SPRINGFIELD – Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, Tuesday issued the following statement on SJRCA 4, the bill pending in the Illinois House that would purport to ratify the proposed, long-dormant federal Equal Rights Amendment:
“Why, more than 55 years after Congress passed the so-called ERA and more than 35 years after the deadline for states to ratify the measure expired, is there an attempt to revive the long-dead ERA today? There is only one answer – abortion.
“The ERA as written, and as contained in SJRCA 4, would be the most pro-abortion legislation ever adopted by any American legislature. Cloaked in language of equality, it would, in fact, remove all state and federal regulations and safeguards regarding abortion. It is this indisputable fact that, once publicized, stopped ratification of the ERA in its tracks in the last century.
“Do you favor parental notification before a 13-year-old girl has an abortion? Do you believe that partial-birth abortion, which amounts to infanticide, should remain illegal? Do you think that it’s wrong to force Americans to pay for others’ abortions? If so, you cannot support SJRCA 4. These restrictions, overwhelmingly supported by the American public, would be deemed discriminatory on the basis of sex under the ERA.
“It’s no coincidence that every organization that supports abortion in the United States also supports ratification of the ERA. They know what this deceptive amendment will accomplish – the end of any democratically enacted restriction or regulation of abortion. I urge Illinois legislators, in the strongest words possible, to reject SJRCA 4 – it’s not about equality, it’s about unrestricted, taxpayer funded abortion through all nine months of pregnancy.”
