Hello 29

The EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT
“Section 1: Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.
Section 2: The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Section 3: This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.”
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 Dear Readers, 

​It’s been awhile. Alice Paul wrote the Equal Rights Amendment and introduced it to Congress in 1923. Alice was a member of the National Women’s Party and a women’s rights activist with 3 law degrees!  
 
     Section 1 of the Amendment may be the most important 24 words in our lifetime. 
     Section 2 empowers Congress to make laws to enforce the amendment.
     Section 3 activates the amendment 2 years after ratification. 
 
The 38th and last state(3/4 of the states) to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment was Virginia on January 27, 2020. Thursday, January 27, 2022 is the 2 year anniversary for the ratification!
 
Major women’s groups are celebrating January 27th in Washington, D.C.  tomorrow, recognizing that a few issues must be resolved to finalize the Amendment. 
 
Article 5 of the Constitution requires two events for an amendment to become part of the Constitution:

• 2/3 of the House and Senate to propose the amendment to the states for ratification,
  • House vote: October 12, 1971, 354 yeas (For), 24 nays (Against) and 51 not voting
  • Senate vote: March 22, 1972, 84 yeas, 8 nays and 7 not voting 
• 3/4 of the states to ratify—38  states ratified by January 27, 2020. 

 
 The issues holding up the 28th Amendment to the Constitution:

• In the preamble to the amendment passed by the House and Senate in 1972 included a deadline for ratification which passed decades ago. A deadline is not required by Article 5. Proponents of the ERA have filed legislation for the past 2 years to eliminate the deadline. The resolution has passed the House twice and languishes in the Senate with many other important bills. 
• The U.S. Archivist has not published the 3 states that ratified the ERA after the deadline. This will be resolved after the Senate passes the resolution to eliminate the deadline. 
• There are some states that have rescinded their ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. Article 5 does not include a provision for rescissions. During the ratification of the 14thAmendment, two states, New Jersey and Ohio, rescinded their ratification vote and the Congress adopted the 14th Amendment anyway with a resolution, declaring the 14th amendment ratified.   

 
In anticipation of success, the ERA Project at Columbia School of Law has published an updated US Constitution which     includes the Equal Rights Amendment. You can purchase a copy here: www.mprint.pub. 
 
You can follow the festivities tomorrow by registering. 
 
9am news conference:  You can register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_h9ft1TbuSryA4SJ-VjMo6A 
 
12 Noon ET events:
More info: http://www.eracoalition.org/jan27 
To watch on Facebook: https://fb.me/e/Zmhd6vJW 
To watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/hILLB85xZPY 
 
5pm celebration:
 Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0ld-irrDMoGt0WStMHkd9NxSnbTo60F2q3
 
 
Have a great day, Elizabeth