March is Women’s History Month, a time to uplift and celebrate the contributions of women who came before us and lead the way today. However, over 100 years after women won the right to vote, people in the United States are still not guaranteed equality on the basis of sex. This Women’s History Month could not be a better time to continue our urgent fight for certification and publication of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) into the US Constitution.
Despite the significant advances made in recent decades, women and others continue to face discrimination based on sex. This is clear in our ongoing fights against unequal pay, workplace harassment, pregnancy discrimination, domestic violence, limited access to comprehensive health care, and more.
The Equal Rights Amendment will protect the equality of rights under the law regardless of sex in the United States. It will provide a vital tool to the judicial branch to combat discrimination, prevent the rollback of equal rights, and pave the way for additional legislative progress.
The ERA has already met the very high bar for amending the Constitution. In 1972, Congress passed it with more than a 2/3 vote, and in 2020, Virginia became the 38th and final state needed to ratify it. However, the ERA is still awaiting publication more than four years later. We cannot let another year go by without equality as the law of the land.
The good news is that a bipartisan congressional resolution affirms the validity of the ERA as part of the Constitution. The League is working tirelessly to demand federal action, but as a constituent, your voice MATTERS. Take one minute now to urge your members of Congress to act and ensure that this is the last International Women’s Day without the ERA!