Time for the 28th Amendment

2/6/2023

Illinois is at the forefront of the work to make sure that the US Constitution provides equal protection under the law for all genders. 

Last Tuesday, January 31, US legislators introduced a joint resolution in Congress, to remove the deadline for ratification of the ERA and recognize it as a part of the US Constitution.

Illinois Senator Dick Durbin is among those leading the push to make equality the law of the land. Not only is he among the resolution’s cosponsors, as Chair of the Judicial Committee he will hold a hearing on the issue and then urge the senate to pass the resolution. “Equal rights shouldn’t have to wait any longer,” says Durbin. “We have the power to do something about it.”

It is time. The ERA was first drafted in 1923 by suffragist Alice Paul, and was introduced in every session of Congress for the next 49 years. In 1972, it was approved by overwhelming majorities in both House and Senate, and sent to the states for ratification. The 38-state threshold needed to become part of the US Constitution proved elusive until in 2018, when Illinois became the 37th state to ratify, and Virginia became the 38th in a 2020. 

However, the ERA has yet to be added to the Constitution. The bicameral resolution introduced this week would ensure the ERA’s place as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution, finally guaranteeing equal protections under the law regardless of gender or sex. 

Speak up!

Contact Senator Durbin and thank him for his leadership on the ERA. Tell Senators Durbin and Duckworth and your US Representative you support this resolution. Contact friends and networks outside of Illinois and ask them to do the same with their Senators and US Representatives. Find your congresspersons.

Here in Illinois, State Representative Jennifer Gong-Gershowtiz introduced a resolution affirming that the ERA has satisfied all constitutional requirements and is fully ratified. The resolution, HJR1, also calls on Congress and the White House to affirm ERA ratification. 

Speak up!

Contact your state representative and ask them to co-sponsor resolution HJR1.

It is time to end one hundred years without equal protection under the law.