"“I am here today because women are not guaranteed equal justice under the law of our Constitution,” Milano said. “Lack of recognition of women’s equality perpetuates the belief that women are less than, which leads to unequal treatment, abuses of power, sexual harassment, misconduct, and assault.”
Illinois last week became the 37th state to ratify the ERA, which would guarantee equal treatment under the law for both genders - one short of the 38 states necessary to add it to the Constitution.
But the deadline for ratification passed back in 1982, meaning ratifying the amendment would require another vote of Congress to change the deadline. That’s unlikely in the current Republican-controlled Congress.
Maloney (D-Manhattan) has introduced the amendment in Congress 11 times, but it has never received a committee hearing.
So she plans to hold a shadow hearing in Washington, D.C. this week to give advocates an opportunity to testify.
“It’s time - long past time - to put equality of treatment [and] fairness in the Constitution for women,” she said. “The current crop of Congressional leaders have not only refused to do anything about it, they’ve refused to even talk about it.”
Congress originally passed the ERA in 1972, but the amendment faced a conservative backlash and failed to get the necessary three-quarters of states on board by the deadline."
"“The #MeToo movement was such a powerful phenomenon because for far too long, women have not felt heard,” Milano said in a statement. “It’s hard to empower women when they are not recognized as part of our constitution. Now is the time for that to change and for the ERA to become part of the law for our nation.”
“Women came together, in the last year, to say ‘Me Too.’ We supported each other and we held men accountable by saying ‘Time’s Up.’ Well, I’m here today to say, the time is now to pass the ERA so that all citizens of our country have the opportunity to reach their full potential,” Milano said during a press conference on Capitol Hill.
The Charmed alum is no stranger to the political limelight but mostly regarding her conflict with national firearms interests. In early April, the actress publicly blamed the National Rifle Association for the shooting at YouTube HQ, saying that if the organization was “run by brown or black people, it would be labeled a terrorist organization with hate propaganda programming that incites violence.” Later that same month, Milano led a protest at a Dallas NRA convention and started a petition asking Vice President Mike Pence to skip the event. A week later on May 7, Milano tweeted a “Gun Safety Bill of Rights.”
Milano’s support of the ERA is significantly less controversial. The Equal Rights Amendment is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution which, in essence, is meant to dissolve any differences between sexes in matters such as divorce, property ownership, and employment.
The ERA was originally introduced in 1972, where it was ratified by 35 states — just three short of being added. And while Congress set a deadline for its ratification in 1982, there are many lawmakers who believe it is still valid. Illinois and Nevada recently ratified the amendment, and others have put forth legislation aimed at retracting the original deadline so that the amendment can be integrated."
""Women came together, in the last year, to say 'Me Too.' We supported each other and we held men accountable by saying 'Time’s Up.' Well, I’m here today to say, the time is now to pass the ERA so that all citizens of our country have the opportunity to reach their full potential," Milano said during a press conference on Capitol Hill.
Milano was joined by Rep. Carolyn Maloney and other members of Congress. Later Wednesday Maloney was holding a “shadow hearing” where Milano and other stakeholders would testify, so called because it's not officially recognized by a congressional committee. Maloney asked House Judiciary Committee chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., to hold a hearing but he has not responded to her.
The key phrase in the amendment, which Congress approved in March 1972, mandates that “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”
While there are more protections against gender discrimination now than in the 1970s, supporters argue that the ERA would provide the broadest protection.
Illinois became the 37th state to ratify the ERA last Wednesday, almost enough to reach the 38 -- or three-quarters of the states needed to ratify a constitutional amendment.
In a very short gaggle with reporters after the press conference, Milano said activists are targeting Virginia to be the last state to ratify it.
But even if Virginia, or another state, ratify it, opponents might bring challenges. The original authors put a seven-year deadline on ratification, which was later extended to 1982. Opponents might cite that deadline to make the argument that this ratification effort is invalid.
Some opponents have also made a more policy-specific argument, like Illinois state Rep. Peter Breen. During his state’s recent debate over the ERA, he warned that supporters only wanted to see the amendment ratified in order to strengthen abortion rights.
But that argument didn’t even sail with all of his Republican colleagues.
“I am pro-life. I’m a mother of a two-year-old daughter. I am for her and others to know in the state of Illinois she should have the same opportunities as men. Vote yes,” said Republican state Rep. Christine Winger, according to the Chicago Tribune."
"Description:
Three sisters sent on a wild goose chase—
A mystery to solve, a demon to face.
To save a soul before time runs out,
Learn when to trust and when to doubt!
It's tough to get good service these days—at least if you're a Charmed One. Piper has an odd altercation with a housekeeper, Phoebe receives some strange advice from a computer technician, and Paige witnesses the questionable wilderness skills of her hiking guide all in the same day.
The sisters come to the conclusion that magic must be to blame. They soon deduce that the mythological and literary troublemaker Puck has decided to pay them a visit. Just as they realize who is responsible for all the chaos, Puck—who is as curious as he is mischievous—appears and announces that he has devised a plan that will let him see the Power of Three in action: The circus has come to town, and he knows of an Innocent in need of protection.
At the circus, the three sisters must find the one in peril while a devilish, shape-shifting Puck leaves them second-guessing their every move. With an unknown Innocent in danger and time running out, will the Charmed Ones be able to outsmart Puck and defeat evil before it's too late?"
"“The #MeToo movement was such a powerful phenomenon because for far too long, women have not felt heard. It’s hard to empower women when they are not recognized as part of our Constitution. Now is the time for that to change and for the ERA to become part of the law for our nation,” Milano, 45, said in a statement this week.
Proponents of the ERA say that it’s necessary in order to officially guarantee equal rights for all Americans, regardless of gender.
Congress approved the amendment in 1972, but only 35 states — three short of the number required to add it to the Constitution — ratified it ahead of the deadline.
Congress’s deadline to secure the ERA expired in 1982.
But Illinois ratified the amendment last month, and proponents argue that the 27th Amendment's 202 years between submission and ratification is evidence that the ERA can still be ratified."
"We need to have protections and guarantees in the Constitution," Milano said Monday in an interview with Cheddar. "What the ERA would do is guarantee us equality across the board."
Milano was speaking at an event in front of the "Fearless Girl" statue in New York City's Financial District, along with Representative Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat. She has been one of the ERA's most fervent supporters in Congress, reintroducing the ERA on the House floor 11 times in her 25-year Congressional career. She said she'll continue to do so until it is ratified.
"Right now our Constitution for 242 years has guaranteed that men have equality in our laws but not women," Maloney said. "I believe it's fundamentally the most important thing we can do to help women, empower women."
The only right women are explicitly granted by the Constitution is the right to vote under the 19th Amendment, which was ratified in 1920. The ERA was written to extend protections for women.
To become enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, 38 states must ratify the amendment. Illinois became the 37th state to ratify the ERA on Friday, June 1, but it's been a slow roll since the ERA was first passed in both the House and Senate in 1972.
Virginia is one state that could push the amendment over the edge to ratification. The state elected a record 38 women to the Virginia General Assembly last year, which Maloney said may make the difference in ratifying the ERA.
It has taken almost a century to get this close to ratifying the ERA, first introduced in Congress in the early 1920s, and its supporters are still hopeful.
"I pray that my three-year-old daughter will grow up in a world where she's equal to my son," Milano said."
"It sounds promising, especially since it's from a pair of Jane the Virgin writers. However, it's hard to imagine any show living up to the sisterly love and weekly butt-kicking the Halliwell sisters got up to in the original. There's definitely room for these two shows to coexist, but before the new Charmed episodes arrive, you owe it to yourself to revisit the adventures of Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige.
Happily, watching the original Charmed is easy, thanks to the internet, but be warned: if you currently aren't subscribed to Netflix, then the process could be costly.
Netflix has all eight seasons of Charmed available to stream instantly. If you're not currently subscribed to the site, subscription prices start out at just $7.99 a month. Best of all, the streaming site offers new users a free one-month trial period and you can cancel at any time — so if you think you can power through eight seasons of witches, demons, and whitelighter drama in 30 days, then you could conceivably legally watch the entire series without paying a single dime.
Another option is the free TNT app. Charmed airs daily on TNT, so if you have cable, you can hop into the series by DVR-ing or watching episodes as they air every weekday at 8 a.m. ET. That requires factoring the series into your daily schedule, though, which in this hectic era is harder than ever before.
That's where the app comes in. If you're a cable or satellite TV subscriber, then you most likely have access to the TNT app. While the cable channel doesn't have all of the episodes available, it does have the bulk of seasons one through three, and TNT adds more episodes all the time (but episodes also expire, so it's definitely a more complicated way of getting your Charmed fix).
Again, cable and satellite subscribers have an avenue for watching the Halliwell sisters fight demons that don't involve having to shell out extra cash. The show is also available on-demand from services like DirecTV. Much like the TNT app, not all of the episodes are available for streaming, but there are usually enough hours of the show available to introduce you to the Halliwells' world.
Finally, if you're extra committed to watching the series, you can buy episodes starting at $1.99 each from Google Play, Vudu, Amazon, and iTunes. If you choose this route, it's cheaper to buy the entire season at once, because you get a discount. And as an added bonus, you will officially be the proud owner of every season, which means you can watch Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige save the world whenever the mood strikes.
Whether you spring for a Netflix subscription or add daily airings of Charmed to your morning routine, you won't regret watching this fun, girl-power-infused '90s masterpiece of a series."
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