Coalition Urges Biden to Officially Enact Long-Delayed Equal Rights Amendment
A final public pressure campaign is being launched to persuade the president to revive the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) before Trump assumes office.
Thirty nonprofit advocacy organizations, including various pro-abortion and pro-trans groups, have unified to call on President Joe Biden to “publish” the 1972 Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).
The advocates argue that publication is the final barrier in the enduring struggle to enshrine the ERA as law.
Critics of the ERA highlight that the amendment did not receive ratification from the necessary number of states within the time limit set by Congress.
They contend that publishing the amendment now would be unconstitutional and contradict limited judicial precedents, as well as disregard the guidance from the Department of Justice.
After ratifying a proposed amendment, the concerned state must notify the national archivist, who subsequently forwards it to the Office of the Federal Register (OFR) to assess the legal sufficiency of the documents.
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Once the OFR gets official ratification notices from three-fourths of the 50 states (38), it issues a proclamation certified by the archivist declaring that the amendment is now a valid part of the Constitution.
This certification is then published in the Federal Register and U.S. Statutes at Large, serving as formal notification to Congress and the public that the amendment process has been successfully completed.
The reasoning behind Biden, a known supporter of the ERA, not publishing the amendment certification earlier in his term remains unclear.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
A coalition known as the Biden Publish the ERA Alliance conducted a digital town hall on December 3 to outline a strategy for urging Biden to act before the incoming Trump administration takes power on January 20, 2025.
A recent letter signed by 46 U.S. senators called on Biden to direct the U.S. archivist “to certify and publish the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) as the 28th Amendment” to the Constitution.
The current national archivist is Colleen Shogan, a Biden appointee who was confirmed by the Senate in 2023.
The memo indicates: “The question of whether the ERA is part of the Constitution will be settled not by an OLC opinion but through the courts and Congress … the 2020 OLC opinion does not impede Congress’s actions regarding ERA ratification or judicial review of the related issues.”
The OLC is a division within the Justice Department, which is part of the Executive Branch.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), a proponent of the letter, was a key speaker at the town hall.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) speaks to guests during a campaign stop in Dubuque, Iowa, on March 19, 2019. Scott Olson/Getty Images
Gillibrand warned that halting the ERA signifies an “extraordinary threat to women’s reproductive rights.”
“Countless lives have been impacted since the overturn of Roe v. Wade,” she stated.
Gillibrand expressed that the objective is to rally support from the American public for the ERA.
“I’m hopeful our advocacy can effect change. We have legal analysis supporting our position,” she said.
When questioned about Biden’s inaction over the past three and a half years, Gillibrand attributed it to his legal advisors being “very conservative in their thought process.”
Gillibrand did not reply to a request for comment.
Trump’s OLC concluded that the original seven-year ratification limit set in the congressional proposal for the ERA had expired, effectively nullifying the entire process due to the lack of timely state ratifications.
The amendment not only failed to gain enough ratifications within the initial seven-year window but subsequently fell short again, even after Congress extended the limit from 1979 to 1982 by a simple majority vote.
Initially proposed in Congress in 1923, it wasn’t until 1972 that the proposed amendment could muster the constitutionally required two-thirds majority vote in both houses to proceed to state ratifications.
This process concluded when the deadline ended in 1982 with only 35 states ratifying—three short of the necessary 38.
The Revitalization of the ERA
The ERA received renewed hope when, 35 years later, the Nevada legislature ratified the amendment in 2017, disregarding the 2020 OLC opinion.
Illinois followed in 2018, and in 2020, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the ERA.
The actions of these three states laid the groundwork for current efforts by progressive organizations to compel Biden to counter the will of Congress and the OLC opinion by officially publishing the ERA.
“Biden has the authority, opportunity, and power to publish the ERA,” asserted attorney Nicole Bates, an organizer and host of the town hall.
Proponents maintain that publishing the ERA could legally position them better against expected court challenges.
“It’s considerably more difficult to revoke rights once they are established. The ensuing battle will highlight the opponents’ true nature,” proclaimed Gillibrand.
Eagle Forum President Kris Ullman (L) and Chairwoman Anne Cori. Courtesy of Eagle Forum
Kristen Ullman, attorney and president of the conservative, pro-family advocacy group Eagle Forum, which opposes the ERA, remarked to The Epoch Times that while 35 states ratified the ERA by 1977, five of those subsequently rescinded their ratifications.
Ullman stated that the 2020 OLC opinion clarifies that since the ERA did not secure 38 ratifications by the original 1979 deadline, the amendment is effectively invalid.
Despite the rescissions and the passage of deadlines, Ullman claimed that “the feminist/abortionist/trans lobby” is pressing to have Biden compel the archivist to certify that the necessary number of states have approved the ERA.
This certification would trigger immediate legal challenges from conservative factions.
The Equal Rights Amendment of 1972 contains the following 40 words:
“Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.”
These words hold significance for trans activist Jack Knoxville, who participated in the town hall meeting.
“The trans community exists and aspires to flourish in a fair future without fear for our survival,” Knoxville emphasized. “I constantly worry about what the future holds.”
Attorney Kate Kelly, another participant, pointed out that the ERA does not solely protect women.
“The term ‘woman’ isn’t mentioned in the ERA. It safeguards women, but also queer individuals, marginalized groups, and women of color. The more marginalized you are, the greater the potential benefits,” Kelly stated.
Ullman commented to The Epoch Times: “The ERA undermines women. It removes women’s rights in pursuit of ‘equality.’
“Men self-identifying as women would gain legal access to appropriating women’s rights, participating in women’s sports, entering nursing homes, prisons, and domestic violence shelters.
“Young women would lose the opportunity to select single-sex education options.
“If they manage to convince President Biden to take this course of action, we’re prepared to challenge him in court and push back against this misguided initiative once more.”
