Friday, February 22, 2008

Action needed immediately on ERA


The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was voted out of the House Jud 1- Civil Law Committee today and could come before the full Illinois House for a vote very soon. We originally had enough votes committed to block its passage out of committee, but we didn't anticipate that the Democrats would use a parliamentary procedure to substitute two liberal representatives in place of our two committed Democrat votes. As a result, we lost two supporters, and we lost the vote by 8-6. Greg Harris (D) was substituted for John Bradley (D) who couldn't make it in due to severe weather in his area, and Mary Flowers (D) was substituted in place of Careen Gordon (D). The result is frustrating, but also illustrative of the ERA supporters' dishonest tactics that they use each time to push this harmful legislation upon the rest of us. With that said, we need to immediately go to work to block passage of the ERA in both the Illinois House and the Illinois Senate. The task is doable, and we are not alone in our efforts. Please help by taking action on the following items:

1. Call your Illinois Representative and Senator and ask them to commit as to how they will vote on the ERA. Once you receive a commitment from them, please let me know how they plan to vote. If they will not commit, please encourage them to vote no on the ERA (Legislative number is: HJRCA0002). If you are unsure who your legislators are, you can call the Capitol Switchboard at 217-782-2000 for assistance or use the following website: http://www.elections.il.gov/DistrictLocator/AddressSearch.aspx (type in your 9 digit zip code at this site to access your legislators' information).

2. Inform others of the problems with the ERA so that they fully understand the negative realities of this deceptive legislation and commit them to contact their legislators as well. Many people simply do not understand the harmful ramifications of the ERA, and wrongly believe it will benefit women. The more people we educate, the more public support we will have to stop the ERA. Please pass this on to as many people as you can to educate and gain their help (I've included updated talking points below to help). Consider writing a letter to the editor of your local newspaper to publicize the problems with the ERA as well.

3. Organize a group of constituents to visit your representative and your senator to educate them on the problems with the ERA. Many legislators believe they are doing a favor to women by voting for the ERA. They need the clear facts on how it will actually harm women, their families, and our society. We have changed a number of votes already through these meetings. They typically take 30-45 minutes, and are effective with 3-5 constituents. The talking points below will help with such a meeting, but feel free to contact me if you would like more information or pointers. These meetings will need to take place in the next two weeks if possible, and can be scheduled through the legislator's district office.

Once again it is in the Illinois House as HJRCA0002 and will come up for a House vote shortly. The Equal Rights Amendment will not help women; instead it will harm women, their families, and our society.

The ERA will further entrench abortion in our society and legally mandate taxpayer funding for elective abortions. The New Mexico Supreme Court recently ruled under their state ERA that since only women undergo abortions, the denial of taxpayer funding is "sex discrimination" (N.M. Right to Choose/NARAL v. Johnson, 975 P.2d 841, 1998).

Clearly the ERA will harm women, families, society, and the structure of our government. Please call your state senator and representative and ask them to vote against the ERA. Contact information for legislators can be found at http://www.elections.il.gov/DistrictLocator/AddressSearch.aspx (type in your 9 digit zip code at this site to access your legislators' information). Contact Elise Bouc of Illinois Stop-ERA at 847-465-8903 (ebouc@juno.com) for more information, or if you would like to volunteer your help. Please pass this on to others so that they too can be informed.


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