Statement from NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The march towards constitutional equality for women made up for years of lost ground today, as House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler’s resolution to eliminate the ratification deadline for the Equal Rights Amendment was voted out of the committee.  

NOW has been on the front lines of advocacy for the ERA for nearly 50 years.  Most recently, we helped get out the vote in Virginia to change control of the state legislature and clear the way for it to become the 38th and final state needed to ratify the amendment.  

Chairman Nadler’s resolution will remove a seven-year ratification deadline that many ERA advocates back in 1972 thought was an effort to kill the amendment. While we believe that this step is not necessary for the ERA to officially become an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, removal of the deadline will be extra insurance if the ERA is challenged in court by opponents of equality.  

The ERA is a priority for millions of women, and it is a priority for NOW.  Congress needs to fix what’s missing in our Constitution and finally declare that equal means equal, for everyone.  We salute Chairman Nadler and his colleagues for today’s step towards enshrining the ERA in the constitution. Women can be proud of what they have accomplished. 

Contact

Kimberly Hayes, Press Secretary, press@now.org, 202-570-4745