(Victor Joecks, Las Vegas Review-Journal) – The Nevada Senate will soon consider a bill that would overturn Nevada’s ban on female genital mutilation, and Senate Democrats are tripping over themselves to vote for it.
Why would anyone support rolling back a ban on something Nevada law defines as sexual abuse?
That’s one of the questions supporters of Senate Joint Resolution 2, the “Equal Rights Amendment” to the U.S. Constitution, should answer before voting on it as early as Wednesday. SJR2 sponsor Sen. Pat Spearman, D-Las Vegas, didn’t respond to my request for comment.
Congress passed the ERA in 1972 as a constitutional amendment, needing the approval of 38 state legislatures within seven years. Even after Congress bypassed constitutional procedure to extend the deadline by three years, only 35 states approved it. Nevada wasn’t one of them.
The amendment is short, and the key part says, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”
