40 years ago yesterday, Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment and sent it to the states for ratification. The ERA is very simple: equality under the law “shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex.” It still hasn’t been ratified which is just absurd. Yesterday there were several ERA rallies. The only Republican in attendance had some strong words, according to the Huffington Post:
As the only Republican Congressman at a rally for the Equal Rights Amendment on Thursday, Rep. Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.) gave women an unexpected piece of advice: Give your money to Democrats.
“I think these are very precarious times for women, it seems. So many of your rights are under assault,” he told the crowd of mostly women. “I’ll tell you this: Contribute your money to people who speak out on your behalf, because the other side — my side — has a lot of it. And you need to send your own message. You need to remind people that you vote, you matter, and that they can’t succeed without your help.” …
Hanna, a pro-choice Republican and co-sponsor of the Equal Rights Amendment, acknowledged that women’s continuing fight for equality is meeting some resistance among his Republican colleagues. He urged women to become more politically active on their own behalf.
“This is a dogfight, it’s a fistfight, and you have all the cards,” he said. “I can only tell you to get out there and use them. Tell the other women, the other 51 percent of the population, to kick in a few of their bucks. Make it matter, get out there, get on TV, advertise, talk about this. The fact that you want [the ERA] is evidence that you deserve it and you need it.”
Those are strong words. The ERA has been reintroduced in Congress. It is noteworthy that Virginia never ratified the ERA. Do we still need an Equal Rights Amendment? Red is pass. Blue is not passed.
