For proponents of the proposed Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), please read the 14th Amendment-
Section 1.
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws (emphasis added).
There you have it. So equal rights is expressly written in the Constitution. That ought to be enough. But for grandstanding liberal Democrats it is not enough. They want to divide in-order to conquer. They are trying to use the proposed ERA as a wedge to separate men and women. Those against it are accused of being [fill in the blank as it is hard to keep up with all the name calling].
Former Delegate Bob Marshall wrote an interesting op-ed in The Roanoke Times. Marshall says,
In 1994, as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, I asked the attorney general whether the 1972 Equal Rights Amendment was properly before the House of Delegates as a measure was introduced to ratify it.
I was told: “Because the Equal Rights Amendment was not ratified within either the original or the extended time limit established by Congress for its ratification, it is no longer before the states for ratification, and any action by the General Assembly to ratify it now would be a nullity.”
So passing it isn’t even going to be constitutional. Oh my. This whole thing is a disingenuous act.
We have equal rights. We don’t need this. And saying we need to pass the ERA because we don’t have equal rights only trashes the US, trashes the Constitution, and hopes to further divide the American public.
Virginia should not pass the ERA. We should only consider needed amendments that are constitutional, and the ERA is neither. Enough is enough.
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