Word in Springfield is the Illinois House Democrats will be calling the Equal Rights Amendment for a vote Tuesday at the state capitol. In order to pass, House Republicans will need to support the effort – going against decades of established policy protecting women from fraudulous claims of how it will help women. Elise Bouc answers those false claims.
By Elise Bouc of STOP ERA -
The Equal Rights Amendment isn’t what it pretends to be. For decades women have fought against it because they knew its poorly written language would harm them.
Women from the labor movement spoke out against it because they knew it would strip away valuable labor protections such as restrictions on heavy lifting requirements and restrictions on mandated over time that enabled them to balance work and caring for their family. Women in the home also spoke against it because they knew it would strip away their financial protections for widows and stay at home mothers. And women who valued the life of the unborn child fought against it because they knew the ERA would absolutely strengthen abortion rights.
Those who have defended the needs of the vulnerable have also fought against it because they knew its comprehensive mandate against making any distinction based on sex would require sex-integrated prisons, require including women in the military draft and front-line combat and overturn valuable programs such as WIC and domestic abuse shelters for women. All these groups asked for and suggested better language for the amendment, but the privileged women who sought a symbolic token in the Constitution ignored their concerns as they claimed to represent and fight for all women.
The truth is – they’re not representing all women, and as they force the ERA through state legislatures, they grind down all other women in their march to a forced ‘equality.’
Why aren’t they concerned about the women in labor? Because they don’t work in factories in manual labor, so they don’t see the perspective of the women in labor.
Why aren’t they concerned about women in the home? Because they shunned that work long ago as beneath them, and they seek to force that view on all other women by removing their financial protections such as social security benefits for stay at home wives and mothers and laws that previously protected women in the event of divorce, thus forcing them into the work place where they will finally achieve ‘true equality.’
Why aren’t they concerned about the unborn child? Three states have used their state ERAs to strengthen abortion rights. Why aren’t they concerned?
Why aren’t they concerned about the vulnerable and disadvantaged? Because they will never go to prison to face the horrors of a sex integrated prison, nor do they believe that they or their loved one will ever be drafted. They’ll be in college, or they will travel to another country, or they’ll list themselves as a conscientious objector. Some other poor girl will bear their burden of freedom and the danger it imposes upon her to be thrust into front-line combat against her will and against an enemy solider who will certainly not honor her “equality.” These are not issues they worry about – but why don’t they care about those who will be impacted?
When women raise their voice to object, their voices are over ruled, belittled, or ignored. Many media outlets, eager to give voice to those they agree with, ignore those who have a different perspective. These women who disagree don’t fit the agenda and don’t speak the narrative. But they are women too – the silent majority who bear the burden of our society, and they matter.
These neo-feminists claim the ERA will remedy the pay of all women and solve all their problems, but they aren’t telling the truth. The ERA will provide no additional benefit to women. Federal laws (such as the Equal Opportunity Act of 1972) already exist that prohibit sex discrimination and sexual harassment in all aspects of employment including pay, hiring and promotion. Under these laws, the EEOC has successfully prosecuted claims for women against some of the largest companies in the country. Other laws exist that prohibit sex discrimination across all areas including education, housing, credit, etc. And women are guaranteed equal protection under the law through the 14th amendment (as recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court when they used the 14th amendment in United States v. Virginia [1996] to enable women to attend the previously all male Virginia Military Institute). Laws that previously discriminated against women have been rectified, and women today can do anything they set their minds to do. In legislative hearings and legal webinars, the feminist lawyers admit we won’t gain much from the ERA. It is more of a symbolic token. So why pass it when it will generate so much harm?
It’s time to see the ERA for what it really is – a poorly written amendment that is a fraud and a bully against women and the unborn child. A vote AGAINST the ERA is truly a vote for women and the unborn child. Be that voice of strength that sees the truth and resists the bullies
