U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand calls on President Joe Biden to certify the Equal Rights Amendment (January 5, 2025)
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand on Sunday called on President Joe Biden to certify the Equal Rights Amendment before the end of his presidency.
Gillibrand is asking Biden to direct the archivist of the United States to publish the ERA as part of the U.S. Constitution.
Gillibrand said the ERA has already fulfilled the requirement for certification. Two-thirds of Congress approved it in 1972 and it was ratified by three-quarters of the states by 2020. She noted that it is the only constitutional amendment ever proposed that has met the strict requirements, as spelled out in Article V, to be uniquely discriminated against and not certified and published by the archivist.
Gillibrand said the ERA would act as a bulwark against potential threats to reproductive rights, including a national ban on abortion, with the incoming Trump administration and Republican control of the House and Senate.
Gillibrand said in a statement, “President Biden has always been an advocate for women, and there is no better way to cement his legacy as president than to certify the Equal Rights Amendment. During a time when women’s rights are under systematic attack, we need the Equal Rights Amendment now more than ever. Today, more than half of all Americans do not have equal protection under the law and do not have access to the full range of reproductive care. Certifying the Equal Rights Amendment will be our best chance to ensure our hard-won civil liberties – same-sex marriage, the right to reproductive health care, access to birth control, fertility treatments, contraception – cannot be eroded.”
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