Chicago City Council March 15, 2023
Referred to the Committee on Health and Human Relations
RESOLUTION CALLING ON CONGRESS TO REMOVE THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT RATIFICATION DEADLINE SO WE CAN SHATTER MORE CEILINGS
WHEREAS, As we celebrate Women's History with a dedication to often overlooked contributions—women and other marginalized genders—are reminded that awareness of their inequities and underrepresentation continues to be needed for the unforeseeable future; and
WHEREAS, On August 18, 1920, history was made when women were granted the right to vote in the Nineteenth Amendment—after 70 years and a 15-month ratification battle securing the women's suffrage amendment; and
WHEREAS, In 1923, history was ignited as Alice Paul began pursuit of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) by proposing her draft to Congress, stating "[m]en and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction"; and
WHEREAS, After being introduced in every Congress for 49 years, the ERA finally passed in 1972, sending the proposed amendment to the states for ratification with a 7-year deadline that extended and expired; and
WHEREAS, Recently, as more women have been elected to government and years of Justice Ginsburg's continued efforts to establish full gender equality under the Fourteenth Amendment—a revival of gender equity has made its way back to the "nation's agenda"; and
WHEREAS, Even with these successes, a patchwork of state laws remains that endangers women's health, safety, reproductive rights, and freedoms under the law, and
WHEREAS, On January 31, 2023, a joint resolution was introduced in the House, providing that the Equal Rights Amendment was ratified and is thus, a valid constitutional amendment-calling into issue the implications and enforceability of such a resolution; and
WHEREAS, The Brennan Center's Women noted that, "the ERA would empower Congress 'to enforce gender equity through legislation and, more generally, the creati...
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