Please join us in supporting our President's
bold agenda and in reminding him to
"REMEMBER THE WOMEN" in his #SOTU address by
vigorously supporting the movement to #RatifyERA in his remarks to the nation.
President Barack Obama is gearing up to come out swinging with a Progressive agenda that proves our #POTUS plans to make his last years in the White House count. Policies benefitting the 99%, not just the privileged few, are his top priority. Check out all things #SOTU2015 here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/...
We have his back as he moves these policies and we need and deserve his assurance that he has ours too.
Agree? Call and tell him so! 202-456-1111
#DemandERA #SOTU2015 #FLOTUS
The Equal Rights Amendment
“Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”
Background
Dr. Alice Paul unveiled the
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in Seneca Falls, New York during the 75th anniversary commemoration of the first Women’s Rights Convention, the starting point of the Suffragist Movement.
For 72 years women fought courageously to obtain the right to vote, dedicating themselves heart and soul to the cause. During the last phase of the Suffragist Movement, Alice and her compatriots were arrested and imprisoned in the Virginia Occoquan Workhouse after being convicted of trumped-up “blocking traffic” charges during demonstrations at the White House. Once imprisoned, the women demanded to be treated as political prisoners and staged hunger strikes to protest their unjust incarceration. Their demands were met with fierce brutality, including beatings and being thrown into cold, unsanitary, rat-infested cells. For staging hunger strikes, the women were tortured through violent force feedings. Nevertheless, the radical tactics of Alice and the other women worked—the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing women’s right to vote was ratified in 1920.
It was quite fitting that Alice chose this day to introduce the ERA as she realized the event was not only a day to celebrate the victory of the 72 year long battle to gain the vote for women in the United States, but also the beginning of the movement’s next phase—to obtain full Constitutional equality for all.
We shall not be safe until the principle of equal rights is written into the framework of our government. Dr. Alice Paul
Despite dedicating her life to ratifying the ERA, Alice did not live to see her dream fulfilled. The amendment was stalled in 1982, 3 states short of ratification, because an arbitrary deadline was imposed on the required 38 states needed to approve a Constitutional Amendment. However, legislation to remove the ratification deadline, allowing us to obtain the 3 additional required states, is gaining momentum in Congress and many unratified states have introduced legislation to approve the ERA.
After nearly a century, we have the privilege and obligation to move forward, building on the foundation Alice began on that summer day more than 90 years ago in Seneca Falls and the tireless work of the Women’s Liberation movement. Now it is our time to complete the unfinished business of the women's movement. Now is the time to make the ERA the law of the land!
Call the President and urge him to tell the nation it's long past time to Ratify the ERA: 202-456-1111