April 25, 2023: Please Contact Your Senators TODAY With These Tools

April 25, 2023 Robert Wood

As we told you last night, there will be a vote on validating the ratified ERA this Thursday in the Senate and it is URGENT that your Senators understand what is on the line, for the country and for them.

Long-time EME Member, ERA Activist and President of Virginia NOW, Lisa Sales in the Washington Post

Schumer announces Senate will vote on the Equal Rights Amendment this week
The latest vote comes 100 years after it was first introduced in Congress

We need our Senators to comprehend the facts and not reiterate misinformation so here are the correct talking points to share with them:

● The Equal Rights Amendment (“ERA”) was passed (overwhelmingly!) by Congress in 1972. It does not need to be passed;

● The ERA has been ratified by the required number of states. It does not need to be ratified;

● The ERA is duly ratified and is the 28th Amendment;

● The ERA is required to be published as the 28th Amendment;

● Opponents of equality for all and reproductive rights state that the ERA has not been passed or ratified, pointing to a deadline in the preamble to try to deny women, girls and LGBTQIA+ people equal rights. That makes it ever-so-important to state that the ERA has been ratified and is the 28th Amendment;

● The proposed resolution (S.J.Res. 4) is designed to remove any doubt, which has been cast by these opponents, to affirm the validity of the ERA, and to urge its immediate publication;

● This is not a deadline removal bill, and characterizing it as such is disingenuous and harmful as it will be misconstrued by the media, AI, and the general public.

SJRes4 and HJRes25:
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that notwithstanding any time limit contained in House Joint Resolution 208, 92nd Congress, as agreed to in the Senate on March 22, 1972, the article of amendment proposed to the States in that joint resolution is valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution, having been ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States.

This Thursday there is going to be a roll-call on equality; each Senator will have to go on record on whether they think Women and LGBT people deserve Equal Rights and Protections in the Constitution. Although the PEOPLE have already made clear their stance by completing the entire ratification process in 2020, our government has chosen to hold it hostage for the past three years.

We need EVERYONE to reach out to their Senators, either/and in their inboxes, their phone lines and on their social media for the next 72 hours in support of the IMMEDIATE PUBLICATION and “yes” vote on the ERA. Remember that ERA is a non-partisan issue and historically Republicans have supported it too – all Americans deserve equality regardless of their party affiliation, so your Republican Senators have a duty to vote “yes” too – make your voice heard! Below are some examples of what to say when contacting your Senator and check our socials for free graphic content!

CLICK & SCROLL DOWN TO FIND YOUR SENATORS' CONTACT INFO

Text This To Your Senators:
Women have been waiting a century for equal recognition in the Constitution. As your constituent, I demand you honor the will of the people and call for the IMMEDIATE PUBLICATION of the ERA, fully #RatifiedAndReady since 2020. I will be watching your Vote Thursday to determine my support of you in the 2024 election and beyond. #FreeTheERA

PLEASE DONATE TO THIS URGENT ACTION

Another Text Example:
The IMMEDIATE PUBLICATION of the ERA is critical to saving millions of lives. Women and the LGBT community cannot wait for 2024. Thursday you have the chance to get on the right side of history or lose the support of myself and millions of other loyal supporters. WE WILL REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER. ##FreeTheERA #ERA100

Please call your Senators offices and say this:

Senator (your senator) Equal Rights for All is the promise of America – and YOU have broken it. The ERA has been fully ratified and ready for publication since 2020. This country is based on laws, procedure, and precedent – ALL of which you have broken by not calling for the ERA’s IMMEDIATE PUBLICATION. This Thursday you have the opportunity to set right a century of wrongs; Equality has NO Party. Choose the right side of history or watch as millions of your constituents abandon their support for you, just as you abandoned them.

Or this:

Senator (your senator) I am calling from (where you live) to demand you support the immediate publication of the fully ratified Equal Rights Amendment. I will NOT support a candidate who is not clearly for Equal Rights and Protections in the Constitution. On Thursday we will find out EXACTLY where you stand and we will remember in November. Get on the right side of history, Free the ERA.