Feel free to draw from any of the samples below or make your own original message. What’s important is that it reflects the urgency and importance of the Sign4ERA drive and your commitment to at last placing the ERA in the U.S. Constitution.
FROM AN INDIVIDUAL…
Subject: Sign the Petition: Make the ERA Part of the Constitution!
Dear Friend,
I am writing to you as a fellow supporter of women’s rights and equality.
I am asking you to sign a petition to place the already-ratified Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in the U.S. Constitution.
The ERA is a simple but powerful statement that would guarantee equal rights for all citizens regardless of sex. It would protect women from discrimination in employment, education, health care, and more.
The ERA was first introduced in Congress in 1923 and passed in 1972. It was then sent to the states for ratification, with a deadline of 1982. By then, 35 states had ratified it, three short of the required 38. Since then, five more states have ratified it, bringing the total to 40.
However, a federal court ruled in 2021 that ratifications after the deadline “came too late to count.” The U.S. Senate recently voted on a resolution to remove the deadline and recognize the ERA as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution, but it failed to get enough votes.
This is unacceptable and unjust. The ERA is not dead. It is still valid and vital for women’s rights and dignity.
Please join me in signing this petition to place the already-ratified ERA in the U.S. Constitution. You can sign the petition by clicking on this link: Sign4ERA.org.
Thank you for your attention and action.
For the ERA,
Your Name
Your Email
P.S. Please forward this email to your family, friends, and contacts who might be interested in this cause. Together, we can make history!
FROM AN ORGANIZATION CONCERNED WITH SEXUAL ASSAULT …
Subject: Urgent Sexual Assault Update
Dear < Name >,
Thanks to your earlier actions as part of our Enough is Enough Voter Project you’ve already helped to recall judges, and defeat man big-name Congressmen and Senators who didn’t take sexual harassment or violence against women and children seriously.
Today I’m urgently asking you to swing into action again in what could be one of the BIGGEST and MOST IMPORTANT efforts to hold politicians accountable for failing to take action when it comes to sexual assault and violence against women.
So important that we’ve joined forces with the Feminist Majority a powerful grassroots organization that shares our demand for equality, and which also has a long history battling sexual assault and violence against women by holding politicians accountable.
Why We Must Act
For years most of us were under the belief that victims of sexual assault and violence could hold their abusers accountable with lawsuits filed in federal courts under the Violence Against Women Act.
Wrong!
The frightening fact is that the right-wing U.S. Supreme Court– even before overturning Roe v. Wade—ruled that a university rape victim could not sue her rapist in federal court. Why? Because the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment does NOT cover women.
In short, while most people believe Violence Against Women Act, passed 27 years provides civil remedies for victims of sexual assault , they’re wrong. The shocking fact is that no federal law allows women—even the dozens who were raped and assaulted by the likes of Harvey Weinstein to sue. This despite the fact Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault.
Worse still, the right-wing Court also held that the Constitution bars Congress from ever even passing such a law.
You and I can help change all that. Right now. By demanding that Congress adopt the Equal Rights Amendment. By sending these Petitions to your Representative and Senators you can get the ball rolling. Today.
You see, by passing the ERA the right-wing Supreme Court can no longer claim that because the words “sex”,” and “equality” aren’t in the Constitution their hands are tied. The ERA takes care of that. Most importantly, it will spark Congress to enact new, tougher laws on gender violence.
So how do we get the ERA into the Constitution?
After 50 years of struggle, the ERA is now set to become part of the Constitution. Congress passed it in 1972 and the required ¾ of the states completed ratification in 2020. BUT…there’s one hurdle: a long-ago session of Congress back then imposed an arbitrary deadline of 1982 to complete the ratification process and the anti-women, right-wing zealots are using that to hold up putting it in the Constitution.
Fortunately, a new pro-ERA Resolution is now before Congress that will remove this arbitrary deadline. Passage by a simple majority in the House and Senate will remove any doubt about ratification and formally enshrine the ERA as the 28th Amendment.
Our job is to help pass this Resolution and get all our Representatives and Senators on record as being “For” or “Against” the ERA. For or against giving women the right and the power to hold their abusers accountable.
So please take action on your SIGN4ERA PETITION right now.
Now’s the time to get every politician on Capitol Hill on record on the issue of sexual assault, harassment and violence against women. If they won’t for the ERA, you can be sure they could care less about whether or not women can hold their abusers accountable.
So, as you’ve done so many times in the past, please take action today. Help make history tomorrow.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
P.S. Please don’t delay. We want to put Congress’ feet to the fire and get ‘em on the record, so if they won’t pass the ERA Resolution this year, we can hold them accountable in 2024. Thank you for acting today.
FROM INDIVIDUALS OR ORGANIZATIONS CONCERNED WITH ABORTION AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH…
Dear < Name>
It is now the one-year anniversary marking the devastating Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, and women in America now face this frightening reality: in 19 states they no longer have control over or own bodies and may soon not be safe no matter where we live.
AND…as you’re painfully aware, it’s even worse and more confusing and dangerous for providers and our patients.
As I write you the right-wing extremists are on the march. They’re hell bent to pass a nationwide abortion ban. Hell bent to make real in every state the ominous warning of Justices Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan in their dissent in the Dobbs ruling, “…one result of today’s opinion is certain: the curtailment of women’s rights and of their status as free and equal citizens.”
There’s only one permanent way to protect abortion rights and women’s equality nationwide: place the Equal Rights Amendment (the ERA) in the U.S. Constitution. Now!
That’s why I writing to alert you to start spreading the word and to urge your colleagues, patients and friends to take immediate action to place the the Equal Right Rights Amendment in the Constitution.
Why the ERA?
Just passing pro-choice legislation either in the states or even as a nationwide federal law is not enough. Political climates change. So, whether legislation is pro-choice or anti-choice these laws can be rolled backs.
Nothing compares to the permanence of a federal constitutional amendment and its stronger legal protections for reproductive rights, women’s health care and equality than the ERA.
Here’s the Great news!
Today , we’re very close to enshrining the ERA in the Constitution. Fueled by the results of the 2022 elections and anger over the overturning of Roe v. Wade and other threats to personal freedoms, members in the U.S. House and Senate introduced a Joint Resolution to remove the timeline and to declare the ERA has been ratified and is the 28th Amendment to the Constitution. Passage of this Resolution by a simple majority vote in both the Senate and House would formally enshrine the ERA in the Constitution.
That’s why hundreds of pro-choice national organizations and hundreds of thousands of voters have joined a massive Nationwide Petition Campaign to pressure Members of Congress and Senators to Sign the Petition for the ERA. It’s called SIGN4ERA.
I hope and everyone you know (and can forward this email to) will sign the Petition today! You can sign by clicking right here.
AND…the great news—thanks to the procedural skill and pro-ERA enthusiasm of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer—there will be additional opportunities to vote again on the ERA in this same session of Congress.
So, with this near victory at hand we’re doubling down on getting out timely information and Action Alerts to folks all around the nation telling them of the importance of the ERA in protecting abortion rights and reproductive health for all Americans.
Why You Matter More Than Ever
Because the momentum of the Sign4ERA Movement is now growing, I’m calling on you and the whole Women’s Health Specialty community to spread the word and get as many petitions signed as possible, as quickly as possible.
Please help us put pressure on the politicians and policy makers today.
Don’t delay. SIGN4 ERA today.
Thank you.
Name
FROM A WOMEN’S RIGHTS, PRO-ERA ORGANIZATION ….
Dear Friend of Women’s Rights,
Because of your deep commitment to equality and women’s rights, you will understand and truly appreciate the great news I’m about to share.
For the first time in history, identical Joint Resolutions have been introduced in both the House and the Senate, removing the time limit and affirming that the Equal Rights Amendment ratification “IS valid to all intents and purposes as part of the United States Constitution having been ratified by the legislatures of 3/4ths the required states.”
 | Support the Equal Rights Amendment! Sign the Petition → |
This past Monday, I joined feminist leaders Gloria Steinem, Carolyn Maloney, Zakiya Thomas, the President of the ERA Coalition, and Christian Nunes, the President of NOW, at Hunter College in New York to launch the National Petition Drive, Sign4ERA. The goal of this petition drive is to bring to life the overwhelming support the ERA has in the public opinion polls. A strong majority of Americans believe that the ERA should be enshrined in the Constitution and finally grant permanent equal rights to all — let Congress know of your stance on the ERA.
At this event, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer made the exciting announcement that he will bring the Senate Resolution to the floor for a vote. This is the first ERA roll call vote at the Congressional level in 40 years. It will not be the last.
The Resolution in the Senate has 53 Senators Co-Sponsors and, in the House, 183 members are co-sponsoring with more signing on daily. We are now within striking distance of enshrining the Equal Rights Amendment in the Constitution.
Tell Congress you support the ERA!
The ERA has momentum. So much so, that in the House there is also new ERA activity. A first-ever Congressional Equal Rights Amendment Caucus has formed to affirm that the ERA is the 28th amendment, to establish constitutional gender equality as a national priority, and to partner with an inclusive intergenerational, multi-racial coalition of advocates. Reps. Cori Bush (D-MO) and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) co-chair the Caucus.
Plus, we have momentum in the public opinion polls. Poll after poll clearly shows that 75% or more of all likely voters support the ERA. Young women’s support is even higher. They don’t want to be the first generation with even fewer rights than their mothers or grandmothers. The taking away of abortion rights by the Supreme Court and extreme right-wing state legislatures have shocked them into action.
We need you and all ERA supporters to do now, is to go to sign4era.org and add your name to the ERA petition to show Congress your support immediately. After you sign, send this petition to all your friends. Our goal is to continue growing the number of signers nationwide to mirror the support in the polls. Congress must have no doubt of the overwhelming public support for the ERA.
You and I have been fighting this fight for a long time. Now is the time for each of us to do our part to seize the moment. Together we can make history.
Thank you for helping when it counts. For the Equal Rights Amendment. For Equality now. We have waited long enough.
For Equality,
< Name >
P.S. Don’t forget, go to sign4era.org to add your name to this historic drive and send the petition to all your friends and family!