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Equal rights for women long overdue

In the summer of 1982 in Illinois, the deadline that required 38 states to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment was quickly approaching. With 35 ratified, Illinois was one of just three more states needed, and arguments were being heard in Springfield. Unfortunately Illinois failed to ratify the amendment that year, the deadline passed, and the United States became one of the only developed countries not to protect all citizens regardless of gender in their Constitution.

Thirty-two years later, our laws have progressed, but those laws are not guaranteed under the Constitution. It's time that our nation's Constitution reflect the values of our society. Women are fighting and dying in the military under the same Constitution that does not offer them equal rights as their male counterparts. It's time for all the progress we've made to be guaranteed, and to not have the vulnerability to be repealed. It's time for us to move into the 21st century.

There are some who believe the ERA and equality for women is no longer necessary - or worse, they think that it already passed and that women are treated equally under the Constitution. In the three decades since the fight for the ERA, Congress has passed numerous laws to protect women, including the Equal Pay Act, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and Title IX. But none of these laws is irreversible, and the U.S. Constitution as it stands does not officially protect all citizens regardless of gender the same way it protects citizens against discrimination based on race and religion.

The Equal Rights Amendment simply states: "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." This amendment would:

• Guarantee that the rights affirmed by the U.S. Constitution are held equally by all citizens without regard to sex;

• Provide a fundamental legal remedy against sex discrimination for both women and men; • Guarantee that the rights affirmed by the U.S. Constitution are held equally by all citizens without regard to sex;

• Provide a fundamental legal remedy against sex discrimination for both women and men;

• Clarify the legal status of sex discrimination for the courts, where decisions still deal inconsistently with such claims.

Without the ERA, people still have to fight long, expensive and difficult political and legal battles for equal rights under the law. Congress and state legislatures can amend or repeal anti-discrimination laws by a simple majority, federal and state administrations can negligently enforce such laws, and the judiciary, including the Supreme Court, can use the intermediate standard of review to uphold certain forms of regressive sex discrimination.

Additionally, not having the ERA is an impediment to improving the standing of the United States globally with respect to equal justice under law, since the governing documents of many other countries specifically affirm legal equality of the sexes. The U.S. is one of only seven countries in the world to not have ratified CEDAW, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (joining Iran, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Palau and Tonga).

Last May 22, the Illinois Senate passed the Equal Rights Amendment. With 29 co-sponsors, it is now poised for a vote in the Illinois House during the veto session. If the House would pass it now, Illinois can reinvigorate the conversation about what it means to be a citizen of the United States of America.

In an April 2012 poll for Daily Kos and Service Employees International Union, the question was asked, "Do you think the Constitution should guarantee equal rights for men and women, or not?" Of respondents, 91 percent said yes. We urge state legislators to act on this widely-supported amendment, and we encourage Illinois residents to call their state House representatives and urge them to vote yes on SJRCA75 for the ERA.

• Michelle Fadeley is president of Illinois National Organization for Women. Also contributing to this column are Carol Heisler, president of the American Association of University Women in Illinois, and Mary Kubasak, president of the League of Women Voters Illinois.

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