ERA Bills Introduced at NC General Assembly

Durham, NC – On Tuesday, February 14^th, bills supporting North Carolina’s ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment were introduced in both houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. Senator Floyd McKissick, Jr., introduced SB 85 and Representative Carla Cunningham introduced HB 102. Both bills have multiple co-sponsors. A video of the full news conference ERA-NC Alliance held is at the end of this post.

“In my opinion, it is absolutely absurd that we have not already passed the Equal Rights Amendment,” said Senator McKissick, “since it is obvious to me that women should be viewed equal to men in the eyes of the law.” McKissick already anticipates likely arguments against the ERA will claim an adverse affect on business, but he says, “so be it! If that’s the criteria they use for evaluation, I guess they would never have abolished slavery, either.”

ERA bills have been introduced in eleven of the states that did not ratify the ERA during its original push between 1972 and 1982. If three onhealthy.net additional states approve ratification, that would reach the required 38 states necessary to amend the Constitution. Even though none of those bills sponsored since 1982 have passed, Representative Cunningham says that’s no reason to stop pushing for the ERA. “We just need to be persistent,” she says, noting the outpouring of women in Washington and across the nation during the Women’s March in January. “We will fully be acknowledged for our contributions to our state and our country when the principle of equal rights is written into the framework of our government. I say persist!”

Urge your representatives to support the ERA bills, and follow the progress of the bills in the NC General Assembly online:

• SB 85 is at http://bit.ly/2kqu7DR
• HB 102 is at http://bit.ly/2lLa2sa

The ERA-NC Alliance is pursuing support for ratification of the ERA among counties and municipalities across the state. Currently Durham and Orange Counties, and the municipalities of Durham, Winston-Salem, Duck, Nags Head, Kitty Hawk, Manteo, and Kill Devil Hills have adopted resolutions supporting ratification of the ERA.