Manley Calls on Rauner to Aid Passage of the Equal Rights Amendment

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – To ensure that women are treated equally in the eyes of the law, state Rep. Natalie Manley, D-Joliet, is calling on Gov. Bruce Rauner to help pass legislation that would add the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the U.S. Constitution.

“The governor has said that he supports equal rights for everyone,” Manley said. “I whole heartedly agree that people should be treated equally, regardless of their sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age or anything else, which is why I am working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to help Illinois become the 37th state to ratify the ERA. The governor should do the same.”

Manley recently sent a letter to Rauner asking him to support the ERA and be a leading voice for the equal treatment of men and women across the country. Manley is a co-sponsor of Senate Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 4, which will prevent discrimination of a person based on their sex. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia have both stated that the Constitution does not expressly prohibit discrimination based on whether someone is male or female.

“The Equal Rights Amendment was first introduced in 1921, and, almost 100 years later, we are still debating whether or not women should be treated equally under the Constitution,” Manley said. “The time for debating this is over. If we are committed to equal rights for all, then we need to take action. I call on Governor Rauner to join me in working to help ratify this amendment. Illinois needs its top executive leader to finally lead.”