Equal Rights Amendment North Carolina Alliance

It's Time to Write Women Into the Constitution!

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Take Action! Discriminatory SAVE Act

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THE ‘SAVE’ ACT ENDANGERS WOMEN VOTERS

Does the name on your birth certificate match the name you go by today? Or did your last name change when you married?

If the names don’t match, the federal SAVE Act (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility) would require proof on paper that you are a U.S. citizen before you can register to vote or update your voter registration information. You’d have to dig up your birth certificate or show a passport or some other proof of citizenship. This is totally unnecessary, as state election officials already have systems in place to verify your status as a citizen.

The SAVE Act is simply legislation playing politics. Half of us in this country don’t own passports. Your birth certificate may have drowned in a flood. And if you’re a married woman who took her husband’s name, good luck hunting for the right pieces of paper to prove you are you. In fact, the SAVE Act makes no mention of being able to show a marriage certificate or change-of-name documentation.

Women and citizens of color are most vulnerable to this kind of discrimination. The Center for American Progress notes that as many as 69 million women who have taken their spouse’s name do not have a birth certificate matching their legal name.

CALL OR WRITE YOUR REPRESENTATIVE AND SENATORS AND TELL THEM TO VOTE NO! ON THE SAVE ACT

Find your U.S. Representative’s and Senators’ contact information here

 

Thank you, ERA advocates!

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On Friday, January 17, 2025, President Biden issued a historic opinion on the Equal Rights Amendment, confirming that the amendment has met all the Article V requirements to amend the Constitution, and that it should be published immediately as the 28th Amendment.

This opinion supersedes that of the Trump-era Office of Legal Counsel preventing the National Archivist from certifying Virginia’s 2020 ratification of the ERA, as he had for the Nevada (2017) and Illinois (2018) ratifications. As Virginia was the 38th and final state needed to ratify, the ERA is therefore the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The text of the Equal Rights Amendment simply reads: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”

The ERA allows the courts to apply the strictest scrutiny in gender discrimination cases, and it gives us the foundation we need to build a more equitable state and nation.

The ERA-NC Alliance thanks all the activists over the years who have never given up on the Equal Rights Amendment, from our lead and member organizations, the ERA Champions in Congress and the North Carolina General Assembly, our Alliance founders and leadership past and present to all our dedicated members and advocates.  We thank you all for the arduous and continued work to get here.

Now we roll up our sleeves and start implementing the ERA.

Biden Confirms ERA is 28A!

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This morning President Biden issued his opinion that the Equal Rights Amendment is in fact the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution! Here’s his statement:

“I have supported the Equal Rights Amendment for more than 50 years, and I have long been clear that no one should be discriminated against based on their sex. We, as a nation, must affirm and protect women’s full equality once and for all.

On January 27, 2020, the Commonwealth of Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. The American Bar Association (ABA) has recognized that the Equal Rights Amendment has cleared all necessary hurdles to be formally added to the Constitution as the 28th Amendment. I agree with the ABA and with leading legal constitutional scholars that the Equal Rights Amendment has become part of our Constitution.

It is long past time to recognize the will of the American people. In keeping with my oath and duty to Constitution and country, I affirm what I believe and what three-fourths of the states have ratified: the 28th Amendment is the law of the land, guaranteeing all Americans equal rights and protections under the law regardless of their sex.”

Thank you for staying engaged, for calling, for texting, for keeping the pressure on the Biden-Harris administration to enshrine the ERA in the Constitution! Now we roll up our sleeves to start implementing the ERA!

Urgent Action NOW!

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Write a Postcard to President Biden

Write a postcard to President Biden. Ask him to instruct the Federal Archivist to PUBLISH our fully ratified Equal Rights Amendment, the 28th Amendment!!

Address:

President Joe Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, D.C. 20500

You can also call the White House at (202) 456-1111, or text (302) 404-0880.

Time is short! President Biden must do this before January 20th!

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From the national ERA Coalition:

Gender equality shouldn’t wait any longer! We’ve met all requirements for the Equal Rights Amendment to be part of the Constitution. Now it’s time for President Biden to cement his legacy as a champion for gender equality and do everything he can to make sure it’s published before the end of his presidency.  You can also help us spread the word about this campaign via social media. We need everyone who cares about gender equality to rally for the ERA.

You can also use these reminders from ERA-NC Alliance member and attorney, Gina Collias:

The American Bar Association (ABA) agrees Biden must publish. U.S. Senator Gillibrand agrees Biden must publish.

1.  No 7 year deadline is in the text of the ERA, so this ‘7 years’ business is GOP disinformation.

2. No state can ever rescind an amendment under Article V. Think prohibition. It came in with an amendment, and it had to be repealed by a separate amendment.

#PublishTheERA ASAP!

RATIFIED Screenings

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RATIFIED is a feature documentary about the 100-year struggle for constitutional gender equality, and it’s an inspiring story of a multi-racial, multi-generational, bi-partisan effort to make Virginia the 38th and final state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.  It’s also a story of how bureaucracy is used to stifle progress, and it takes a close look at the incredible perseverance of women – specifically, the Black women leaders who have taken their rightful place at the front of the movement for gender equality. Our impact campaign will activate 15,000,000 Americans on the issue of gender equality.

Thursday, October 17th, 2024
7:00 pm- 9:00pm (with panel discussion)
Lumina Theater, UNCW campus
615 Hamilton Dr.
Wilmington NC 28403
$10 suggested donation for non-students
Come early to grab pictures with the Vote Equality “Notorious RVG” (Ruthless Vote Getter) and pick up swag.