FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | March 29, 2024
To close out Women’s History Month, Ms. magazine released its latest Women & Democracy installment The ERA IS Essential To Democracy in partnership with Columbia Law School’s ERA Project, NYU Law’s Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Center, and the Feminist Majority Foundation.
Gender equality is the backbone of a free and fair democracy, which is why the fight to enshrine equality into the U.S. Constitution is foundational to Ms. — and has been so since the magazine’s inception. Today we are closer than ever to securing the Equal Rights Amendment in the Constitution, just as the real-time need for its protections couldn’t be more alarmingly urgent.
This curated series answers key questions: How strong is public support for the ERA? What are modern state-level ERAs already accomplishing? How will the ERA help turn the tide against rollbacks to abortion and reproductive freedom in our post-Dobbs society? And what will it take to fully and finally recognize the ERA as the 28th Amendment?
Among the multimedia content is a dedicated podcast of On The Issues With Michele Goodwin about the major judicial decision in Pennsylvania that shows the power of leveraging the ERA to support abortion rights. The site features real-time coverage of two court rulings: earlier this month, an appeals court in Minnesota deemed denial of emergency contraception a form of sex discrimination, just as a district court required Nevada Medicaid to pay for abortions under the state ERA.
Contributors provide cutting-edge analysis about the connection between the ERA and the U.S. Supreme Court case Trump v. Anderson, examine the ERA’s role in adequately addressing gender-based violence, and offer intergenerational frameworks for fueling the ERA movement. The ERA has a starring role in the new Broadway musical SUFFS that opened for previews this week. Ms. was there and offers an early review.
Former U.S. Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney and longtime ERA champion remarked in support of The ERA Is Essential To Democracy: “Everywhere I go, each speech I give and in personal conversations, I ask people to take a simple act to help put the ERA into the Constitution, go to — sign4ERA.org. We need to stay informed and learn about the easy, everyday things we can do to tell Congress it’s time to recognize the ERA as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution.”
Women & Democracy is Ms. magazine’s online forum that focuses on key issues impacting full and fair representation in our democracy. We team up with leading advocacy organizations to provide expert content and release a new installment each quarter; past partners have included the Brennan Center for Justice, Center for Reproductive Rights, International Women’s Media Foundation, Represent Women, and Supermajority, among others.
Questions or press queries about the project can be directed to Ms. magazine at press@msmagazine.com.
About Ms. magazine: Founded in 1972 and published by the Feminist Majority Foundation since 2001, Ms. has been a trusted, popular source for feminist news and information in print and online for 50 years. Ms.’s time-honored traditions of an emphasis on in-depth investigative reporting and feminist political analysis have never been more relevant, bringing a new generation of writers and readers together to share news, analysis, research and strategies for fighting back and moving forward, for shaping the future.
About the ERA Project: The ERA Project at Columbia Law School’s Center for Gender and Sexuality Law is a law and policy think tank in support of the Equal Rights Amendment and its role in advancing gender-based justice.
About Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Center: The Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Center at NYU Law champions women’s leadership in law school and the legal profession, and advocates for democracy, gender equity and justice.
About the Feminist Majority Foundation: The Feminist Majority Foundation is a cutting edge organization dedicated to developing bold, new strategies and programs to advance women’s equality, non-violence, and, most importantly, empowerment of women and girls in all sectors of society.
