Statements Prepared for Alabama February 2021 from NRL and John Eidsmoe

To: Honorable Members of the Rules Committee, Alabama House of Representatives

From: Douglas D. Johnson, Senior Policy Advisor, National Right to Life Committee
nrlc.stateleg@gmail.com, 202-378-8859

Cheryl R. Lewis, MCD, Legislative Director, Alabama Citizens for Life
Cherylringuettelewis@gmail.com, 205-447-1160

Re: why you should oppose House Joint Resolution 35, which purports to ratify the pro-abortion 1972 federal Equal Rights Amendment

Date: February 13, 2021

SUMMARY: In March 1972, the 92nd Congress approved and submitted to the states H.J. Res. 208, which contained both a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution — the “Equal Rights Amendment” (ERA) – and a 7-year ratification deadline. The deadline arrived in March 1979 – 42 years ago — without the ERA having garnered the required 38 state ratifications. Alabama was among the non-ratifying states. House Joint Resolution 35 purports to ratify this long-expired ERA. Alabama Citizens for Life and the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) strongly urge you to oppose HJR 35. HJR 35 is part of a national scheme to evade the ratification requirements contained in Article V of the U.S. Constitution and to instead amend the Constitution through an exercise in raw political power cloaked in legal subterfuge. The late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg repeatedly, and as recently as February 2020, urged ERA supporters to employ the only constitutionally proper route: “Start over.” We urge you to oppose HJR 35.

John Eidsmoe

Subject: HJR35, Equal Rights Amendment

As an attorney who has taught Constitutional Law and litigated constitutional cases for more than forty years, I urge you to vote AGAINST HJR35 which purportedly would ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.

Congress passed this amendment in 1972 and provided a seven-year period for its ratification.  Many states quickly ratified, but as more citizens and legislators became aware of the possible ramifications of the amendment, the ratification process slowed to a virtual halt, and several states rescinded their ratification.[1]  When the amendment seemed doomed to fail, Congress attempted to extend the ratification deadline to 1982.  When that deadline expired, all assumed the amendment had failed.

[1] Some question the constitutional validity of these states’ recissions.