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Open Letter to Senator Rodric Bray About ERA

LWVIN | Published on 4/3/2023





An open letter to Senator Bray, President Pro Tempore, Indiana Senate, about advancing the filled Senate Joint Resolution reaffirming the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) for full consideration.

See full text below.






April 3, 2023

TO: Senator Rodric Bray, President Pro Tempore

CC: Senator Jean Breaux
Senator Susan Glick

From: Linda Hanson and Barbara Schilling, Co-Presidents 
League of Women Voters of Indiana (LWVIN) 


Re: Support for Senate Joint Resolution on the Equal Rights Amendment 


Speaking on behalf of our nearly 1700 League members across the state, the LWVIN encourages you to move the Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) on the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) forward for full consideration by the Senate and the House.

We understand that Senator Jean Breaux filed the SJR on March 22, the anniversary of the ERA leaving Congress in 1972.  It has not appeared in the listings for resolutions on the IGA website.  Co-sponsors in the Indiana House are ready to act, and others have indicated they will sign on.

The League of Women Voters has a century-long history of support for the ERA.  

The amendment was introduced by suffragist Alice Paul in 1923. It was passed by Congress in 1972 with more than the necessary 2/3 vote, and in 2020 it passed the 38-state threshold (¾ of states) for ratification. 

LWV has fought hard for passage and ratification of the ERA since the 1970s.
 
LWV seeks to secure equal rights and equal opportunity for all. We support equal rights for all under state and federal law regardless of sex, race, color, gender, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, or disability.  We promote social and economic justice and the health and safety of all Americans. 

LWV supports final publication of the fully ratified Equal Rights Amendment and efforts to bring existing laws into compliance with the goals of the ERA.
 
The ERA constitutionally protects the equality of rights under law, regardless of sex. The text of the ERA reads: "Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Sec. 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. Sec. 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification." 

There is a joint resolution (S.J. Res.4/H.J. Res 25) in Congress that affirms that the ERA is a valid part of the Constitution and that addresses the question of a ratification time limit.  

The SJR filed by Senator Breaux simply asks Congress to pass their pending joint resolution.  We ask that you advance the SJR by assigning it a number and moving it to full consideration by the Senate and the House. 

Sincerely, 

Linda Hanson and Barbara Schilling, Co-Presidents, LWVIN