No Discrimination on the Basis of Sex: ERA Now!

I urge you to support and pass HCR32 (Burnett) and HCR33 (Johnson), which establish Missouri's ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and urge Congress and the administration of President Biden to publish without delay the Equal Rights Amendment as our 28th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The Equal Rights Amendment is simple and states that “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” On January 27th, 2020 Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the ERA– crossing the three-fourths threshold of state support required for this amendment to become enshrined into our Constitution. We must act now to get the ERA across the finish line. When the ERA passed Congress in 1972, lawmakers attached a 1977 ratification deadline to it, which they later extended to 1982. However, the deadline was only included in the preamble to the Amendment and not in the Amendment text itself. The Constitution of the United States does not limit the time for States to ratify an amendment and Congress does not have the constitutional authority to place a deadline on the ratification process. There is no time limit on equality. There is precedent that there are no time limits for Constitutional amendments. The Madison Amendment was proposed by the First Congress in 1789 and approximately 203 years later, completed the ratification step of Article V through ratification by three-fourths of the States. In 1992, having met the strict two-step requirements of Article V, the Madison Amendment was published by the Archivist during the Administration of President Bush as our 27th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Despite the significant legal and legislative advances that have been made in recent decades, Americans continue to face discrimination on the basis of sex. Those who don’t present as male continue to battle against unequal pay, workplace harassment, pregnancy discrimination, domestic violence, and limited access to comprehensive healthcare. It is not enough to treat the symptoms; we must address the root cause of inequality by amending the Constitution. The country has spoken and declared equality under the law is a principle we want enshrined in our Constitution. We are on the cusp of a victory. The Missouri General Assembly and US Congress must do the work to ensure that this long-awaited amendment can go into effect immediately.