NEED
From Ratification to Enforcement
For more than seventeen years, EQUAL MEANS EQUAL has pursued one objective: full constitutional equality for women.
When conventional wisdom held that the Equal Rights Amendment could no longer be ratified, EQUAL MEANS EQUAL embraced the Three-State Strategy and worked with advocates and legislators in the campaigns that secured ratification in Nevada in 2017, Illinois in 2018, and Virginia in 2020—the final three states necessary to reach thirty-eight state ratifications.
Ratification changed the nature of the work.
The question was no longer how to secure the necessary states, but how to ensure that constitutional equality would be recognized and enforced.
That is the purpose of NEED.
WHAT IS NEED?
The National Equality Enforcement Directive (NEED) is EQUAL MEANS EQUAL’s coordinated national litigation strategy to compel judicial recognition and enforcement of constitutional equality for women.
NEED develops strategic cases across multiple jurisdictions challenging laws, policies and government practices that discriminate on the basis of sex.
These cases may arise under the Equal Rights Amendment and the Constitution’s guarantees of equal protection—including the equal protection component of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment in federal cases and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment in state cases.
The goal is larger than winning any individual lawsuit.
We are building a body of constitutional law establishing that discrimination on the basis of sex must receive the highest level of judicial scrutiny and that women are entitled to full equality under the Constitution.
A NATIONAL STRATEGY
Lasting constitutional change rarely comes from a single lawsuit.
NEED builds the legal infrastructure necessary to pursue equality strategically over time: identifying discriminatory laws and policies, developing strong plaintiffs, working with attorneys and constitutional scholars, building coalitions, coordinating litigation across jurisdictions, and bringing carefully selected cases capable of establishing precedent.
Some cases will challenge federal discrimination. Others may challenge discrimination by states.
Different laws. Different plaintiffs. Different courts.
One constitutional principle: equal means equal.
FROM RATIFICATION TO ENFORCEMENT
EQUAL MEANS EQUAL helped carry the ERA through the final states necessary for ratification.
Now we are carrying that work into the courts.
The National Equality Enforcement Directive is the next phase of that movement—a sustained national effort to transform the promise of constitutional equality into enforceable law.
One constitutional principle:
Equal means equal.
SUPPORT NEED
Help EQUAL MEANS EQUAL build the legal infrastructure necessary to secure constitutional equality for women and future generations.