Thread by @BBuchman_CNS

"I would like to be able to take out my pocket Constitution and say that the equal citizenship stature of men and women is a fundamental tenet of our society like free speech." - Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 2017

Will we get any closer to making this a reality? Join me at 10.

https://twitter.com/BBuchman_CNS/status/1122922344236965888

A link to a live stream of the hearing will also be available here: judiciary.house.gov/legislation/he…

“Women shall have equal rights in the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction. Equality of rights under law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”
documentcloud.org/documents/5983…

It has been 96 years since the #ERA was first written and proposed by suffragist Alice Paul.
From the Library of Congress: Here's a shot of Alice in July 1923. She is toasting the 75th anniversary of the first women's rights convention in 1848.

Has your state ratified the #ERA? My state, Virginia, has not. Find out: equalrightsamendment.org/era-ratificati…

The first congressional hearing on the #ERA in 36 years will be underway shortly. Stay tuned.
@CourthouseNews

Underway now.
House Judiciary Committee chairman Steven Cohen: "We know that in the year 2019 it is unacceptable that women are not paid equal wages for equal work."
On ERA: "We know it is simple but fundamental guarantee of equality should be welcomed rather than feared."

Although women have achieved some equality under the 14th Amendment, he notes, that equality remains fragile due to recent actions by courts around the nation.

Cohen recalls RBG stmt on ERA: "The ERA means women are people equal in stature before the law."
He lifts his eyes to the ceiling and says:
"It's a possibility RBG is watching today and just to channel our president: Justice Ginsburg if your'e listening, get us the ERA."

This got huge applause in the chamber, by the way.

Ranking Republican Mike Johnson of Louisiana says if ERA is passed the "people's right to protect the unborn would be eliminated."
This is false. But why?

This is a talking point by anti-ERA activists and those opposed to abortion or the right to abortion.
Abortion is a right protected by the constitution already. It's a matter of privacy *not* equality. (see Roe v Wade)

Rep Jackie Speier, D-California up now. She has co-sponored HJ Res 38. It removes arbitrary deadlines from the preamble of the amendment.
"This impacts every single woman and man in this country," she says.

"Women have been an afterthought in this country since the beginning of this country."
"Without constitutional protection, pay disparity will continue to be allowed in this country because of the high obstacle involved in showing there is intent to discriminate...

"....in order for a woman to prevail in court. This is real. 50% of major bread winners in families today are women with children. It is time for us to take this issue seriously."

She addresses Republican Rep Johnson next, directly.