Constitutional Equality for All Women A Work in Progress
The following is the working draft of an equal rights
amendment developed and written by the National Organization for Women.
History and experience have taught us that it is critically important to
be as explicit as possible and leave little to interpretation by congress
or the courts. This proposed amendment, referred to as the Constitution
Equality Amendment (CEA) has incorporated all of the concerns that have
arisen out of a two year study of the ERA which reviewed the history of
the amendment from 1923 until the present.
| Section 1. |
Women and men shall have equal rights throughout the United States
and every place and entity subject to its jurisdiction; through this article,
the subordination of women to men is abolished; |
| Section 2. |
All persons shall have equal rights and privileges without discrimination
on account of sex, race, sexual orientation, marital status, ethnicity,
national origin, color or indigence; |
| Section 3. |
This article prohibits pregnancy discrimination and guarantees the
absolute right of a woman to make her own reproductive decisions including
the termination of pregnancy; |
| Section 4. |
This article prohibits discrimination based upon characteristics unique
to or stereotypes about any class protected under this article. This article
also prohibits discrimination through the use of any facially neutral criteria
which have a disparate impact based on membership in a class protected
under this article. |
| Section 5. |
This article does not preclude any law, program or activity that would
remedy the effects of discrimination and that is closely related to achieving
such remedial purposes; |
| Section 6. |
This article shall be interpreted under the highest standard of judicial
review; |
| Section 7. |
The United States and the several states shall guarantee the implementation
and enforcement of this article. |
Adopted July, 1995 at the NOW annual conference
|