Aug. 26th; Women’s Equality Day- Read the Declaration on your Capitol or CourtHouse steps

Women’s Equality Day Aug 26th  ACT for the ERA Read the Women’s Declaration of Independence on your State Capitol Steps with Until Women are Equal

The Equal Rights Amendment states:

“Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”

When women are not equal, they suffer needlessly; families are less stable; and American democracy stands on uncertain ground.

When those who bring forth and sustain life and country are not equally protected by our laws, society is disrupted at its foundation.

Equality is promised in our nation’s foundational documents. Yet equality is being denied to half the population.

Declaration

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one-half of the people to call a nation back to its own truths, we declare the causes which compel us to speak.

We hold these truths to be self-evident:that all persons are created equal; that women are persons; and that government exists to secure these truths— not to delay or deny them.

In 1848, women first declared these truths at Seneca Falls, New York. In 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution promised equal protection of the laws to persons.

Yet the Supreme Court refused to extend this guarantee to women.

In 1923, women proposed the Equal Rights Amendment to establish their equality in clear constitutional terms.

In 2020, the Equal Rights Amendment was fully ratified.

Yet it has not been honored or implemented by those entrusted with governing this nation.

Women bring forth life, pay taxes, vote, sustain families, serve their communities, and give their lives on the front lines of battlein defense of American democracy.

To deny women constitutional equality is to deny their dignity, humanity and inalienable rights.

A just society aligns authority with responsibility

Those who serve our democracy equally are entitled to its protections—equally and without exception.

Yet the Equal Protection Clause s not enforced equally for women.

Courts apply a lesser standard—intermediate scrutiny— a standard that allows unequal treatment to continue.

The highest standard, strict scrutiny, remains unavailable to women.

The Constitution now speaks plainly:

Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

Without it, government officials— including lawmakers and the courts— retain the legal authority to treat women differently, and worse.Grievances

The government’s use of intermediate scrutiny denies women equality under the law.

The government’s refusal to enforce the Equal Rights Amendment denies women equality under the law.

As a result, the government has:

• Denied women equal opportunity keeping women economically oppressed, all the while devaluing the roles of caregiver and parenthood.
• Failed to protect women equally against violence and abuse.
• Granted itself greater authority over women than women have over their own lives and the lives of their children.
• Permitted and profited from the exploitation and sale of women’s bodies.
• Allowed technology to be used to harm and exploit women and girls.
• Allowed women to be harmed in ways that are not allowed for others.

These systemic injustices are legally authorized by our Constitution.

Declaration of Principles

Read the rest of the declaration, and download it at the Equal Means Equal website: UNTIL WOMEN ARE EQUAL  We declare that women are equal citizens of this Republic.