Will the U.S. Finally Approve the ERA?

THE UNITED STATES is one of only 28 countries without a provision in its Constitution that provides equality under the law regardless of sex.

The Equal Rights Amendment was proposed in this country nearly a century ago. Congress passed the amendment in 1972 with bipartisan support in both houses and then set a time limit for ratification by the states. In January 2020, when Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the ERA, the amendment met the requirements to be added to the U.S. Constitution. Unfortunately, the deadline for ratification passed more than three decades ago.

The amendment’s language is simple: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” The ERA would add what the Founding Fathers intentionally left out: constitutional rights and protections for everyone regardless of “sex.” Isn’t it time?

Without the ERA, women and LGBTQ people face threats to their personal and economic well-being, leaving them disproportionately without legal protection. Women and LGBTQ people face high risks of domestic violence, workplace harassment, and sexual assault. The U.S. ranks in the top 10 of the world’s most dangerous countries for women, according to the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Though LGBTQ people make up 4.5 percent of the U.S. population, they are victims of 18.5 percent of hate crimes, according to FBI statistics. Passing the ERA would give Congress the power to pass legislation against gender-based violence and make it possible to hold states accountable for the protection of women and LGBTQ people against gender-based violence.

Among women who hold full-time, year-round jobs in the U.S., white women earn 79 cents, Black women 63 cents, Indigenous women 60 cents, and Latina women 55 cents for each dollar paid to white men, according to a 2020 report. Additionally, the U.S. has no laws for paid family leave. Women are harmed economically by the absence of paid family leave because taking care of children falls overwhelmingly on women. The ERA would open the door for legislation to lessen the gender pay gap and provide equal protection for those who are pregnant. A constitutional amendment guaranteeing equality under the law could tackle systemic bias by allowing challenges to policies that discriminate against women and LGBTQ people without having to prove those policies were designed to discriminate.

As Christians, we believe that every person, regardless of sex, gender, race, ethnicity, ability, and sexual orientation, is made in the image of God. We know that God loves and creates us all equally. Equal treatment under the law flows from these truths. Any law that makes one group of people superior to another is a direct assault on these truths because it denies the full image of God in the group deemed inferior.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how interdependent we really are. We rely on each other’s well-being and ability to thrive. As we look to the future and the country we want to have, now is the time to call on Congress to pass legislation allowing the ERA to be adopted immediately, removing the time limit on the ratification process. The threats faced by women and LGBTQ people create barriers to living the abundant life God wants for us all. An injury to one is an injury to all.