024
https://www.americanprogress.org/article/what-comes-next-for-the-equal-rights-amendment/
3. “46 US Senators Urge President Biden to Publish the Equal Rights Amendment as the 28th Amendment to the US Constitution,” Free Speech For People, December 3, 2024
https://yubanet.com/usa/46-us-senators-urge-president-biden-to-publish-the-equal-rights-amendment-as-the-28th-amendment-to-the-us-constitution/
4. Ibid.
5. “Fifty Years Later, Voters Support Passing the Equal Rights Amendment,” Data for Progress, June 2, 2022
https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2022/6/2/fifty-years-later-voters-support-passing-the-equal-rights-amendment
6. “Biden Campaign Press Release – The Biden Agenda for Women,” The American Presidency Project, July 27, 2020
https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/biden-campaign-press-release-the-biden-agenda-for-women
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