NEWS
Shattering Glass Submits Written Testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee
March 7, 2023. Shattering Glass submitted written testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee for inclusion in the formal record of its Hearing: "The Equal Rights Amendment: How Congress Can Recognize Ratification and Enshrine Equality in Our Constitution." A copy of our written testimony may be found HERE.
By way of summary, we highlight why the ERA is desperately needed. And, in response to the hearing and the Court's decision in Illinois v. Ferriero, we call upon Congress to send a message to the Biden Administration to publish the ERA immediately to end the ongoing attacks on the rights of women, girls and LGBTQIA+ people and finally enshrine equality for all, a bedrock of our nation, in the Constitution.
Senate Judiciary Committee Holds Hearing on the Equal Rights Amendment for the First Time in Nearly 40 Years
On February 28, 2023, we attended the Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing: "The Equal Rights Amendment: How Congress Can Recognize Ratification and Enshrine Equality in Our Constitution," the first Senate hearing on the ERA in nearly four decades. A video of the hearing may be found HERE.
The room was packed with both proponents and opponents of equality to hear testimony related to the ERA and S.J.Res. 4, a bipartisan resolution affirming the validity of the ERA. And still others were waiting to get in.
As one would expect, the opponents of the ERA focused on two issues. The ERA would permit abortions up until the moment of birth, and it would prohibit any regulations based on sex, which would put women's safety at risk and deny girls opportunity to play sports. Fearmongering at its finest as these arguments are grounded in neither fact nor law. Senator Graham even gleefully announced the decision in Illinois v. Ferriero, which, ironically, was issued in the middle of the hearing, to support his false claim that the ERA was dead.
On three separate occasions, brave protestors from Equal Means Equal disrupted the hearing, referring to it as an orchestrated fraud designed to give President Biden cover for blocking and fighting against the ERA, and calling for its immediate publication. See HERE for footage.
U.S. Court of Appeals Issues Decision In Illinois v. Ferriero
February 28, 2023. As the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee held its second hearing on the nomination of Colleen Shogan for U.S. Archivist, and the Senate Judiciary Committee held the first hearing the Equal Rights Amendment ("ERA") in nearly 40 years, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit rendered its decision in Illinois v. Ferriero. A copy of the decision may be found HERE.
Noting that the grounds for compelling a government employee to act “are narrow, and the demands are austere,” the court sided with the Biden Administration and affirmed the lower court’s dismissal of the case for lack of jurisdiction. Specifically, the Court held that that the plaintiff states failed to meet their burden to prove that that the US Archivist’s duty to publish was “clear and indisputable” and that the US Archivist was clearly wrong, due to the existence of the arbitrary deadline in the proposing clause of the ERA.
While the Court's decision was disappointing, it did not rule that the deadline is valid or that the ERA could not be published! Simply that the plaintiffs could not meet the nearly impossible standard applied to compel publication.
The Court’s decision and the heightened, seemingly insurmountable burden of proof applied to proponents of equality, solely as a result of the unlawful interference by the Trump and Biden Administrations with the constitutional amendment process, make publication of the ERA critical to establishing the validity of the ERA and equality for more than half of Americans.
Once published, the ERA will be presumed valid, and the burden will shift back to the opponents of equality to prove that the ERA is invalid. Exactly where it should be and would have been, in accordance with the constitutional amendment process, but for the Executive Branch’s interference.
[This decision makes clear that we must continue to put pressure on President Biden to immediately publish the ERA.
Medical Associations Weigh In on the Need for the ERA and Urging President Biden to Act in Wake of Dobbs Decision
September 12, 2022. Last week, our partners at the American Medical Women's Association sent a letter to President Biden, urging him to publish the Equal Rights Amendment without further delay to save our reproductive rights and guarantee equality for all.
Similarly, the American Medical Association, American Pharmacists Association, American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, and National Community Pharmacists Association issued a Joint Statement, detailing uncertainty and disruptions in care post-Dobbs, which highlight the urgent need for a federal framework. A copy of the Joint Statement may be found HERE.
34 Senators Urge Biden to Act in Wake of Dobbs Decision
June 25, 2022. Immediately following the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision, 34 Senators wrote to President Biden demanding that he take immediate action.
Noting "we cannot stand idly by as Republicans rip away women’s rights" and acknowledging that Biden has the power to fight back, the Senators urged him to use immediately every tool available to him. Yet they did not specify the tool.
The tool is the Equal Rights Amendment. If Biden stops blocking and fighting against the ERA in court, like Trump, he can save Roe v. Wade and equality for all.
SCOTUS Issues Opinion in Dobbs, Overturning Roe v. Wade & Casey v. Planned Parenthood
June 24, 2022. Today, the Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health. Not only did the Court overturn Roe v. Wade, but it eviscerated women's rights to equal protection under the 14th Amendment, setting us back to 1868. A copy of the decision may be found here.
This decision makes publication of the Equal Rights Amendment, which saves Roe v. Wade and equality for all, even more urgent. See our blog "Democrats Have Key to Unlock Equality for All and Save Roe" for additional information.
Based on our discussions with Congress and the White House, it is going to take a large public outcry pressuring the President to publish the ERA. In the days and weeks to come, we will post action items for you to consider taking. Please join our mailing list and/or check back regularly.
Also, please follow us on social media, share our posts/tweets, and spread the word to like-minded friends and colleagues. Here is a video we took at the protest at SCOTUS this afternoon following the release of the opinion.
IMMEDIATE RELEASE: How Publication of Equal Rights Amendment Saves Roe v. Wade
May 9, 2022. The leaked Supreme Court opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, overturning Roe v. Wade, is only a draft, and Roe remains the law of the land.
Although this is an unprecedented leak from the nation’s highest court, overturning Roe was not unexpected. However, the draft Dobbs opinion dismantling a federal Civil Rights framework, if finalized, would, under the originalist/textualist interpretation of the Constitution, allow the states to create their own Civil Rights framework around contraception, same sex marriage, interracial marriage and more.
Validation of the Equal Rights Amendment, through publication, can save Roe and is now more important than ever.
A brief summary of the immediate steps needed to save the Civil Rights framework of Roe and the accompanying analysis may be found HERE.
Publication of the Equal Rights Amendment Saves Roe v. Wade
and More
May 5, 2022. The Equal Rights Amendment ("ERA") has been ratified by 38 states and, having met all of the constitutional amendment requirements, is currently the 28th Amendment of our Constitution.
Since November, Shattering Glass has worked tirelessly to secure its publication. We have had countless meetings and correspondence with White House Counsel and U.S. Senators regarding the publication of the ERA and how it can save Roe v. Wade and equality for all.
In light of the draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that was leaked earlier this week, more is at stake than expected, making publication that much more urgent.
The strategy to save reproductive rights may be found HERE.
Visit our Take Action Page to find out how you can help!
Draft Opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health
Organization Leaked
May 3, 2022. Last night, a draft Supreme Court opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which would overturn Roe v. Wade was leaked to the public. Note this is only a draft, and Roe remains the law of the land.
This is an unprecedented leak from the nation’s highest court, but overturning Roe was not unexpected. However, the draft opinion, if finalized, would go even further and almost ensures future attacks on contraception, same sex marriage, interracial marriage and more.
Publication of the Equal Rights Amendment, which can save Roe, is more important than ever.
See our Take Action Page to learn how you can help!
Biden Department of Justice Continues to Fight Against Equal
Rights Amendment
March 5, 2022. Yesterday, the Biden Department of Justice ("DOJ") filed its brief in the case initially brought by the States of Virginia, Nevada and Illinois to compel the U.S. Archivist to publish the Equal Rights Amendment ("ERA"). Virginia has since withdrawn from the case as a result of a state-level change in administration.
Sadly, the Biden DOJ continues to carry on the Trump Administration's fight against the ERA and equality for 167 million women and girls, despite Biden's alleged support for the ERA, set forth in the brief, as well as the Biden Agenda for Women.
A full copy of the Biden Administration's brief may be found here.
Shattering Glass files Amicus Brief in Support of The Equal
Rights Amendment
January 10, 2022. Today, Shattering Glass, along with partners in the ERA Coalition, filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in support of the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution ("ERA"). The case was filed by the Attorneys General of the last three states to ratify the ERA -- Nevada, Illinois, and Virginia -- to compel U.S. Archivist, David S. Ferriero, to publish and certify the ERA. The Court previously dismissed the case for supposed lack of jurisdiction.
We are proud to sign on to the brief as the Archivist and the Executive Branch lack the authority to deny women equal rights under the Constitution by refusing to publish and certify the ERA, now that it has been ratified by the requisite 38 states. A full copy of the brief can be found HERE.
The ERA, the first crucial step towards much-needed and long-overdue gender equality, should take effect on January 27, 2022, two years after Virginia became the 38th state to ratify.
A copy of the original Complaint may be found HERE.