Liberals Urge Biden To Publish Equal Rights Amendment To The Constitution Before End Of Term

Rep. Cori Bush (D-Missouri) led a coalition of legislators and advocates this week to call on President Joe Biden to certify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) before the end of his term in January.

Bush says that lives could be on the line with the next administration coming in if the ERA is not passed.

“The publication of the Equal Rights Amendment may be long overdue, but the stakes for gender equality have never been higher,” Bush said.

Bush went on to talk about the Supreme Court hearing arguments for a case that could unilaterally ban gender-affirming care for transgender minors and also spoke about ongoing abortion bans in red states. She noted that because the GOP will have complete control of the government next year, this could be the Democrat’s last chance for the next four years to pass the ERA.

“Donald Trump is about to take office again. This is a man who has been openly hostile to women, reproductive freedoms, our LGBTQIA+ community, Black and brown people, and so many others,” she said.

Bush further discussed the constant threats President-elect Donald Trump has made to certain groups. Biden has the power to do something, she said. “He has the ERA. The ERA is one sentence that has the power to protect our future.”

The ERA was first proposed in 1923. It states: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”

Congress initially set a 1979 deadline for ratification of the amendment by three-fourths of the states, which only happened recently. Supporters say that the deadline is not legally enforceable, and all that is required is for Biden to instruct the U.S. archivist to publish the amendment for it to come into force.

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Article by Janae Antrum