U.S. House removes ERA ratification deadline, one obstacle to enactment [View all]
Source: Washington Post
The U.S. House of Representatives gave the Equal Rights Amendment a temporary new lease on life Thursday by voting to remove a 1982 deadline for ratification by the states. The vote on a resolution introduced by Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) pushes the issue to the Senate, where Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) have introduced a similar measure.
During debate on the House floor, Republicans leaned on anti-abortion and constitutional arguments to oppose the ERA, arguing that enshrining protections for women in the Constitution would mean abortion could not be restricted. Democrats focused on the legality of deadlines and the importance of equal rights.
“This has nothing to do woth the abortion issue. That is an excuse, not a reason,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), arguing that women are still paid less than men for similar work, and often are shorted on pensions and pregnancy leaves. She and some of the other female lawmakers wore purple to visually express their support for the long-sought constitutional amendment, first proposed nearly a century ago. But it will take more than color coordination to enact the ERA.
Three-quarters of the states must ratify a proposed amendment for it to be added to the Constitution. With new Democratic majorities in both chambers, the Virginia General Assembly last month met that threshold, becoming the 38th state to ratify the ERA. Supporters of the amendment say the deadline Congress imposed can be changed by a simple vote of the same body, since there is no ratification deadline specified in the Constitution itself. Others disagree.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/us-house-removes-era-ratification-deadline-one-obstacle-to-enactment/2020/02/13/e82aa802-4de5-11ea-b721-9f4cdc90bc1c_story.html
One step at a time although this is going to be a slog.
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