Equal Rights Amendment North Carolina Alliance

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SCOTUS: follow the ERA in Dobbs

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To save reproductive rights, ERA-NC Alliance demands SCOTUS follow the 
Equal Rights Amendment/28th Amendment in Dobbs decision
Court motions filed in Supreme Court today
Raleigh — In a Supreme Court filing on Monday, the ERA-NC Alliance argued that the Supreme Court’s leaked draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization is wrongly decided because it fails to consider the 28th Amendment/Equal Rights Amendment, which was added to the U.S. Constitution in January 2020 and became effective Jan. 27, 2022.
“We are stunned that the Court did not consider the most important language in the Constitution, the actual text of the ERA,” Lori Bunton, co-president of the Alliance, said. “We knew that we had to do something to alert the Supreme Court and try to stop this travesty before the Dobbs opinion is issued.”
“Women are going to lose their lives if the Supreme Court refuses to protect our rights to make our own reproductive decisions,” said Jimmie Cochran Pratt, also co-president. “We have learned that not only abortion will be banned, but it’s also likely birth control and the abortion pill. Even people who have ectopic pregnancies could die without the right to have those fetuses safely removed.”
The ERA-NC Alliance asked the court to allow it to file an amicus brief regarding the Equal Rights Amendment and for a time extension in light of the recently leaked Supreme Court draft majority opinion in Dobbs, which uses Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban to decimate women’s reproductive rights and to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
The Alliance argues that Justice Samuel Alito, who positions himself as one of at least five textualists on the Supreme Court, relied on archaic legal theories that predated the U.S. Constitution, in order to justify his draft opinion.
The ERA was fully ratified on Jan. 27, 2020, but former President Donald Trump and Attorney General Bill Barr blocked the National Archivist from completing his mandatory duty, which requires the Archivist to certify the 38 states’ ratifications.
ERA-NC Alliance’s motions set out that since Section 3 of the 28th Amendment had a two-year delay for it to become effective, it just became effective on Jan. 27, 2022, after the deadlines for filing briefs in the case and after the December oral arguments.
“If these five Justices claim they are textualists, then they need to follow the text of all the Constitution, including the 28th Amendment, which by its plain language, ‘Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex,’ ensures that abortion and other reproductive rights are protected, because Mississippi doesn’t have a law interfering with men’s reproductive rights. There is no Mississippi law making men or boys get vasectomies,” said Arlaine Rockey, an attorney for the Alliance.
“The ERA requires that the courts apply strict scrutiny to prevent the discrimination of women in the Dobbs case,” said Alliance co-counsel Gina Collias. “The intent and requirement of the ERA is to make sure that women are equal citizens, so the ERA implies that women have a fundamental right to reproductive choice.”
“President Biden has a Constitutional duty to make sure that laws are faithfully carried out, according to Article II, Section 3, of the U.S. Constitution,” said Rockey. “The Constitution is the highest law in our country, so the President has a duty to direct the Archivist to certify and publish the ERA immediately. He promised women in his campaign that he would enshrine women’s equality in the Constitution, yet he has failed to follow through. With just one signature, he could make women equal citizens for the first time in hundreds of years.”
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ERA-NC Alliance is a statewide North Carolina 501(c)(4) organization that advocates for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment by North Carolina and working in collaboration with the national organizations and individuals in reaching this goal. The Alliance is comprised of respected women’s organizations including National Organization for Women NC, American Association of University Women NC and the North Carolina League of Women Voters.
See most recent articles regarding purported ERA deadline and rescinding states, and why the ERA provides a fundamental right to reproductive choice at https://ArlaineRockey.com/equal-rights-for-women

Press Release 6/2/18

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Illinois becomes 37th state to ratify the ERA
Will North Carolina be the 38th?

Durham, NC – On May 30, 2018, the Illinois House of Representatives voted to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, making it the 37th of 38 states need to guarantee women in the United States full protection under the Constitution.

Efforts have been underway in North Carolina to ratify the ERA as well, with bills introduced in the 2015-16 and 2017-18 sessions. On May 31st, additional ratifying bills were introduced in both the NC House and Senate. Senators Floyd McKissick and Terry Van Duyn are primary sponsors of S782, which explains why the ERA is still viable for ratification today, and allocates $10,000 to educate the public about the act. In the House, Representatives Carla Cunningham, Susan Fisher, Evelyn Terry and Deb Butler are primary sponsors of the companion bill H1072.

Links to new bills:
S782: www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2017/Bills/Senate/PDF/S782v1.pdf
H1072: www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2017/Bills/House/PDF/H1072v1.pdf

A 2016 poll found nearly universal support (94%) for guaranteeing women equal rights under the Constitution. Nearly 80% of those polled mistakenly believed that was already the case. However, the late Supreme Court Justice, Antonin Scalia, made it clear that justices following a constitutionalist philosophy believe that women are not protected under the Constitution, and that the founders did not intend that they be protected under the document.

The ERA-NC Alliance is conducting a statewide educational campaign about the need for the Constitutional amendment, which is anticipated to eventually guarantee equality for men and women under the law and in the workplace, and strengthen protection against gender-based violence.

ERA-NC Alliance Co-Presidents Marena Groll and Roberta Madden are available for interviews.

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About the ERA-NC Alliance:

The ERA-NC Alliance (www.era-nc.org) is a non-partisan, non-profit organization seeking ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. constitution. Membership is open to individuals and organizations committed to ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. Lead organizations include the American Association of University Women of NC, Democratic Women of NC, League of Women Voters of NC, NC4ERA, NC Business and Professional Women, NC National Organization for Women, NC Women United, Ratify ERA- NC the Women’s Forum of NC and the YWCA of Asheville. The Alliance operates in direct collaboration with the national ERA Coalition (www.eracoalition.org).