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LETTER TO FIRST LADY JILL BIDEN

To: Dr. Jill Biden
First Lady of the United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW,
Washington DC 20500

Dear Dr. Biden,

We are writing to you as the National Association of Women’s Commissions, individual Women’s Commissioners, and allied Women’s Organizations, collectively, who provide a voice for women of all races, creeds and economic status throughout our nation. As you know, President John F. Kennedy established the President’s Commission on the Status of Women in 1961 to investigate questions regarding women’s equality in education, in the workplace, and under the law, and our local commissions are a proud outgrowth of that initiative, serving as a bridge between women and their government on issues that directly affect them. The Equal Rights Amendment is precisely that, and it is why we are urgently reaching out to you today.

The ERA is critical component that has been missing from our Constitution and now that is has been ratified, it must be published to provide women with equal rights and protections under our laws. The ERA provides women with equal pay, equal justice when experiencing gender-based violence, gives equal rights and protections to LGBTQ people and provides women with control over their bodies. ERA does this under the rubrick of equality, versus privacy, which is the “textual basis” for abortion rights that Supreme Court Justice Alito claimed was missing when overturning Roe v Wade in the Dobbs decision.

A little history: the ERA was first introduced to Congress in 1923 and was passed by the U.S. Congress (House of Representatives & Senate) in 1972: the role of the U.S. Congress is complete. The ERA was signed by the President in 1972: the role of the Executive Branch is complete. The ERA was ratified by 35 states by 1982. In 2017 the 36th state (Nevada) ratified it, then in 2018 the 37th state ratified (Illinois) and when Virginia became the 38th state to ratify it on January 27th of 2020 the amendatory process was complete, and ERA became the 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution. [There was a 7-year deadline placed on the ERA (later extended to 10 years) which was illegal because it was placed in the preamble of the amendment by the Congress and the States could not vote on it, misbalancing power between the Federal government and the States which goes against both the principle and letter of the Constitution. Here is a video explaining why the ERA deadline is not valid: https://youtu.be/U3JKcQ_N3no]

Immediately after Virginia became the final state to ratify the amendment, then-President Donald Trump blocked the ERA from publication by having his Attorney General Bill Barr send an illegal OLC memo to the U.S. Archivist, ordering them not to publish it. The role of the U.S. Archivist to publish an amendment when it reaches the three-fourths of the states (38) is mandatory and non-discretionary. Never in the history of the United States has a fully ratified amendment been blocked from publication – until now. The People of the United States have fulfilled the clear requirements of Article V of the U.S. Constitution to provide legal equality to all Americans regardless of sex or gender, and we do not want to see our hard-won victory ignored or dismissed by those who would illegally maintain the status quo.

The U.S. Archivist is a direct employee of the President’s and the Executive Branch and only President Biden may direct them to publish ERA. Both present and past Archivists (Ferriero & Shogan) have stated that if the President asked them to publish ERA they would do so immediately. The ERA must immediately be published for the courts and the nation to be put on notice that it is the 28th amendment to the Constitution and is now Federal law. We respectfully request that he direct the U.S. Archivist to publish ERA now.

Our partners at EQUAL MEANS EQUAL are launching a national multi-media campaign in all fifty states called FINAL IMPACT for the ERA to inform the voting public of the present situation and urge the President to take this historic step to push back against the illegal and increasing rollbacks on women and LGBTQ peoples’ human and civil rights by publishing the ERA. They will be doing a tour of the battleground states beginning in late May and throughout the summer and we will be supporting their efforts.

As representatives of American women, writ large, we are counting on you to carry out the will of the People and hear our collective voice, according to law. We thank you in advance for discussing this urgent matter with the President.

With great appreciation and gratitude,

Your Name Here

ERA TALKING POINTS

  1. The ERA was first introduced to Congress in 1923 and was passed by the U.S. Congress (House of Representatives & Senate) in 1972. The role of the U.S. Congress is complete.
  2. The ERA was blocked from publication by an illegal OLC memo from Attorney General Bill Barr to the U.S. Archivist, as directed by then-President Donald Trump. It still has not been published and this must happen for the courts and the nation to be put on notice that it is the 28th amendment to the Constitution and is now Federal law.
  3. The role of the U.S. Archivist to publish an amendment when it reaches the three-fourths of the states (38) is mandatory and non-discretionary. Never in the history of the United States has a full ratified amendment been blocked from publication – until now.
  4. The U.S. Archivist is a direct employee of the President’s and the Executive Branch and only President Biden may direct them to publish ERA.
  5. Both present and past Archivists (Ferriero & Shogan) have stated that if the President asked them to publish ERA they would do so immediately.
  6. The ERA provides women with control over their bodies under equality, versus privacy, and is the “textual basis” for abortion rights that Supreme Court Justice Alito claimed was missing when overturning Roe v Wade.
  7. President Biden says that Congress must pass a bill stating that the ERA is ratified; this is inaccurate. The role of Congress is complete as per Article V of the U.S. Constitution.
  8. The ERA was signed by the President in 1972, the role of the Executive Branch is complete.
  9. The ERA was ratified by 35 states by 1982. In 2017 the 36th state (Nevada) ratified it, then in 2018 the 37thstate ratified (Illinois) and when Virginia became the 38th state to ratify it on January 27th of 2020 the amendatory process was complete, and ERA became the 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
  10. There was a 7-year deadline placed on the ERA (later extended to 10 years) which was illegal because it was placed in the preamble of the amendment by the Congress and the States could not vote on it, misbalancing power between the Federal government and the States which goes against both the principle and letter of the Constitution. Here is a video explaining why the ERA deadline is not valid: https://youtu.be/U3JKcQ_N3no
  11. The ERA provides equal pay to women.
  12. The ERA provides equal justice to women experiencing gender-based violence.
  13. The ERA provides equal rights to LGBTQ people.
  14. Here is an explanatory video about the present status of ERA and why immediate publication is critical:https://youtu.be/BMuXNV_1JAI