On behalf of RNLA, our Co-Chair Harmeet Dhillion signed onto a letter by the Independent Women’s Voice(IWV) opposing the “zombied” Equal Rights Amendment(ERA). As we wrote previously the current effort to revive the Equal Rights Amendment is invalid and Unconstitutional. The IWV letter agrees but also lays out why the underlying amendment is bad policy:
ERA proponents claim the amendment is necessary to guarantee equality of the sexes—but the Constitution of the United States already guarantees equality for all Americans. In America today, there are no rights that men enjoy that women do not.
The problems run deeper with the ERA than just being unnecessary. As the letter points out, the ERA would actually hurt women:
The amendment will, therefore, replace equality under the law with interchangeability or sameness with men in all situations. While we are equal, we are not the same.
The ERA will bar laws from taking into account the biological differences between men and women, differences which, if ignored, can place women and girls in harm’s way. The ERA could mean the end of girl’s locker rooms and bathrooms in public schools, separate women’s prisons, and all-female sports teams on public university campuses. The amendment could also make unconstitutional hundreds of laws that currently distinguish between men and women, or bestow benefits to women, such as WIC, spousal Social Security, the Violence Against Women Act, and more.
The ERA is dead. The IWV letter shows why it should not be revived.