It’s Women’s Equality Day

Today is Women’s Equality Day, the day commemorating the adoption of the 19^th amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920, which guaranteed women the right to vote.

For Women’s Equality Day, the U.S. League of Women Voters and league chapters from 50 states and the District of Columbia are calling on the Biden administration and members of Congress to publish the Equal Rights Amendment in the U.S. Constitution. December 2024 marks 101 years since the ERA was first introduced in Congress. 

A letter sent on Friday calls for:

• President Biden to instruct the U.S. archivist to fulfill her statutory duty to certify and publish the ERA in the U.S. Constitution.
• The U.S. Congress to pass S.J. Res. 4/H.J. Res. 25, a resolution affirming the validity of the ERA as part of the constitution and addressing the question of a time limit, or pass the resolution and require the archivist to certify and publish the ERA.

“We must address the root cause of inequality by amending our Constitution, and it needs to happen now,” Celina Stewart, CEO of the LWVUS, said in a statement. “It is shameful that over 100 years after some American women gained the right to vote, women continue to battle systematic discrimination.”

The LWV, a nonpartisan voting rights organization, has worked for ratification of the ERA for more than 50 years.

The ERA has met the ratification requirements outlined in the U.S. Constitution, yet it remains unpublished and many Americans continue to face discrimination on the basis of sex, Stewart said.

The league will continue its efforts to support the ERA’s rightful position as a constitutional amendment, she said.