The Green Party National Women’s Caucus, one of the Green Party’s five identity caucuses, called on the Biden administration this week to formally confirm and publish the Equal Rights Amendment in the U.S. Constitution.
In a press release on Wednesday, the National Women’s Caucus referred to the Equal Rights Amendment as the “duly ratified 28th Constitutional Amendment.” It called extending protections under the amendment the “most important thing” the Biden administration and Congress could do, asserting that the requirements for ratification have already been met. Jennifer Sullivan, a spokesperson for the caucus, additionally criticized the conservative advocacy organization Eagle Forum and its founder, the late Phyllis Schlafly, as major contributors to why the amendment has historically struggled to be successfully implemented.
“It’s always been baffling to me that the ERA has not been passed, since it was first introduced in 1923! The Senate passed it in 1972, but thanks to the opposition and hard work of conservative opponents like the Eagle Forum and former Congressional candidate Phyliss Schlafly, it’s somehow been an issue that just can’t come to fruition,” Sullivan said. “However, the required states have ratified it and this issue needs to become a reality. This way, no person or group can ever waste our time by blocking this anymore[.]”
The statement also acknowledged that support for the amendment is already actively enshrined in the Green Party’s national platform, which reads, “We support the equal application of the Constitution of the United States of America to all citizens, and therefore call for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).”
The Equal Rights Amendment was initially passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in 1971 and later by the Senate in 1972, with wide bipartisan support in both chambers at the time. It was subsequently ratified by 38 states—the number required to meet the constitutional threshold for adoption. However, the original resolution included a deadline of 1982 for state ratification. Nevada, Illinois, and Virginia all ratified the amendment after this deadline, which has led to ongoing legal and political disputes over its validity.
Efforts to remove the deadline have been made repeatedly over the decades, but they have not succeeded. The U.S. Senate most recently attempted to eliminate the deadline in 2023, garnering majority support but falling short of the 60 votes required to advance the measure.
Thanks for conservapedia link. Good site.
Of course the eco-fascists’ misogynistic caucus would hate true women’s champions like Phylliss Schlafly. They are a “women’s caucus” in the same way the Abundant Life school shooter was a “women’s rights activist”…
I don’t see the point in goading on a constitutional crisis.