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Page Two
THE NEW BERN MIRROR, NEW BERN, N. C.
Friday, August 28, 1970
The oDjecuve vt the House-
passed Equal Rights Am^d-
ment Is a worthy one. It is
to abolish unfair discrimina
tions which society makes
against women in certain areas
of life. No one believes more
strongly than I that discrimi
nations of this character ought
to be abolished, and that they
ought to be abolished by law In
every case where they are
created by law.
Even so, I am convinced
that this House-passed Amend
ment Is a potentially destruc
tive and self-defeating blunder
buss which would invalidate
all laws making distinctions
between men and women, and
would plunge society into con
stitutional and legal chaos. I
say this because the House-
passed Amendment is shroud
ed in obscurity, and no one
has sufficient prophetic power
to predict with accuracy what
interpretation the Supreme
Court will place upon it. I
share the view of many consti
tutional scholars that if tile Sen
ate should approve the House-
passed Amendment and three-
fourths of the states should
ratify it, this amendment would
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be Interpreted to nullify every
existing federal and state law
making any distinction what
ever between men and women,
and would rob Congress and the
legislatures of the 50 states
of the legislative power to en
act any future laws making any
distinctions between men and
women, no matter how rea
sonable these laws may be.
When one examines the real
ities of the House - passed
Amendment, he finds that it
would not bring into being any
new laws giving us a discrimi
nation - free society, and those
who desire such a society would
again have to Implore Congress
and the l^islatures of the 50
states to enact laws creating
the kind of society they seek
insofar as such a society can
be established by law. It should
be noted that many just griev
ances are founded upon dis
criminations not created by
law, and the Equal Rights
Amendment would have no ef
fect whatsoever upon them.
The issue before the Senate
then is not whether society
makes unfair discriminations
against women, but whether the
House-passed Amendment con
stitutes a sensible approach to
their abolition. This raises
the question of whether Con
gress should submit to the
states, acting within their re
spective Jurisdictions, to make
reasonable distinctions be
tween the rights and respon
sibilities of men and women in
appropriate areas of life.
In my judgement, the 14th
Amendment’s ’’equal protec
tion clause” properly inter
preted is sufficient to abolish
all unfair discriminations
against women. Nonetheless,
I recognize that many do not
share my opinion on this point.
For this reason, last week I
introduced an alternative
amendment to insure equality of
women’s rights, but one which
would not place upon the Su
preme Court the obligation to
sail upon the most tumultous
constitutional seas without
chart or compass in quest of an
iindefined and unknown port.
In brief, my amendment
would state that equality of
rights shall not be abridged
becau.oe of sex. Moreover, It
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would 0) specifically exempt
women from compulsory mili
tary service, and (2) allow the
passage of any law "reasonably
designed to promote the health,
safety, privacy, education, or
economic welfare of women,or
to enable them to perform their
duties as homemakers or moth
ers.”
My amendment has the virtue
of recognizing that there are
physiological and functional
differences between men and
women, and in my judgement is
more likely to be ratified by
the states if it passes the Con
gress. Legislators, both fed
eral and state, should welcome
its approach toward changing
the Constitution in a sensible
manner.
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