Local Councilman and Activist Group Propose New Equal Rights Amendment

Berwick, PA, March 03, 2017 --(PR.com)-- Berwick Councilman Andrew Shecktor and business leader Katrina Domkowski in conjunction with the group “All People Have Rights” announced today the completion of an equal rights amendment to the U.S. Constitution which would grant equal rights to all American citizens, while protecting all other constitutional rights.

The group plans to petition on “change.org” and then submit the suggested amendment to the Senate for consideration.

Per the “All People Have Rights” website (allpeoplehaverights.com), a working equal rights amendment is long overdue.

“There are only 7 countries that have not ratified the CEDAW International Women’s Treaty (Convention for the Elimination of All Discrimination Against Women); the United States is one of those countries, which also include Iran, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and two small Pacific Island nations (Palau and Tonga). Because we as a nation do not prohibit discrimination on account of sex in our Constitution, the treaty has languished in the U.S. Senate for over 35 years” (ref: .eraaction.org.)

For the U.S., this is long overdue.
Equal rights was dictated in the “Declaration of Independence”, but was never included in the U.S. Constitution. If this was such an important talking point for our founders, why was it not included?

“The answer is simple, and found in the Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers which debated the final version of the U.S. Constitution which was ratified at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Many of the founders owned slaves, as did their constituents, and a declaration of equal rights would mean they would need to give up those slaves; not a politically savvy move at the time. Also, women were considered to have virtually no rights at the time. Equal rights would mean that women could vote and hold office; also not favorable at the time.” (Synopsis of the Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers, 2016 ‘All People Have Rights.’)

You can see that today we have a Constitution which intentionally denies rights to such an extent that gender and race related amendments have already been added to guarantee some rights to women and people of color. Today virtually every developed country and the United Nations have incorporated equal rights into law, yet we still have not.

Now is the time to guarantee the rights of all people under the law.

(Andrew Shecktor is running for U.S. Senate in 2018 against incumbent Bob Casey)