Public Policy Positions

ROSEL’s List supports policies and legislation that are tied to our mission, and that allow women to take active leadership roles in their community. We support equal voting rights for all. We support policies that improve women's health and that give greater access to health care for women and their families. We advocate for policies that improve women's lives, including those that promote education and a clean environment. And we believe that economic health and economic equity are key not just for women, but for our community as a whole.

The Equal Rights Amendment

Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

ROSEL's List supports the ERA and urges Virginia's General Assembly to ratify the amendment in the 2019 session. The ERA is a key element of equality for three core reasons:

The Constitution is the foundation of all law and order in the United States. Incorporating the ERA into the Constitution will place gender equality as a bedrock principle under which our country operates. Since 1950, all international constitutions have included gender equality and so should the United States.
Currently, gender discrimination cases are treated with “intermediate scrutiny” by the courts, versus the “strict scrutiny” guaranteed to race, religion, and country of origin (covered by the Fourteenth Amendment). Ratifying the ERA will bring parity for gender cases seeking judicial review.
The ERA is a civil and human rights issue. Women's rights are civil rights. Women's rights are human rights.

To learn more about the ERA and the push for Virginia to ratify the ERA, check out the following resources:

VAratifyERA.org is a comprehensive guide to the ERA in Virginia, including thoughtful analysis of impact of ratification (and responses for common opposition claims), ways to get involved, and recent news.
A letter from the American Bar Association sent to the VA General Assembly urging the passage of the ERA.
Equal Means Equal is an organization working to pass the ERA, featuring a documentary "Equal Means Equal" to highlight the progress of the ERA over the last 100 years.