By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – Stating all Americans face “unprecedented threats to gender justice” by the incoming Donald Trump Administration, President Joe Biden is being asked to certify and publish the Equal Rights Amendment as the 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution by New Hampshire Democrats.
Leaders, including outgoing Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington, D-Concord, Senate Minority Leader Rebecca Perkins Kwoka, D-Portsmouth and House Democratic Leader Alexis Simpson, D-Exeter have drafted a letter to the outgoing President, urging immediate action to direct the Archivist of the United States to certify the ERA.
Warmington said the deadline for President Biden to do it is before he leaves office. The letter was released Thursday.
House Republicans didn’t immediately respond when asked their position on the matter Thursday.
The three women claim the ERA has met all constitutional requirements for ratification, with 38 states having approved the amendment, and the American Bar Association affirming its validity in a 2024 resolution.
“As a young mom of three girls, I want to be sure to see Granite State women stand proudly as full equal citizens, ” said Perkins Kwoka. “We are still pushing for equal pay and face growing restrictions on our bodies – issues Granite Staters shouldn’t have to factor in as they work to balance tight household budgets.
“President Biden has stood for women throughout his administration and he’s spearheaded incredible economic accomplishments. Now, he has a chance to go out with a monumental civil rights victory and ensure more than half the population has protections that are more important than ever,” she wrote.
Warmington said that she was a young girl when Congress first passed the Equal Rights Amendment with its promise of equality for women.
“In the decades that followed, I experienced first-hand the fight for equal pay and equal rights and watched my own daughter, and now my granddaughters, growing up facing persistent inequities. The words of the ERA are simple but powerful and, when fully realized, will change the course of history for generations of women to come. On behalf of all of our daughters and granddaughters, I urge the President to take this historic step towards justice for all.”
Simpson, recently elected by her peers to be House Democratic leader, said certifying the ERA as the 28th Amendment is essential to protecting all Americans from discrimination based on sex.
She said there continues to be “persistent wage gaps and ongoing attacks on reproductive rights” which highlight “the urgent need for constitutional safeguards to strengthen our economy and defend our fundamental freedoms. We urge President Biden to take this historic action to honor decades of advocacy and reaffirm our nation’s commitment to justice and equality for generations to come.”
The letter, drafted Thursday is also signed by Executive Councilor-elect Karen Liot Hill, D-Lebanon, Senator Cindy Rosenwald, D-Nashua, who is Senate Deputy Minority Leader, Sue Prentiss, D-Lebanon who is incoming Assistant Minority Leader, Debra Altschiller, D-Stratham, Senate Minority Floor Director, David Watters, D-Dover, Donovan Fenton, D-Keene, Tara Reardon, D-Concord and Pat Long, D-Manchester.
Also signing with Simpson from the New Hampshire House of Representatives were Reps. Laura Telerski, D-Nashua, Deputy House Democratic Leader; Matt Wilhelm, D-Manchester, Democratic Caucus Chair; Karen Ebel D-New London, Democratic Leader Pro Tempore; Lucy Weber D-Walpole, Democratic Floor Leader; Nicholas Germana, D-Keene, Deputy Democratic Floor Leader; Mary Jane Wallner D-Concord, Senior Democratic Advisor; Brian Sullivan, D-Grantham, Senior Democratic Advisor; Dave Luneau, D-Hopkinton, Democratic Advisor; and Jaci Grote D-Rye, Democratic Advisor.
“We wholeheartedly embrace the legal rationale and policy imperatives expressed by forty-six Senators and more than one hundred Members of the House of Representatives and join them in voicing the urgency of this historic opportunity. Especially as Granite Staters and all Americans face unprecedented threats to gender justice from the incoming administration and against the backdrop of entrenched inequities, we urge you to take action to cement into the Constitution protections against discrimination on the basis of sex,” it reads.
“Here in New Hampshire, persistent gender disparities reveal themselves in the yawning wage gap, in which women earn only seventy-six cents for every dollar a man earns, according to a recent report of the NH Women’s Foundation. And our State is the only one in New England without legal protections for abortion access meaning each year we must fend off oppressive restrictions and extreme bans. At this writing, there are several proposed bills including one to prosecute people for assisting minors traveling for abortion care, and another mandating that public schools teach the details of abortion procedures. The need to enact a constitutional safeguard, and thereby elevate and normalize equality of the sexes, could not be greater at this moment.
“We support, as stated in Congress’ letters to you, the legality and propriety of you directing the Archivist as requested. In its August 6, 2024, Resolution, the American Bar Association clarified and confirmed that the ERA as passed by Congress in 1972 is fully ratified by the requisite three-quarters of the States and should be ‘implemented’ immediately. All that must occur now is the simple formalization of the Amendment’s publication. Once this ministerial task is performed, all citizens will be guaranteed that ‘equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.’”
The letter concludes that “time is short, but with a stroke of the pen, the United States Constitution will provide vast new protections for generations to come.”
Biden’s last day in office is Jan. 20.
