title:  Because Of Trump, We Need An Equal Rights Amendment NOW
text: The Women s March was historic. Over four million women all across the country (and world) came out in solidarity to protest against the incoming avalanche of assault from the Trump Administration.Contrary to popular belief, the Women s March was not a protest against President Trump   it was a protest in support of women s rights.Before taking the oath of office, the Trump Administration pledged to defund all programs at the DOJ which enforce the Violence Against Women Act. Donald Trump himself has released the names of 21 conservative judges who are potential Supreme Court nominees that mirror the late Justice Antonin Scalia (who does not believe the 14th Amendment extends to women).On Monday, January 23, Trump signed an executive order imposing the  Mexico City  rule   that overseas operations (including clinics) that perform or encourage abortion will lose all federal funding from the United States.The war on women is in full force, and Trump is at the reins.That is why, now more than ever, an Equal Rights Amendment is needed.The proposal is a simple one:Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.Aside from the 20th Amendment, which gives women the right to vote, there is no specific mention of women in the United States Constitution. The word  men  is mentioned a handful of times. The words  women,   ladies,  or  female  is nowhere. Not one line in the United States Constitution even alludes to the rights of women when considering historical context (aside from the 20th). Nor is the word  equality  found anywhere.Even though the Constitution states  All men are created equal,  we know that the Founders truly did not understand that. If you weren t white, a landowner, or male, the Constitution was not written with your rights in mind. Thomas Jefferson, who authored the Declaration of Independence and made significant contributions to the Constitution, wrote:Were our state a pure democracy there would still be excluded from our deliberations women, who, to prevent deprivation of morals and ambiguity of issues, should not mix promiscuity in gatherings of men.What many people fail to realize is that the rights of women that hinge on the 14th Amendment s Equal Protection Clause can easily be taken away. The 14th Amendment says that states may not  deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.  Should a Congress or bench of judges hold hostile views of women s equality, they could deem it necessary to roll back on much of the social progress made through common or statutory law. Should Trump appoint one, two or even three new Justices to the Supreme Court, who hold originalist views like Scalia, many issues such as equal pay, abortion, insurance discrimination, and so forth could vanish or become embedded in sex discrimination.The only thing women truly, inarguably have is the right to vote. But what s the point of voting if your rights as a human being could be taken away down the road in the name of jurisprudence?The argument  women already have everything the ERA would guarantee them  is not only wrong but na ve. First, women don t have  everything  equal to men in current law. There are still many statutes that separate on the basis of sex. Second, only the ERA would truly guarantee them these fundamental rights without fear of being stripped away so easily. So those opposed to the ERA actually give us a reason to support it   they admit it would guarantee equality if enacted.This wasn t always a divisive issue. Republicans use to support it. Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford supported the ERA in the 1970s, as did President Carter. This was not a partisan issue until Phyllis Schlafly came along and derailed it using scare tactics (one argument was that this would lead to same-sex marriage).But Schlafly is gone (as is Ford and Nixon), and a new era for women is on the horizon. If women came out in support for an Equal Rights Amendment as they did on January 21st, equality would be the true law of the land.Featured image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images