Explore the Equal Rights Amendment
For Faith Leaders
Sign the Interfaith Statement of Support for the ERA
For All of Us
Tell Your Senators: Support the Equal Rights Amendment
What is the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)?
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is a constitutional amendment, passed by Congress in 1972 and ratified by 38 states or ¾ of states, which provides:
“Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”
It ensures equality under the law, which is a foundational principle of human rights. It would rectify the intentional exclusion of women from our nation’s founding document. The vast majority of Americans support the ERA, and most believe we’ve already adopted it. The U.S. is one of only 18 nations worldwide that still lacks this type of provision.
The ERA Reflects Christian Values
Created in God’s divine image, all human beings have sacred dignity and worth. All people deserve respect for their inherent human rights, including equality under the law.
In Christian tradition, women have been judges, apostles, and witnesses to the resurrected Christ. They have been preachers and mystics, defenders and reformers of the faith.
We worship a Christ who welcomed women and took their concerns seriously; we cannot accept a constitution that excludes women or a system that refuses them full equality.
“There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” – Galatians 3:28
U.S. Women Suffer Grave Injustice—And Our Current System Is Unable to Stop It
The ERA Will Benefit Women, Parents, and Families
The ERA will enable Congress to pass laws addressing pervasive problems like intimate partner violence, workplace sexual harassment, and pregnancy and pay discrimination. It will provide a mandate for laws and policies that support mothers and all parents in combining paid work with family caregiving.
The ERA will also make it harder for the government to discriminate based on gender, applying the same standard that prohibits discrimination based on race or religion. The ERA will guard against discrimination based on pregnancy, childbearing, and parenthood, as well as gender.
In the U.S. and around the world, history has shown that when women’s rights are protected, their children, their families, and all of society benefits.
Do you want equal rights enshined in the U.S. Constition?
Learn more about the ERA
Faqs
If you’re new to the Equal Rights Amendment and eager to learn more about the promise this Amendment holds for full equality under the law in the United States, start by reviewing these helpful Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).
You’ll learn about how the ERA aligns with both human rights principles and Christian theology, and what the ERA would (and would not) do. We even delve into some opposing opinions, and showcase why the ERA is an Amendment that everyone can support.
Policy brief
In this robustly sourced expert Policy Brief on the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), Justice Revival makes the moral and legal case for the Amendment, explaining how the reform aligns with central Christian teachings and basic human rights principles.
The brief charts the ERA’s promise in stemming widespread abuses against U.S. women and girls – including sexual and domestic violence, female genital mutilation, child marriage, pregnancy and pay discrimination, and human trafficking.
No time limit on equality
Now that the ERA has been approved by two-thirds of Congress and ratified by three-fourths of states, it is lawfully the 28th Amendment and should be published and recognized as such.
Congress has the power to remove an arbitrary, non-binding ratification deadline imposed by an earlier Congress in 1972 and extended once before.
The U.S. House passed legislation to remove this deadline in March 2021 with bipartisan support. A proposed bipartisan Senate bill (S.J. Res. 1 / H.J. Res. 17) would have the same effect.
Learn more about this bill and the basis for it in our FAQs and Policy Brief. Contact your senator to urge their support.
Articles
To Reduce Abortion Humanly and Justly, People of Faith Should Back the ERA
Baptist News Global
By Allyson McKinney Timm and Meghan Tschanz
March 23, 2022
In the Name of Liberty For All, Basic Human Rights for Women Must Be Protected
The Columbus Dispatch
By Tarunjit Singh Butalia, Allyson McKinney Timm and Rev. Jack Sullivan, Jr.
July 6, 2021
Will the Equal Rights Amendment Threaten Religious Liberty?
Sojourners
By Rose Marie Berger, by Allyson McKinney Timm Paola Fuentes Gleghorn
June 28, 2021
This Mother’s Day, Let’s Work to Change the Constitution
Sojourners
By Paola Fuentes Gleghorn
May 6, 2021
If We are Equal Before God, We Must be Equal Before the State
Sojourners
By Allyson McKinney Timm
March 18, 2021
Will the U.S. Finally Approve the ERA?
Sojourners
By Paola Fuentes Gleghorn and Jeff Fuentes Gleghorn
January 2021
Interviews
Let’s Talk About the Equal Rights Amendment!
With The New Evangelicals on Instagram Live
January 27, 2022
Kitchen Table Convo: The Equal Rights Amendment
With Lisa Sharon Harper on Instagram Live
May 7, 2021
The Equal Rights Amendment
Freedom Road Podcast
May 7, 2021