NOW Welcomes New Opportunity to Gain Constitutional Equality for Women

March 12, 2003

Statement of NOW President Kim Gandy

The National Organization for Women welcomes this historic opportunity to renew a national dialogue on the need for a constitutional equality amendment. We commend the dedication of Representatives Carolyn Maloney (D-New York), Jim Leach (R-Iowa), John Dingell (D-Mich.). Louise Slaughter (D-New York) and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and the nearly 200 co-sponsors of this legislation. Today, as conservative forces are organized to oppose women's bid for equal rights and opportunities, it is more important than ever that we reinvigorate the movement to constitutionally prohibit sex discrimination.

Women were not included in the Constitution at the founding of our country, and for the entire history of the United States women have been purposely disadvantaged by the lack of a Constitutional guarantee of equality. We are all aware of decades of documented discriminatory patterns in employment, education, insurance, health care, Social Security and pensions, military service, the justice system and numerous other areas. Despite the fact that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution is frequently cited as a source of protection for women, that amendment was never intended as a prohibition against sex discrimination and does not provide equal protection for women. Painful experience within our judicial system— particularly over the last three decades— provides ample evidence that only a clear constitutional declaration of equal protection and a standard of strict scrutiny will achieve the goal of equal protection for women and men.

Not only must an equality amendment provide protection against sex discrimination in the economic realm, but it must also be more robust. It must prohibit discrimination based on pregnancy or sexual orientation, and must protect the millions of women whose reproductive rights are being increasingly narrowed and denied. A new equal rights amendment must guarantee a woman's right to privacy and bodily integrity.

Women need a constitutional equality amendment to effectively counter what is already a full- blown campaign to weaken and limit civil rights and to diminish women's rights. As we look to a future where conservative ideologues will dominate judicial thought and action, progressive leaders must stimulate debate among our elected representatives, women's rights advocates and the public-at-large on the meaning of equal protection for the sexes under the law. Passage of a strong constitutional equality amendment will assure that this most important advance in human rights is undertaken.

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