ERA Bills Introduced at NC General Assembly

Durham, NC – On Tuesday, February 14^th, bills supporting North Carolina’s ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment were introduced in both houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. Senator Floyd McKissick, Jr., introduced SB 85 and Representative Carla Cunningham introduced HB 102. Both bills have multiple co-sponsors. A video of the full news conference ERA-NC Alliance held is at the end of this post.

“In my opinion, it is absolutely absurd that we have not already passed the Equal Rights Amendment,” said Senator McKissick, “since it is obvious to me that women should be viewed equal to men in the eyes of the law.” McKissick already anticipates likely arguments against the ERA will claim an adverse affect on business, but he says, “so be it! If that’s the criteria they use for evaluation, I guess they would never have abolished slavery, either.”

ERA bills have been introduced in eleven of the states that did not ratify the ERA during its original push between 1972 and 1982. If three onhealthy.net additional states approve ratification, that would reach the required 38 states necessary to amend the Constitution. Even though none of those bills sponsored since 1982 have passed, Representative Cunningham says that’s no reason to stop pushing for the ERA. “We just need to be persistent,” she says, noting the outpouring of women in Washington and across the nation during the Women’s March in January. “We will fully be acknowledged for our contributions to our state and our country when the principle of equal rights is written into the framework of our government. I say persist!”

Urge your representatives to support the ERA bills, and follow the progress of the bills in the NC General Assembly online:

• SB 85 is at http://bit.ly/2kqu7DR
• HB 102 is at http://bit.ly/2lLa2sa

The ERA-NC Alliance is pursuing support for ratification of the ERA among counties and municipalities across the state. Currently Durham and Orange Counties, and the municipalities of Durham, Winston-Salem, Duck, Nags Head, Kitty Hawk, Manteo, and Kill Devil Hills have adopted resolutions supporting ratification of the ERA.

Women’s Rights movement spreads across North Carolina

Municipalities unanimously pass Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) Resolutions

Durham, NC – Several municipalities passed unanimous resolutions in November of this year supporting an Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The Durham and Orange County Commissions along with the City of Winston-Salem adopted ERA resolutions at regular business sessions on the 14, 15 and 21^st, respectively. They join Durham City Council, which demonstrated its support by passing a resolution in October. Area residents petitioned their local council and county representatives on behalf of the ERA-NC Alliance, which launched in April of 2016.

The passage of the resolutions marks an historic path for the citizens of the state who seek to re-engage the state legislature toward ensuring the full equality of women in the United States Constitution.

In 1972 a proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution passed both houses of the U.S. Congress and was sent to the states for ratification. By a 1982 deadline, only 35 of the required 38 states had ratified the ERA. North Carolina was one of the states that failed to ratify the ERA. However, the state is becoming a leader in a new movement to pass the ERA.

Jennifer Miller, an Orange County www.onlinepharmacytabs.com resident and visual artist with a studio in Hillsborough, petitioned her commissioners to pass the resolution. She is concerned about “the young women today who assume they are equal citizens under the law.”  Miller believes they face a different picture as they enter the work place and begin raising families. “They expect the same career and family trajectory as their male counterparts, but the reality can differ.” The difference can include sexual harassment in the workplace, domestic violence in the home and sexual violence in the community. Sadly, such injustice is often magnified in the courts, where women’s lack of unequivocal constitutional protection under the law allows these discriminatory practices to persist.

Diana Gray, a resident of Winston-Salem, who petitioned her city council to pass an ERA resolution, praised Councilwoman Molly Leight, who introduced the resolution, “She won my admiration when she passionately told the Council that the City of Winston-Salem must take this action because it is the right thing to do.” Gray insisted that, “We must persist in putting ratification of the ERA before our elected officials, especially in this uncertain political climate. “

The Alliance will be taking the ERA campaign to other cities and counties across the state.

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Durham, NC – The Durham City Council unanimously passed a resolution supporting an Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) at its regular council meeting on October 17, 2016. The action is being heralded as an historic event by members of the ERA-NC Alliance, who advocated for its passage. The council is the first municipal body in North Carolina to re-engage on the issue of fully enfranchising women in the United States Constitution.

In 1972 a proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution passed both houses of the U.S. Congress and was sent to the states for ratification. By a 1982 deadline, only 35 of the required 38 states had ratified the ERA. North Carolina was one of the states that failed to ratify the ERA. However, the state is becoming a leader in a new movement to pass the ERA.

Marena Groll, Co-Chair of ERA-NC, commended the action of the council as “forward-thinking and critically relevant.” The reemergence of the ERA occurs at a time of significant healthcarewell pharmacy political unrest for women who are increasingly the family breadwinners and community leaders, but continue to experience sexual discrimination. Groll stated that, “In this election cycle, we have been shocked into a national conversation about sexism and inequality. It’s an unsparing look at everything from wage inequity to rape culture. Women are powerfully positioned in the conversation as an important voting demographic on the issues.”

Groll predicts that blatant sexual discrimination will continue to drive a demand for constitutional equality. “The ERA will be the next defining step for women’s civil rights in America. We are caught up in a breaking wave of the most educated, communications-savvy women in the world. They aren’t going to sit still and be denied the constitutional tools to defend themselves against retro-cultural practices that are hostile to them and to their families.”

The Alliance will be taking the ERA campaign to other cities and counties across the state.

Legislative, Congressional candidates respond to Equal Rights survey

In response to a recent survey on the Equal Rights Amendment, many North Carolina candidates for the General Assembly and the U.S. House of Representatives have declared support for the ERA. Most of the legislative candidates who responded said “yes” when asked: “If elected, will you cosponsor and vote for the resolution to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment?”

View the surveys here: NC House  | NC Senate

[Read more…] about ERA Legislative Survey 2016