~ Herring celebrates the progress this country has made while highlighting the need to enshrine women’s equality in the Constitution; Herring has been in court fighting to have the ERA recognized as the 28^th Amendment since Virginia ratified it in January ~

RICHMOND (August 26, 2020) – On Women’s Equality Day, Attorney General Herring celebrates the progress and achievements that have been made in the past century while also highlighting the need to enshrine women’s equality in the U.S. Constitution. Attorney General Herring has been fighting in court to have the Equal Rights Amendment recognized as the 28^th Amendment since Virginia ratified it in January.

“Women’s Equality Day is a day to celebrate the achievements this country has made in women’s equality over the past century, but we cannot celebrate these achievements without also acknowledging how much farther we have to go,” said Attorney General Herring. “Women have fought for centuries to gain the same rights as men under the law and we cannot force them to wait even a minute longer for equal rights under the U.S. Constitution by adding the Equal Rights Amendment.

 

“The Trump Administration has made it abundantly clear that they do not believe that women deserve equal rights under the Constitution. That’s just wrong. But if there is one thing I know about this movement and all the movements that came before, it’s that these dedicated advocates will not give up until the ERA is recognized as the 28^th Amendment.

 

“I will continue to use every tool at my disposal to make sure that women’s equality is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and I feel incredibly proud to stand alongside these women and men who have devoted their time and energy to giving women the long-overdue equality they deserve.”

 

August 26^th was designated Women’s Equality Day in 1973 to commemorate the certification of the 19^th Amendment to the Constitution, giving women the right to vote, that happened on that day in 1920. Women’s Equality Day not only celebrates women gaining the right to vote in the United States but also brings attention to the continued efforts towards full gender equality.

On January 27, 2020, the Virginia General Assembly voted to pass and ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, making it the 38th and final state needed to immediately make it part of the Constitution. On January 30, Attorney General Herring filed suit to ensure that Virginia’s ratification was recognized, and to ensure that the Equal Rights amendment has been added to the U.S. Constitution, enshrining equal rights for women. In May, the Trump Administration filed a motion to dismiss Attorney General Herring’s lawsuit, seeking to block gender equality from being added to the Constitution. In June, Attorney General Herring filed a brief opposing the Trump Administration’s motion to dismiss his lawsuit. Earlier this month, Attorney General Herring moved for summary judgment in his landmark civil rights lawsuit, as well as filed a brief opposing the intervening states’ (Alabama, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Tennessee) motion for summary judgment. 

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