She’s baaaaaaaack! And she’s rallying her troops.
There is a new movement to ratify constitutional gender equality, otherwise known as the Equal Rights Amendment.
One of the most exciting developments is that it recently passed in the Illinois Senate and has moved to the House for a vote. To ratify an amendment, we need thirty-eight states. In the 1970s, thirty-five states ratified the amendment and then anti-feminist Phyllis Schlalfly came along with her STOP ERA campaign and successfully scared people about what gender equality would mean by lying about it.
A deadline was attached to the ERA and it expired in 1982. The one and only constitutional amendment that protects women from discrimination EXPIRED! Activists have been working tirelessly to have that deadline removed and while we aren’t there yet, it is only a matter of time. Federal legislation in the House and Senate to remove the ERA deadline for ratification in the states is gaining support as more co-sponsors continue to sign onto to the bills. Once that is accomplished, just three more states on board will finally afford equality to all people in this country, regardless of gender.
But there is a fly in the ointment. Schlafly is back and she is still lying. She has put out an urgent call to her followers once again to stop the ERA. What’s worse, she is convincing some Illinois Democratic politicians who once voted in favor of the amendment in 2003, to back away from it. She is lying to them. LYING!
DO NOT LET THIS WOMAN KEEP US FROM THE EQUALITY WE ALL DESERVE.
It is no longer 1972. We have come too far to allow this toxic gender traitor to negatively influence our rights again.
The ERA is not specifically a woman’s issue. It is a civil rights issue. In fact the text of the amendment doesn’t even mention women. As you can plainly see, it protects everyone, including men:
“Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”
Your action is requested. This is YOUR future no matter what state you live in. Please call the Illinois legislature and let them know you want the ERA. They need to know that you support and demand ratification. Keep in mind that staffers may dismiss you if you are unable to provide a zip code of the district they are in. This is not a just state issue. It is a federal one and therefore affects every single person living in the United States.
You can take it TO THE BANK that Schlafly’s loyal followers will get on the phone and urge legislators to vote no. Do you want them to win again? If not, call! This link provides you with all the names and numbers you need: ERA Illinois
Each lie that Schlafly uses as a fear tactic can be disproven:
Schlafly says:
1. “ERA will require taxpayer funding of abortions.”
Not true. The ERA has nothing to do with reproductive rights. Roe v. Wade was a Supreme Court decision based on privacy. She used this argument in the 70s with success because the issue of abortion was very divisive. It still is. She uses it as a fear tactic but it has no basis in reality.
2. “With the current attacks on religious liberties by the Obama Administration (such as the Hobby Lobby case), ERA raises the danger of denial of tax exemption and other discriminations against schools and hospitals run by religions that do not ordain women.”
Not true. ERA protects against gender discrimination and has nothing to do with religion or schools. Churches and other tax exempt institutions are constitutionally protected and the ERA will not change that.
3. ERA will deprive wives and widows of their “dependent wife” benefits in Social Security.
Not true. Spouses will continue to receive survivor benefits when the other passes on. The beneficiary doesn’t change. At best, the term “husband” or wife” will be changed to “spouse.” Currently, both men and women can be beneficiaries of survivor benefits. The ERA has nothing to do with it.
4. “ERA will require young women to register for military service (even though we don’t have a draft), and if they fail to register, they would lose their federal college grants and loans and would never be able to get a federal job. ERA will force the military to assign women involuntarily to ground combat in more “sex equal” numbers.”
Not true. Congress has ALWAYS had the ability to require women to register for military service. They have chosen not to. The fact is women have proven they are perfectly able to serve and if it ever came down to a male only draft, courts would challenge that decision. We will never see a male only military again. The ERA actully helps women in the military in many ways and one of the most important ways it will help is a guarantee of equal pay.
Schlafly used to scare people with the idea that the ERA would mean mandatory unisex bathrooms. We already have unisex bathrooms and her suggestion that they would become mandatory proves that she doesn’t want women to experience equality by using ridiculous threats to scare and intimidate.
The people who argue against this amendment try to play both sides of the fence by saying the ERA wouldn’t change anything, so there is no need for it. Yet they turn around and lie about what it will change if it is ratified. You can’t have it both ways. It either changes things or it doesn’t. Even our most conservative Supreme Court Justice, Antonin Scalia says women do not have constitutional protection against discrimination.
The truth? We will all be protected against discrimination. It will mean that all Americans will be guaranteed constitutional gender equality. Equal pay will become federal law. Men benefit just as much as women do. Fathers fighting custody battles will also see a benefit if the courts side with the mother just because of her gender and not necessarily if she is a better parent. Fair is fair and equal is equal.
Call the Illinois legislators and let them know you want them to support the ERA. DO NOT allow for history to repeat itself by allowing a bitter women to keep you from a constitutional guarantee!
There is no valid argument against equality.
If you would like to be a part of the effort to ratify Illinois, contact the Coordinator of the ERA Illinois campaign, Jeanne Dauray, at [email protected].
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Kimberley A. Johnson (BIO) is the author of The Virgin Diaries and an activist for women’s rights. Like her on Facebook, Twitter or follow her on FB HERE. |
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