Discussing Importance Of Equal Rights Amendment With Attorney Vera Zambrano: Protecting Women’s Rights, Equal Treatment (Pay, Costs) For All Women

Discussing Importance Of Equal Rights Amendment: Protecting Women’s Rights, Equal Treatment (Pay, Costs) For All Women

Editor’s note: You can see our previous article on the announcement of the Equal Rights Amendment to the states, which is normally, though not necessarily, done by the archivist.  In this instance, since the archivist refused to certify the amendment, President Biden effectively completed this part of the requirements for an amendment himself.  

Staten Islander News sat down with Vera Zambrano, lead attorney at Vera Zambrano and Associates, an international law firm with a variety of specialties, including Family Law, Criminal Law, Real Estate Law, among others. Vera has been a practicing attorney for over 8 years, and she specializes in corporate law, international and contract law, as well as having knowledge civil rights and Constitutional Law, particularly as they apply to women.

It is critical in this moment for women to understand the importance of the Equal Rights Amendment, an amendment that took over 100 years to bring to fruition. Now that it has been passed by Congress and ratified by two thirds of the states, there are finally no more barriers to its recognition as part of the law of the land, as recommended by the American Bar Association and other professional legal groups.

The only hurdle it still may face was the addition of a provision for a time limit, which other amendments did not have, although there have been exceptions. According to Senator Gillibrand, this time limit is not allowed by Article V of the Constitution, making it questionable if this limit could ever have been applied.

Since this amendment is, in the scheme of history brand new, it most definitely faces many legal challenges ahead. This is simply the way of things when it comes to Constitutional Amendments. Nearly all of them have faced legal challenges before they were finally accepted by the courts. So these are to be expected. The first challenge is likely to come from the Trump administration, and will center on the aforementioned time limit.

Upon further research, there is just this one issue of the deadline, which was actually in a type of addendum rather than in the main text of the amendment. This may make it less enforceable, and the courts may declare that it was unconstitutional to add in a time limit at all, since Article V (which governs the amendment process) does not allow a time limit to be added. There have been a few other amendments which have a time limit, but this really makes no sense at all considering how long it can take and has taken for some to receive all of the requisite state ratifications.

One thing that should be mentioned is that the ratifications provided by the states CANNOT be withdrawn, ever. This is a question that has been resolved by the courts on multiple occasions, and the ratifications have been held as valid, with the courts clarifying that once ratified, that can’t be withdrawn, at all – under any circumstance. This leaves the time limit as the only valid argument against the ERA, so it remains to be seen what will happen.

It’s also not unusual for an amendment to undergo multiple legal challenges, sometimes taking years to become fully in effect. But Senator Gillibrand has confidence in the court system, and that it will prevail.  Vera Zambrano also expressed optimism, especially considering a variety of issues which she raised in the discussion.  First, it is supported by over 90% of the American people, in survey after survey.  It is also quite timely in light of the recent MeToo movement, and other activism concerning women’s rights.  For example, many persons will be quite surprised to learn that health insurance companies charge women patients more for the exact same procedures, thus creating a type of sex-based discrimination in regard to cost.  The procedures are no different, and are often administered in the same doctor’s offices and hospitals.  But if the patient is female, the cost is higher, sometimes as high as 20% more.

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One of a number of things that could also happen next is that  Congress itself can create a resolution saying that the amendment is valid and putting the question to rest. This has happened with other amendments, notably the 14th Amendment, which had a lot of controversy surrounding it.  When Congress made a joint resolution, there was no more question as to its validity.  However, considering this administration’s views on equality and equal treatment under the law that the American people have seen thus far from statements, executive orders, and media reporting, it may be that we’ll have to wait until the balance of power (between Democrat and Republican) in the House or Senate switches before there is a definitive answer. For those who are scholars of the Constitution, it will be interesting to watch this play out.

Banner Image: Senator Gillibrand Equal Rights Amendment. Image Credit – Sen. Gillibrand

Staten Islander News Service Staff Writer

This byline indicates that this article was penned by a member/members of the Staten Islander News Organization office team. Our staff writers are the backbone of our newspaper, performing all sorts of important tasks like conducting interviews, investigating leads, besides writing the news stories you see.