Pros And Cons Of The 14th Amendment

The Era is an amendment that is connected to the 1848 women’s suffrage movement in which they were trying to fight for equal rights. The Era is meant it help them achieve their dream of gender equality by specifically stating in the constitution that all women have equal rights under the U.S constitution. In relation to the 14th amendment the Era addresses the issue of equality but unlike the 14th amendment it specifically addresses the inequality between both genders. I am in favor of the Era because it will guarantee equality to women and protect them under the laws of the U.S constitution. If the Era passes it will resolve issues such as equal pay, providing a clear judicial standard for deciding cases on sex discrimination, and it will prevent congress from weakening or replacing existing laws on women’s rights.
Many
people would argue that there is no need for the Era because the 14th amendment already grants all U.S citizens the right to equality. The wording of the 14th amendment says it grants all citizens the right to equality but because it’s original purpose was to give enslaved men (that were freed) protection under the U.S constitution, it created confusion and caused a loose interpretation of the 14th amendment. Because it was a known that all white men had the right to the full protection of the constitution without needing to use the 14th amendment they had no real use for the 14th amendment, proving that the amendment was meant for slaves not guaranteeing the full equality women deserved. An example of this injustice in today’s time is the issue that women aren’t getting payed equally , because there is no clear statement that they are entitled to the same equality as men, leading people (men)to believe that they shouldn’t earn as much as men because they physically can’t do as much as men can do. If the Era passes it will stop this loose interpretation of their equality and it will prevent anyone from misinterpreting a women’s equality.
The opposing side towards the Era would argue that the 14th amendment guarantees equality to all citizens including women. It is true, the 14th amendment does say it grants equality to all U.S citizens that are born or nationalized in the U.S, but nowhere on the amendment does it say it grants equality to women, this is because this amendment was introduced to the constitution because it was meant to protect the free slaves. Because this amendment was written for the newly freed slaves it referred to them as citizens because it was a way for the USA to acknowledge that slaves were no longer slaves but instead they were legal citizens that hade the same rights as white men, unfortunately this did not mean the 14th amendment guarantees equality to women because clearly they still face sex discrimination in modern times. When the 14th amendment referred to the slaves as citizens it created confusion because some people knew that the 14th amendment was referring to the slaves as citizens and others thought that the 14th amendment is applying to everyone so this created confusion as to who was the 14th amendment protecting and guaranteeing equality. Adding the Era to the constitution would provide a judicial standard for deciding cases of sex discrimination, in addition it will also be giving a clear understanding on the equal rights women have and are entitled to.
One final argument that the opposing side might present is that the 14th amendment is clear enough for everyone to understand. This argument would be completely false because the 14th amendment is referring to slaves as citizens, making it seem that it was created to include women when in reality is was created for slaves to protect them under the constitution as equals to the white man. This confusion caused women to suffer inequality because there was no clear statement on the constitution that women are entitled to the same equal rights as men. An example of this confusion is the women’s equal pay issue that they are currently facing today in which they are currently making less than men because they are being discriminated at for being a woman, when they try and bring this issue to court there is no law that says that businesses can’t discriminate against women making the Era crucial to them. Adding the Era to the constitution would resolve these issues of discrimination and provide the constitution with a clear understanding of the equal right women are entitled to.
I am in favor of the Era because it would be a great thing to add to the constitution to guarantee women that they have rights that are protected under the laws of the constitution and that they can feel secure that they no longer have to face sex discrimination and they can finally be treated equally in society.
The Era will prevent anyone from playing with the interpretation of a woman’s equal rights and it will secure a strict statement that their equality is protected under the US constitution. Including the Era in the constitution can only bring a positive change because it does not limit or restrict anything form anyone instead it protect women and gives them security from being discriminated by their sex. Adding the Era can also be a sign of respect because you’re acknowledging that women are entitled to equality and they deserve the security of having their equal rights stated and protected. In conclusion the Era should be passed to give women the thing that they deserve the most but was never given to them because they were never acknowledge until today, if you pass the Era and you give women the equal rights they are entitled
to.