George Will wrote an opinion in the Washington Post 11/11/22
"50 Years Later, the zombie Equal Rights Amendment staggers on"
Here is my response -
Dear George Will,
Why are you so afraid of all Americans being citizens of equal stature?
Why aren’t you asking -
How can I help strengthen Democracy?
Instead of trying to shoot arrows through its heart.
You think it is acceptable to trivialize 100 years of work by people who want a Democracy where the Government can no longer discriminate against half the population?
Mr Will for 231 years amending the Constitution has been messy. Most amendments have legal issues.
The system functions so that when the people have spoken with the final state ratifying a Constitutional Amendment an updated Constitution is published. On January 27, 2020 when Virginal ratified the Equal Rights Amendment (“ERA”) it was added to the Constitution and publication is required by the law, the Constitution, the President’s oath of office, the will of the people and 231 years of precedent.
Our country has the right to have the ERA published and then have the legal issues around it be properly brought before the courts. The 27th Amendment was ratified and published 203 years after it was proposed by Congress in 1789. It is an Executive Branch abuse of power to block publication of an updated Constitution with the ERA as the 28th Amendment. The fact that the last administration maneuvered the blocking of publication is no excuse for this administration to continue the blockade.
In the 1970s the senator who demanded that there be a timeline on equality for half the population was a racist and a misogynist.
The timeline was politically finagled into the preamble of the Amendment knowing that a Constitutional question was being created. That question, along with a state’s right to rescind an amendment's ratification, is to come before the courts with the burden of proof on the plaintiffs suing to derail equality.
I know that my father did not carry a gun in World War II under General Patton in order for this Irish Catholic President to thwart our Constitution by blocking publication and arguing in the DC Court of Appeals against a Democracy that includes women as equally important citizens.
You men, instead of kicking Democracy in the gut, need to do everything in your power to stabilize its foundations and make sure that the Government honors and respects all American citizens especially its women and girls.
Jean Sweeney, Esq