News/Commentary

More theatrics as Dem House members march on Senate after Equal Rights Amendment shot down

April 28, 2023 | | Print Article

A dozen Democrats grandstanded on the Senate floor Thursday after a vote on the Equal Rights Amendment was shot down as the left attempted to push through a change to the Constitution that would have cemented abortion rights up until birth.

(Video Credit: WGN News)

The leftists were led by Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.), both members of the Squad who are co-chairwomen of the Congressional Equal Rights Amendment Caucus.

They chanted as they held up a sign using propaganda to promote the amendment which sought to break congressional rules on a piece of legislation that expired over four decades ago and is not supported by more than three-quarters of states. The radical Democrats then held a press conference outside where they were joined by the Democratic Women’s Caucus.

The Senate voted 51 to 47 against the Equal Rights Amendment, a proposed constitutional amendment guaranteeing equal rights under the law regardless of sex which was also meant to enshrine abortion rights.

“What do we want? ERA! When do we want it? Now!” the group disingenuously chanted as they marched on the Senate floor.

Pressley took the microphone outside to continue the proselytizing for the left, claiming that she was “disappointed” by the amendment failing, “but in order to be disappointed, I would have to be surprised.”

The Washington Examiner explained the history of the legislation: “The Equal Rights Amendment was first introduced in Congress in 1923, though it did not pass until 1972. At least three-quarters of all 50 states, or a minimum of 38, must ratify an amendment for it to be added to the Constitution. Congress set a 1979 deadline for the Equal Rights Amendment to be ratified by the states, later extending that deadline to 1982, though only 35 states had ratified it by that point.”

“Three additional states, Nevada, Illinois, and Virginia, ratified the amendment in recent years, however, giving the Equal Rights Amendment the necessary support to be added to the Constitution. With that, the deadline was the only roadblock still standing in the Equal Rights Amendment’s way,” the media outlet reported.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) unbelievably put forth a so-called bipartisan resolution lifting the 1982 deadline. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.) led the way for a vote on Thursday despite lacking the necessary support to pass it. It was co-sponsored by Murkowski and Senator Susan Collins of Maine (R). Murkowski and Collins are at best Republican moderates and they are seen as RINOs (Republican In Name Only) by many conservatives.

The march and the amendment itself were performative politics at their worst. Democrats control the Senate by a 51-49 margin, which is way below the 60-vote filibuster threshold required to pass most legislation in the chamber. There was no way to secure enough Republican votes before Schumer brought the bill to the floor and Democrats knew it.

Schumer sleazily switched his vote from yes to no after the resolution failed. That’s a procedural tactic that will allow him to bring the resolution back up for consideration at a later date.

“This resolution is as necessary as it is timely,” he railed. “America can never hope to be a land of freedom and opportunity so long as half its population is treated like second-class citizens.”

“There is no good reason — none — for this chamber, this Congress, and this nation to bind itself to limitations set 50 years ago. … In 2023, we should move forward to ratify the ERA with all due haste, because if you look at the terrible things happening to women’s rights in this country … women in America have far fewer rights today than they did even a year ago,” Schumer said, referring to the overturning of the landmark abortion case Roe vs. Wade by the Supreme Court.

One unnamed protester was removed from the Senate gallery for disrupting lawmakers as they cast the procedural vote on the measure, according to NBC News.

The protester was screaming in favor of the ERA amendment and was led out by U.S. Capitol Police to an elevator.

“Women in law enforcement are paid less than the men,” the protester shouted as police escorted her away with her hands behind her back. The protester was accused of disrupting Congress, Capitol Police told NBC News in a statement.

Actress Alyssa Milano also got face time on leftist media outlets, proclaiming her outrage that the amendment was not passed.

Republicans were staunchly against the amendment for a whole host of reasons.

“I voted ‘no’ on the ERA. I was not going to help some members in the U.S. Senate, in effect, to try to cheat to change our Constitution,” Senator John Kennedy (R-La.) declared.

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