Busting the most common objections to the ERA

Responses for the 9 most common objections

Update: As of January 17, 2025, many Constitutional scholars in the U.S. agree that women and girls are finally recognized to have equal rights under the law, enshrined in the 28th Amendment to the Constitution. I write about it and provide a list of resources, here.

170 million women and girls can have equal rights under the law immediately, by certifying the ERA as the 28th Amendment, if the White House makes a single phone call.

It’s true! There’s no exaggeration here. Literally nothing else stands in the way of equal protections under the law for women and girls.

If every one of us takes 5 minutes a day to contact the White House or somebody else who can put pressure on the White House (go here for ideas and action resources), we will finally have our equal rights.

Yet every time I talk to folks about this (and I’ve been talking about it a lot lately because we really only have until January 19th to get this done), the inevitable response I get is… objections. Always the objections. Ugh.

Look, I realize we’ve been taught to be skeptical and or maybe even downright offended by the idea of the ERA and equal rights for women (anybody ever heard of the ultimate pearl-clutcher Phyllis Schlafly? A lot of this nonsense started with her 50 years ago; do a search on her name if you want to learn more and get angry so you can get fired up to take action today).

But we have a choice. We can be prepared to respond to these objections. So we can get past them and talk about how to take action (resources here). We quite literally don’t have any time to lose on this.

Screenshot of statement from the League of Women Voters that reads, “As the ERA has met all ratification requirements, the national Archivist can proceed with final certification of the amendment.” Read more at https://www.lwv.org/ERAToolkit

Here are the 8 most common objections I’ve noticed, with responses you* can use:

1. But what if it’s challenged in court? Response: Aren't women and girls worth fighting for? Don't capitulate in advance! We are several steps away from any court battles. Also, see this endorsement from the American Bar Association for legal arguments (here).

2. But women in [somewhere else in the world] aren't free, so that's what we should fight for right now (or instead). Response: Let's fight for the rights of women everywhere! This isn’t an “either/or” situation, it’s definitely a time to believe in “both/and.” Making the ERA the “28A” will cost you less than 5 minutes a day and we only have until January 19th to push for it. Liberation for everybody is always the goal, and right now, we can make this a reality for 170 million women and girls in the U.S. Bonus response: the U.S. is the only one of the so-called developed nations that doesn’t include equal protections for women under the law.

3. But if the ERA becomes an Amendment, women could be drafted to fight in wars, and I don't want that. Response: That possibility is pretty far down the road, so it can be its own movement later if needed. Other nations with equal rights under the law for women have figured out how to navigate this, and the U.S. can too. Bonus response: The simplest answer by far here is that the U.S. could stop waging war, which would certainly solve that problem.

4. What about the rights of Black, brown, Latina, AAPI, Indigenous and other minoritized women? Response: They are included in the ERA too. It's about all of us. Every single one!

5. I’m afraid that if we lose this, we’ll have lost our chance forever. Response: We can’t win if we don’t even try. I think women and girls are worth fighting for, even if we’re afraid. In fact, if there’s one thing women and girls know how to do, it’s stand up for things we believe in even when we’re afraid.

6. We’ve been asking for this for over 100 years, what makes you think it’s going to happen now? Response: Even though it took until 1972 for Congress to pass it, and then until 2020 to get the needed 3/4 of states to ratify the ERA as an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, it did happen. As of this writing, there is one man standing in the way - President Biden - and he just doesn’t feel compelled yet to make this one single phone call. He says he cares about women and girls and he even campaigned on making the ERA happen for us, so it’s time to stop being polite. It’s time to make noise. We could be the generation that wins this, or we could be the one that loses it because we fail to show up with enough guts and courage to put pressure on the White House to finally do the right thing.

7. But it was Ruth Bader Ginsburg who said she thought it wasn’t constitutional to certify the ERA as an amendment because it had “timed out” according to Congress. Response: Ginsburg made her comment in an unofficial capacity in 2020. Much more recently, in August of 2024, the American Bar Association passed a resolution in support of certifying the ERA as the 28th Amendment, and they addressed why it’s irrelevant that Congress had the audacity to try to set a “timeout” clock (see their argument here). Ruth Bader Ginsburg wasn’t a god and it’s OK to think she was wrong about things. Besides, this is the U.S. and we have freedom of speech so we’re allowed to disagree with anybody we want to. Bonus response: RBG also said, "Work for the things that you care about.”

8. I'm not a woman, so why should I care? Response: Somewhere, there's a woman or girl in your life who cares or cared for you. If that's not good enough for you to give us respect and 5 minutes out of your day, please see the response for number 9, below.

9. I don't think trans women should have rights and/or I don't want women to have reproductive freedoms. Response: OK, then I'm not going to spend my time or energy trying to convince you about this. This is an urgent matter and I’m going to talk to somebody who’s not going to stand in the way of making the U.S. a safer place for 170 million women and girls.

What objections are you hearing? Leave a comment below and I’ll make sure you get a response ASAP.

Now, go and tell everybody you know to take action to make the ERA happen for us before January 19th! Because we’re worth it.

*I wrote these responses to help in typical everyday conversations. If you hear an objection on legal grounds, you can probably find what you need at the American Bar Association resolution, here. But keep in mind that time is short as we only have until January 19, 2025 to get this done! You don’t have to stay in a frustrating debate just to be polite. Same goes for anybody who wants to debate this on religious grounds. As the saying goes, “Ain’t nobody got time for that.” You can simply stop wasting your time trying to win over somebody who thinks it’s more important to have a debate than finalize equal rights for women and girls. (Although if somebody does want to debate you on religious grounds, please come back and tell me about it in the comments. I’m a follower of Christ - obviously, I don’t put up with any nonsensical statements that Christ would be against this - and I’m really curious to hear what folks are saying.)