If you believe our U.S. Constitution gives women equal rights, you are not alone. When polled about this question, many people reply they believe women have this constitutional right. THIS IS NOT TRUE. The Constitution in actuality was written by and for white men only.

Since women earned the right to vote in 1923, repeated attempts have been made to pass an Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the Constitution without success. The most recent attempt passed both chambers of Congress in 1973 with the provision that ratification by 38 or more states must take place by 1979. The deadline was extended to 1982 when less than 38 states had ratified.

In recent years a major push for ratification resulted in Nevada doing so in 2017, followed by Illinois in 2018, and finally Virginia became the 38th state in 2020. Under a 1984 law, the Archivist of the United States is charged with issuing a formal certification after three-fourths of the states ratify. However, on January 8, 2021, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel issued an opinion that the deadline set by Congress is binding and the ERA has not been ratified. The Archivist refused to issue the certification.

The states of Nevada, Illinois, and Virginia filed suit in Federal District Court arguing that Congress had no power to set a time limit. March 5, 2021, Judge Contreras ruled in favor of enforcing the time limit set by Congress when the amendment was passed. The struggle for women’s equality has gone on for almost 100 years. Now is the time to establish our equal rights in the Constitution. Now is the time for you to join the fight! Encourage everyone you know to help in the fight. Polls show, when people understand women don’t have equal rights, 94% of them support an amendment enshrining gender equality into the Constitution.

U.S. Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) announced Thursday that the first bipartisan legislation they will introduce for the 117th Congress is their joint resolution to remove the deadline to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment -- S.J.Res.1. Ratification of the ERA would expressly prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex in the U.S. Constitution. In the House of Representatives, the resolution is being introduced by Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) and Congressman Tom Reed (R-N.Y.).

You need to determine if your members of Congress support this legislation or not. If not, why not? Put their telephone numbers on speed dial so you can call repeatedly, if necessary, until they are committed to voting “YES”. Just go to senate.gov and/or house.gov to find those numbers. Remind them there is no limit on equality.

Time is up. Let’s get this done.