For some lawmakers in the Aurora area, the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment by the General Assembly was a long time coming.
“I am shocked and dismayed that it took us so long to get here,” state Rep. Stephanie Kifowit (D-Oswego) said.
Illinois on Wednesday became the 37th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, putting the country only one state away from a landmark change to the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing equal rights for women.
The Illinois House approved the amendment 72-45 Wednesday. The Senate approved it 43-12 in April.
“We must recognize that girls and women will never gain full dignity until their rights are respected and protected,” said state Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia (D-Aurora).
“What I look forward to is for my children, young women and older women to step on our shoulders and reach their full potential,” Chapa LaVia said. “The vote Wednesday for me was more about the recognition of human rights and the dignity we bestow in this country on women in making sure that when we say equality is equality that it is read into our Constitution.”
Chapa LaVia said the vote was a truly historic moment for Illinois, and that the measure had bipartisan support.
Kifowit, a Marine veteran, said the ratification in Illinois of the Equal Rights Amendment is “monumental” for all women in the state.
“I look to my daughter and think that we need to provide a future of equality for all women,” she said.
According to Kifowit, the ratification is part of a movement into the future in Illinois.
“We can’t look to the past,” she said. “We have to look to the future. The future is a society that is equal and respectful and we can start moving forward to a society that truly embraces equality and respect for one another.”
Michelle Meyer, executive director of Mutual Ground, an Aurora-based group that works to fight domestic violence and sexual abuse, went to Springfield to make her voice heard on the issue.
“I actually visited the Capitol on the 18th of this month to urge our local legislators to support Illinois joining the other states that have passed this amendment to our Constitution,” she said in an email.
Meyer said that “women need to have equal rights under the law.”
“I am thrilled that the ERA has been ratified in Illinois, I only wish it hadn’t taken so long and that there weren’t so much more work to be done to ensure that all women are protected against discrimination across the United States,” she said. “It seems that we are a step closer now.”
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The ERA, first proposed in 1972, guarantees equal rights for all citizens regardless of sex. Ratification requires the assent of 38 states, but there’s some legal debate over whether it’s too late for additional states to join those that acted years earlier.
Illinois was one of 15 states not to ratify before the 1982 deadline. The push to ratify took center stage once more after Nevada voted to ratify the amendment last year.
Opponents have argued that passing the amendment would give women unrestricted access to abortion, among other things.
National Organization for Women President Toni Van Pelt said the organization has been closely watching Illinois. She said NOW board members that live in Illinois have been pushing for the measure.
“This is so exciting,” Van Pelt said of ratification.
Van Pelt credits Nevada state Sen. Pat Spearman, who started pushing her state for ratification of the ERA when she took office in 2016.
“She got it in 2017,” Van Pelt said.
She said the focus then shifted to Illinois. With Illinois ratifying the ERA, “We only need one more state now,” she said.
“The two we are looking at right now are Virginia and North Carolina,” she said.
Van Pelt, who lives in Washington, D.C., said she was impressed the vote in Illinois had bipartisan support.
“It’s the right thing to do,” she said.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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