Biden ratifies Equal Rights Amendment

[Bronco 24,799]

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/17/politics/joe-biden-equal-right-amendment/index.html 

President Joe Biden announced a major opinion Friday that the Equal Rights Amendment is ratified, enshrining its protections into the Constitution, a last-minute move that some believe could pave the way to bolstering reproductive rights.

It will, however, certainly draw swift legal challenges – and its next steps remain extremely unclear as Biden prepares to leave office.

The amendment, which was passed by Congress in 1972, enshrines equal rights for women. An amendment to the Constitution requires three-quarters of states, or 38, to ratify it. Virginia in 2020 became the 38th state to ratify the bill after it sat stagnant for decades. Biden is now issuing his opinion that the amendment is ratified, directing the archivist of the United States, Dr. Colleen Shogan, to certify and publish the amendment.

“It is long past time to recognize the will of the American people. In keeping with my oath and duty to Constitution and country, I affirm what I believe and what three-fourths of the states have ratified: The 28th Amendment is the law of the land, guaranteeing all Americans equal rights and protections under the law regardless of their sex,” Biden said in a statement Friday.

Biden, a senior administration official said, is not taking executive action, but is “stating an opinion that it is ratified.”

“He is using his power of the presidency to make it clear that he believes – and he agrees with leading constitutional scholars and the American Bar Association – not that it should be, but it is the 28th Amendment of the Constitution,” the official added.

But legal experts contend it isn’t that simple: Ratification deadlines lapsed and five states have rescinded their approval, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University’s law school, prompting questions about the president’s authority to ratify the amendment more than 50 years after it first passed.

Biden is leaning on the American Bar Association’s opinion, the senior official said, which “stresses that no time limit was included in the text of the Equal Rights Amendment” and “stresses that the Constitution’s framers wisely avoided the chaos that would have resulted if states were able to take back the ratifying votes at any time.”

Shogan, who would be responsible for the amendment’s publication, said in a December statement alongside Deputy Archivist William Bosanko that the amendment “cannot be certified as part of the Constitution due to established legal, judicial, and procedural decisions,” pointing to a pair of conclusions in 2020 and 2022 from the Office of Legal Counsel at the US Department of Justice that affirmed that ratification deadlines were enforceable.

CNN reached out to the National Archives for guidance on what the archivist plans to do, and was directed to Shogan and Bosanko’s prior statement, calling it a “long standing position for the Archivist and the National Archives.”

“The underlying legal and procedural issues have not changed,” National Archives Public and Media Communications staff said Friday.

The senior official was unable to say whether the White House had been in contact with the archivist prior to Friday’s announcement.

Pressed by CNN on that December statement from the archivist, the senior official said that the archivist’s role is “prescribed by statute,” is “purely ministerial,” and “she is required to publish an amendment once it has been effectively ratified.”

Ultimately, the official conceded, “It will be up to the courts to interpret this and their view of the Equal Rights Amendment.”

[PunkTheFunk 125,703]

He had 4 years to do this...Submitting my university essay at 11:59pm teas.

[bionic 50,111]

OK he kinda ate with that but why so late??? Don't old people usually eat quite early

[27monster27 15,849]

Bro waited until the LAST minute to do this. He had late January 2021 till now to do this. If this was a panic move over Trumps win then he had from NOVEMBER to now to do this.

[Bronco 24,799]

11 minutes ago, 27monster27 said:

Bro waited until the LAST minute to do this. He had late January 2021 till now to do this. If this was a panic move over Trumps win then he had from NOVEMBER to now to do this.

Its going to be contested to high hell in the courts and likely fail. 

Seems like a similar strategy as the Cuba policy shift the other day. Attempting to set up time bombs for Trump & co.

[Red 99,106]

Congratulations to the US for doing the bare minimum 🫶🏻

[skaxboy 6,899]

A soft toot tbh. 

 

It’s a good thing but also disappointing this wasn’t done sooner. I mean sure he waited last minute but AT LEAST he did it. 
 

If anything, it’s to prevent from these lunatics taking office next week from trying some dumb sh it.

[Petie Estie 5,704]

it doesn't matter. it's not a real thing. Stop posting this with titles like this because it gets people who are scared hopeful and then they have to learn the truth. 

[Bronco 24,799]

2 hours ago, SEANGT said:

it doesn't matter. it's not a real thing. Stop posting this with titles like this because it gets people who are scared hopeful and then they have to learn the truth. 

This is the truth though. It is a real thing. 

Biden has instructed the people responsible to ratify the amendment on the basis of enough states having signed it since the 70s. 

Yes it will be litigated because of a number of unprecedented legal issues surrounding states withdrawing their support (which has no established Constitutional basis). But the simple fact is, Biden has instructed the archivist of the USA to certify and publish the 28th amendment.