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Nine Reasons to Reject Equal Rights Amendment

On May 22, 2014, the Illinois Senate voted 39 to 11 to pass SJRCA 75, the dangerous Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), in an effort to amend the U.S. Constitution to say: “Equality of rights under law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex.”

This legislation is now in the Illinois House for consideration and debate.  State Representative Lou Lang (D-Skokie) is the chief sponsor.  Although the session has adjourned, SJRCA 75 could move in the November veto session, after the November election. It’s critical that while state reps are home during the summer months,  you let them know what you think of this push to resurrect this radical leftist legislation from the 1970’s.

We’ve listed nine reasons to reject the Equal Right Amendment, but there are many more. In fact, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, is her report titled Sex Bias in the U.S. Code, claims the ERA will affect at least 800 federal laws.  

  1. Misleads publicized purpose – The ERA is not about equal rights for women. If it were, it would duplicate the 14th Amendment. 

  2. Contradicts Years of Social Science — Men and women are different.  ERA would remove all legal distinctions between sexes. ERA does not mention “women.” 

  3. Rejected time and time again — Previous Illinois lawmakers understood the true intention of the ERA and voted it down 13 times from 1972 to 1982. Every time it has been presented in Illinois General Assembly committees since 1982, it was stopped. Five states rescinded their passage of ERA: Nebraska – 1973, Tennessee – 1974, Idaho – 1977, Kentucky – 1978, South Dakota – 1979. 

  4. Ignores 1979 ratification deadline  — Congress granted an extension to 1982 which was ruled unconstitutional by a U.S. District Court in 1981 and the case went to the U.S. Supreme Court. On October 4, 1982, the Court dismissed it as moot, stating, “The amendment has failed of adoption no matter what the resolution of the legal issues presented here.” Additionally, no states passed ERA during the time extension.

  5. Ends Social Security Benefits for Spouses – According to Sex Bias in the U.S. Code, a book written by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the ERA will change 800 federal laws including the elimination of social security benefits for wives and widows. (pages 206, 211-212).

  6. Forces Women into Combat –  “Not only would women, including mothers be subject to the draft, but the military would be compelled to place them in combat units alongside of men and in some cases… (U.S. House Judiciary Committee Report (No. 92-359, July 14, 1971). “Equality of rights under law shall not be denied…on account of sex.”

  7. Eliminates Child Support  – “ …[I]t could relieve the fathers of the primary responsibility for the support of even infant children, as well as the support of the mothers of such children…” (U.S. House Judiciary Committee Report (No. 92-359, July 14, 1971). “Equality of rights under law shall not be denied…on account of sex.”

  8. Invalidates legal privacy protections – The ERA would be used to invalidate any laws or policies that prohibit men and women suffering from Gender Identity Disorder (GID) from using restrooms, locker rooms, and dressing rooms designated for the opposite sex.“Equality of rights under law shall not be denied…on account of sex.”

  9. Gives even more power to Federal Government — Section II of the ERA states that “The Congress shall have the power to enforce by appropriate legislation the provisions of this article.” This would give enormous new powers to the Federal Government that now belong to the states in areas of law which include traditional differences of treatment “on account of sex”: marriage, property laws, divorce and alimony, child custody, adoptions, abortion, sex crimes, private and public schools, prison regulations, and insurance. 

There is virtually no limit to the number and kind of lawsuits that ERA will spawn. This legislation will be used to eliminate the innate differences between males and females.  This is as absurd as using the law to eliminate the rising and setting of the sun.  It is impossible.

For the benefit of Illinois families, the Illinois Family Institute strongly urges a vote NO on SJRCA 75.

Take ACTION: Please CLICK HERE to contact your state representative to ask him/her to vote AGAINST the Equal Rights Amendment, SJRCA 75. The ERA will not help women. Instead, it will harm women, their families, and our society.

You can also call your state representative and ask him/her to vote NO to SJRCA 75 by calling the Capitol switchboard number at: (217) 782-2000.


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The Left Just Wants You to Follow Your Dream, Right?

Why was Peter LaBarbera, a critic of the same-sex lobbies, recently jailed in Canada?  Why have Illinois Family Institute and Family Research Council been labeled “hate groups” by the Left?  In simple terms, because they oppose the acceptance of homosexual behavior as normal.

According to the Left no one has the right to “judge” or “impose” their moral standards on others.  The right to express one’s sexual desires, whatever they might be, is so absolute in the mind of the Left that to speak or act to challenge them is an unacceptable affront.

This is what I used to think the Left believed.  But, I now know better!  

If the Left actually wanted everyone to live out their own desires, they would have gotten behind the 90+ percent of young women who, according to multiple surveys, desire traditional marriage, children and the opportunity to stay at home to raise them.  But no, that would never do!  While the Left demands public approval for risky homosexual behavior, it simultaneously viciously attacks young women who wish to marry and care for their families!

You see, the Left is not content to merely suggest there are alternatives to motherhood.  That would be like trying to entice someone to trade a new car for a broken skate board.   Why would a woman give up the joys of child-bearing and nurturing to go off and do what men have always complained about having to do, i.e. work 9 to 5?  How could they get women to turn against that which they love so naturally and passionately?  It wasn’t easy, but with intense, vicious, demeaning and multi-faceted attacks over 50 years the Left and radical feminists managed to intimidate multitudes of women into viewing motherhood as a humiliating, almost sub-human vocation. 

So, while conservatives are haters for merely suggesting that homosexuality is wrong, the Left has for decades verbally bludgeoned women for caring about the little ones they have brought into the world.  There has been a concerted, frontal assault from the media, the educational establishment, liberal churches and institutions, the government and even groups such as the Girl Scouts mocking and ridiculing women who chose to follow their own aspirations, stayed at home and had children.  Many women have found themselves apologizing for being house wives! 

Thankfully, millions of women followed their natural instincts regardless, braved the battle, loved their husbands and nurtured their children.  However, the consequences of this pandemic bullying from the Left  can be seen everywhere, especially in the tragic decline in the well-being of America’s children where today only 52 percent can expect to live with both parents.

But, let us look more closely at why the “stay-at-home-mom” is so loathed by radical feminists and the Left in general.  They would say that she tolerates “abuse” and “slavery,” and is relegated to insignificance in the home while men hold the truly important jobs.  I would ask, “Who is it that says that what men have historically done is so important and that children are not?  That’s right, certain MEN!  The radical feminists find themselves in the ironic position of agreeing with a minority of men who believe that what men have traditionally done is more important than what women have done!  Thus, a woman is significant ONLY if she does “man’s work!” (This in the face of abundant research proving that women quite naturally tend to major on the most important things in life, i.e. relationships.) There is a reason why no pro-athlete has ever looked into a camera and said, “Hi Dad!”  

So, in spite of all protests to the contrary, the conduct of radical feminists and the Left verifies that in their heart of hearts they actually believe that “men’s work” is more important than “woman’s work!”  They also believe that what those same men think is more important than what women think, otherwise they would have asked women what their priorities were.  Actually, they wouldn’t need to ask them.  Just watch women in action and one can see that they instinctively know what is truly significant!  Sad-to-say, radical feminists’ submission to certain arrogant men is a big component in the war on traditional “stay-at-home-moms” over the last 50 years.

So, what does the Left really want?  Total and unrestricted sexual liberty! Sure, they want every other kind of liberty as well, but they especially want nothing of God’s morality.  They seek unrestricted licentiousness.   They are a living embodiment of Psalm 2:

Why do the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing?  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying ‘Let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us. . . .’

Yes, the Left proves the eternal relevance of God’s Word by fulfilling it before our eyes.  Their REAL design is to cast off all natural restraints that God has placed upon us and live as wantonly as they please.  Thus their support for homosexuality and hatred for the natural family. 

The traditional, healthy family, by its very existence, exposes the lie of the so-called “alternatives” as light exposes darkness and therefore must be eliminated. Sadly, because of the current political power of the Left few public figures are willing to stand in opposition to their “culturacidal” mission. 

But, for argument’s sake let us take their own words at face value for a moment.  If homosexuals are just living out their own natural desires, and we ought to encourage them to do so, then does it not follow that all the women who wish to live out their natural desire to have children and stay at home to nurture them also OUGHT TO BE ENCOURAGED AND SUPPORTED?  Is it not the epitome of hypocrisy for the Left to demand we support their choice even as they excoriate traditional women for theirs?  Of course it is.  But, evenhandedness is not a strong suit of the Left.   

Then, on top of their breathtaking hypocrisy is the fact that multiple studies show that in every regard those who live a traditional lifestyle live longer, are healthier and happier!  And children raised in a traditional environment are healthier, stay in school longer, do better academically, are far less likely to live in poverty or do drugs, and generally avoid gangs and other issues with the law.  Make no mistake.  Drive through neighborhoods that are safe and stable and they will always consist primarily of traditional, multigenerational families.  Always!

So, if we are “haters” for opposing homosexuals following their “natural inclinations,” as destructive as they are, then what are we to call those who for decades have sought to destroy the traditional family and have viciously attacked young women as stupid or ignorant for simply wishing to act on their natural and healthy desires to be wives and mothers, and who have done so much to create safe and stable neighborhoods?  “Haters” seems far too kind.

And finally, what are we to say to the millions of children who have suffered the often irreparable damage done by the Left’s assault on women, motherhood and family?

“Get them some therapy” somehow doesn’t cut it!