HOW TO GET THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT PUBLISHED

HOW TO GET THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT PUBLISHED By Liz Jordan

Last October, the Sacramento and CHAR branches held a joint meeting about Reproductive Rights and the Equal Rights Amendment.  We are not alone in believing that the Dobbs Decision in 2022 probably would not, could not, have happened, if the ERA, RATIFIED in January 2020, had been published in the Constitution.  The President, through the Attorney General, instructed the Archivist to not publish the ERA as the 28th Amendment.

We shouldn’t have to beg for fundamental rights, and we shouldn’t have to fight for 100 years for basic equality!  It’s time for action, not excuses.

This year, the ERA Coalition, a coalition of more than 300 rights organizations of which AAUW is a member, has taken the stand that 100 years to wait is long enough.  They have a new campaign “Not One More!”  Recently, they started a companion campaign “Shouting for Equality.”  They are asking all of us who care, to call the U. S. Archivist, Colleen Shogan, to tell her it’s time to officially add the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution.  Here are the Coalition’s instructions:

Call into the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) general line asking the Archivist to publish the ERA. Please be polite and respectful in your language. We have a sample script for you below!

Call the Archivist directly at 202-357-5900 and leave the following message:

This message is for the U.S. Archivist. My name is …{your name}… and I’m calling from {your state}. I would like to ask you to do your duty and publish the Equal Rights Amendment as the 28th Amendment. The ERA has fulfilled the requirements set forth in Article V of the Constitution, and we can wait no longer for full constitutional protections. Thank you!

NOTE:  Call Monday-Friday.  The Archives do not take messages on weekends or Federal Holidays.

Also, for more information about these campaigns or to learn more about why the ERA is languishing in political limbo go to https://eracoalition.org; https://equalmeansequal.com; https://www.equalrightsamendment.org