Embargoed for release until 12:45pm January 27, 2020 --

Richmond, VA -- Today Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. The ERA has now fulfilled the requirements of Article V of the Constitution to become an amendment. It is a momentous day for America, more than two hundred years after women were intentionally left out of the Constitution and exactly one hundred years after women achieved the right to vote through the 19th Amendment. The ERA Coalition welcomes this historic breakthrough for women.

We are also pleased that the U.S. House of Representatives has announced a vote to remove any time limit on ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment to take place during the week of February 10, 2020. The time limit is not part of the amendment itself and therefore does not impact ratification. Nevertheless, Congress voted to extend the time limit in 1979 so it can vote on the time limit again, this time to remove it, which would remove any question about the validity of the amendment.

The ERA Coalition was established six years ago when the last state to ratify had been in 1979, over forty years ago. The states have now spoken. According to an ERA Coalition poll, 94% of Americans support constitutional equality. Now all Americans will be protected by the Constitution from discrimination based on sex.

For more information about the Equal Rights Amendment and ERA Coalition, please visit our website.

About the ERA Coalition:

The ERA Coalition was founded in 2014 to bring concerted, organized action to the effort to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. The ERA Coalition has a sister organization, the Fund for Women’s Equality, which promotes public education and outreach on the need for constitutional equality. Comprised of nearly one hundred organizations across the country, the Coalition provides education and advocacy on Constitutional Equality.

Press Contact: Carol Jenkins

media@eracoalition.org

+1 (646) 596-2550



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