Schumer Announces Historic Vote To Advance Women’s Rights Will Take Place This Week In The Senate; Senate Democrats Will Continue To Work To Pass Constitutional Amendment To Give Women Stronger Legal Protections

Alongside Trailblazing Hero Gloria Steinem And Other National & Local Leaders, Schumer Announces A Major Vote For Women 

Senator Says Recent Events Including Dobbs Decision, Uncertainty With Mifepristone & Many State Actions That Have Rolled Back Women’s Rights Make ERA & Its Protections Even More Critical

New York, N.Y. – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today stood at NYC’s Roosevelt House alongside trailblazing women, including Gloria Steinem, the Honorable Carolyn Maloney, Hunter College Pres Jennifer Raab, students and other national and local leaders, and announced that he will set up a historic vote in the Senate this week on S.J. Res 2, a bipartisan, bicameral joint resolution led by Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) that would remove the arbitrary deadline preventing the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) from becoming ratified as the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution:

The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution that would guarantee equal rights under the law regardless of sex. The amendment was first introduced in Congress 100 years ago in 1923, but it was not until 1972 that it was passed by both houses of Congress and sent to the states for ratification. Since then, the amendment has been ratified by 38 states, which is the number needed to become part of the Constitution.

“In this ominous hour of American history, the Equal Rights Amendment has never been as necessary and urgent as it is today. Recent events like the Supreme Court’s horrible Dobbs decision, uncertainty with critical care drugs like Mifepristone, and a slew of proposed state actions have women in this country facing an uncertain future,” said Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. “We are here to stand united, and inch by inch restore, fight for, and expand women’s rights so that the women of today and the generations of tomorrow will not know a future with less access than their mothers had. The ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment would finally provide a constitutional remedy against sex discrimination – pushing our country one step closer to finally achieving equal justice under the law. It has been exactly 100 years since the first ERA was proposed in Congress. American women cannot afford to wait 100 more.”

The resolution by Sens. Cardin and Murkowski removes the arbitrary deadline for ERA ratification that was placed by Congress in the 1970s and recognizes the amendment as a valid part of the Constitution.

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