Whereas, we are determined that an Equal Rights Amendment that bans sex discrimination in the United States Constitution is ratified; and
Whereas, the Supreme Court has begun to dismantle women’s reproductive rights; and
Whereas, the Supreme Court has refused to grant the right to privacy on the basis of sexual preference; and
Whereas, the Supreme Court has dismantled affirmative action plans that fight institutional practices of race and sex discrimination; and
Whereas, the original Bill of Rights was passed in the year 1789 at a time when slavery was legal and women were considered legal chattel by our revolutionary founders; and
Whereas, it is time to complete the promise of liberty and justice under the law for all; and
Whereas, our nation faces new problems of catastrophic environmental conditions which could not have been conceived of by the country’s founders;
Therefore be it resolved that it is time for an expanded Bill of Rights for the 21st Century which will ensure that all of the citizens of the United States enjoy basic, inalienable and indivisible human rights to which must be added:
1. the right to freedom from sex discrimination;
2. the right to freedom from race discrimination;
3. the right of all women to freedom from government interference in abortion, birth control and pregnancy and the right of indigent women to public funds for abortion, birth control and pregnancy services;
4. the right to freedom from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation;
5. the right to freedom from discrimination based on religion, age, ongoing health condition, or a differently abled situation;
6. a right to a decent standard of living, including adequate food, housing, health care and education;
7. the right to clean air, clean water, safe toxic waste disposal and environmental protection; and
8. the right to be free from violence, including freedom from the threat of nuclear war.
