Statement by National NOW President Christian F. Nunes
April 27, 2023
WASHINGTON – –The Senate failed women today. Equality delayed is equality denied.
Even though the ERA has met all the constitutional requirements for an amendment, opponents of equality used the filibuster to deny the bipartisan effort to remove the arbitrary deadline for ratification.
We applaud the 52 Senators who co-sponsored this resolution, and Majority Leader Schumer for ensuring it can be brought to vote again in the future. But far-right radicals who don’t want women to have equal pay for equal work, access to reproductive care, and equal justice under the law used the 60-vote filibuster to block it.
We need lawmakers who will vote in the interests of the people who look to them for leadership—not the special interests who demand politicians follow their orders.
Those demands are growing louder, and more dangerous. Since the Supreme Court overruled Roe in the Dobbs decision, more states are passing laws to restrict women’s rights. And we’re in the middle of a pitched battle over access to abortion medication.
We need the ERA to stop laws targeted at restricting women’s rights before they can do damage. Establishing that such discrimination is clearly unconstitutional is an essential first step.
We know that this Senate won’t stand up for equality, but NOW members won’t stop until we elect a Senate that will.
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