In January 2020, Virginia became the 38th and last state needed to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) -- a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens, regardless of sex.

When Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the ERA, all constitutional requirements for the ERA to become the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution were satisfied. Yet, the ERA has not been published by the Archivist, who has an administrative duty to publish the amendment, which would add it to the Constitution, but is deferring to an opinion issued by the Trump administration.

Trump’s administration improperly weighed in on the merits of still-pending congressional action to change and remove the time limit that Congress included in the proposing clause of its 1972 joint resolution. In other words, Trump pulled out all of the stops to ensure women’s rights were not recognized or protected by our Constitution.

The Constitution does not give any power to the Executive Branch during the amending process. The rights of women should not be obstructed because of this misstep.

That is why, in order to advance the ERA ratification, promote equality, and prevent the denial of equal rights on account of sex, we are calling on the Biden Administration to withdraw the far-stepping opinion memo from Trump and then Attorney General Barr.

The ERA is needed to constitutionally ensure that the foundations and freedoms of our democracy apply equally to all genders. We are calling on Attorney General Merrick Garland to correct this error and let history be made. It will affect the lives of every woman in America.

Sign the petition: Demand the Biden Dept. of Justice immediately address the overstepping opinion of Trump and advance the ERA.