Immediate Release
April 30, 2019
Press Contact: [email protected]
ERA Is a Fast-Track for the Progressive Agenda
ERA Goes Beyond Already-Protected Fundamental Legal Equality
Washington, DC — Independent Women’s Forum (IWF) senior policy analyst Inez Stepman issued the following statement on today’s House Judiciary Committee hearing on the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA):
“Proponents of the Equal Rights Amendment cannot have it both ways: If the ERA confers nothing more than the basic legal equality the overwhelming proportion of voters support, then it’s absolutely unnecessary.
“If, however, the ERA moves beyond that fundamental legal equality and tackles issues like the military draft and the alleged ‘pay gap,’ as many proponents claim, then it goes beyond basic equality and short-circuits fair debate on a host of contentious public policy issues. In all recent elections, the majority of the voting electorate is female. Using broad language, the ERA ironically robs women voters of the ability to weigh in on these issues and hands their voting power to a mostly-male judiciary.
“The ERA is a bait and switch, advanced in the name of the basic equality men and women already share, while opening the door for a radical agenda to be implemented through the courts without voter input.
“Women don’t need the ERA. Our equal rights are already protected. The only thing the ERA can add to that protection is a fast track for the progressive agenda.”
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Independent Women's Forum is dedicated to developing and advancing policies that aren’t just well intended, but actually enhance people’s freedom, choices, and opportunities.