Journalisming the Story
of Equal Rights
Janet Kuypers
8/30/22
Copy editing and proof reading
Seem to take half of my workday —
Reviewing other people’s essays,
Correcting spelling, punctuation,
Removing spaces at the ends of
Paragraphs... mostly technical stuff.
But after reading an essay talking
About how the 29th Amendment
Should be created (after a number of
States have passed anti-abortion laws
After the overturning of Roe v. Wade)
to help women who need assistance,
Whom are impoverished and in more
Restrictive states, to help them to
Get to “free” states so they can
Exercise rights, that the government
Does not have the right to take away.
This essay ended, stating that the
28th Amendment, of course, is
The Equal Rights Amendment*.
The journalist in me went into
Overdrive, because I had to look,
Confirm with the U.S. Government,
Even Wikipedia... Although having
Equal rights seems like a splendid
Idea, the total number of U.S.
Amendments to the Constitution
Is only 27. I had to tell them to
Correct their copy, and they only
Changed the ending to say that
The 28th Amendment should be
The Equal Rights Amendment.
I question if that is all that needs to
Change, though, because the
Equal Rights Amendment,
Introduced to the U.S. government
Nearly a century ago, 1923, failed
To pass. The ERA was re-introduced
In 1971, passing the House & Senate,
But then went to state legislatures
for ratification, where it was rejected
by a few states and was never passed.
In the new millennium, even this
Very decade (the one that saw the
Overturning of Roe v. Wade and
States taking women’s right away,
That decade), the House Judiciary
Resolution 28 does propose “an
Amendment to the Constitution
Of the United States relative to
Equal rights for men and women”*,
But again, equality for women is
Something still yet to pass. So, reading
This “letter to the editor” for future
Publication, I question the essay,
Wondering if it misses the point.
If there was any chance for
Equal rights for women in the
United States, then their rights
Wouldn’t be removed by select
Conservative men in government
In the first place. If anyone ever
Truly wanted to codify equality
For women, it would have been done
Long ago, and we wouldn’t be in
This pit “man”kind has thrown
Us into now, as we furiously
claw our way back to the light.
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_Rights_Amendment
** https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-joint-resolution/28
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