Citizen Action

April 12th 2017 4:30pm-8:00pm

Join us by participating in ERA postcard writing event!

Hosted by Indivisible Asheville at Hi–Wire Brewing which is on Huntsman Place – behind several businesses on Biltmore Ave on the right just before the light and junction of Biltmore with Meadow Road.

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**Please edit to align with the correct county or city of your residence**

RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT (ERA) APPROVAL IN BUNCOMBE COUNTY

WHEREAS, the County of Buncombe forthrightly supports equal rights for the citizens of Buncombe County; and women constitute 52% percent of the citizenry of Buncombe County; and

WHEREAS, women continue to confront a lack of political parity, workplace discrimination, health care inequities, disparate rates of poverty, rape and domestic violence assaults; and

WHEREAS, the United States Constitution does not explicitly guarantee that all rights that it protects are held equally by all citizens without regard to sex; and

WHEREAS, the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause has never been interpreted to guarantee equal rights for women in the same way the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) would, by situating sex as a suspect category invoking strict judicial scrutiny, just as race, national origin and religion do; and

WHEREAS, state laws are not uniform and federal laws are not comprehensive; additionally these laws can be repealed or reduced; and

WHEREAS, the Amendment would help correct systemic sex discrimination; and


WHEREAS, the ERA was passed by Congress in 1972 and ratified by 35 of the 38 states necessary to put it into the Constitution, yet was assumed to have expired in 1982. However Nevada passed the ERA in March of 2017, 36th of the 38 states needed to ratify; and

WHEREAS, Congress can alter time limits in the proposing clauses of amendments; and the deadline for ERA appeared only in the preamble and not in the actual legislation; and

WHEREAS, Senator Floyd B. McKissick, Jr., and Representative Carla Cunningham introduced ERA ratification bills in the North Carolina General Assembly on February 14, 2017 with Senator Terry Van Duyn co-sponsoring the Senate bill and Representatives John Ager, Susan Fisher, and Brian Turner co-sponsoring the House bill; and

WHEREAS, United States Representatives G.K. Butterfield, David Price, and Alma Adams co-sponsored bills in the 114th Congress to pass an ERA and to lift the time limits on the states for ratifying the ERA;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the County of Buncombe calls on Congress to pass into law bills to remove the time limit for ratification of the ERA so that ratification shall be achieved upon the affirmative vote of 38 states, of which 35 have already ratified; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the County of Buncombe calls on the North Carolina General Assembly to pass legislation to ratify the ERA to the United States Constitution as proposed by Congress on 22 March 1972; regardless of this decision, the County of Buncombe will approve, implement, and enforce the ERA within its jurisdiction.

**Please reach out to Amanda at amanda.eramarch@gmail.com with signed Petitions before April 24th**

Petition in support of THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT (ERA)

Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. We support ratification of the ERA by the North Carolina General Assembly and support of the ERA in local communities in the form of a city/county Resolution.

Signature of Petition Collector:_______________________________________________ Date:_______________