How the Equal Rights Amendment Can Protect Women's Place in the Workforce
July 21, 2026
It has been four years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade. And now a woman’s right to seek an abortion is 100 percent dependent on where she lives. Abortion is protected in 25 states and the District of Columbia. Abortion is prohibited or is at risk of being severely limited in the other 25 states.
No state better illustrates the crisis facing women than Texas.
Texas has one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country. No exceptions for rape. No exceptions for incest. No exceptions for anything other than the life of the woman.
Unlike women in several other states, including California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Kansas, Illinois and Montana, Texas women seeking an abortion will find no legal relief from their state Constitution.
Even worse – the one protection that is supposedly still available to a Texas woman, which is the right to terminate a pregnancy in order to protect her own life – is about as strong as a two-week-old helium balloon.
To be specific, here is the statutory language:
A person may not knowingly perform, induce, or attempt an abortion.
It is an exception [if] the person performing … the abortion is a licensed physician and in the exercise of reasonable medical judgment, the pregnant female … has a life-threatening physical condition aggravated by, caused by, or arising from a pregnancy that places the female at risk of death or poses a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function …
Clear as mud, yes?
Notice what MUST be present for a Texas woman to have an abortion. She must have a LIFE-THREATENING physical condition. It isn’t enough that she is likely to have a life-threatening physical condition. It isn’t enough that she most certainly WILL have a life-threatening physical condition in say, a few weeks, or even a few days. Nope. Her very life must ALREADY be threatened.
Now -- Pay attention to the word PHYSICAL. The pregnant woman must have a life-threatening physical condition. Why is that word thrown in? Well, if you skip down the statute a bit, it becomes clear.
Another part of the Texas law states that
A physician may not [perform an abortion] if … the risk of death or a substantial impairment of a major bodily function … arose from a claim or diagnosis that the female would engage in conduct that might result in the female's death or in substantial impairment of a major bodily function.
That is a long-winded way of telling Texas doctors that even if a pregnant woman is clearly suicidal – even if a pregnant woman is clearly telling her doctor that she will kill herself or try to perform an abortion on herself – the doctor may NOT legally perform an abortion.
Now let’s talk about what is NOT included in that language? There is no exception to Texas’s “pro life” abortion ban even when a fetus has a condition that is incompatible with life.
In other words, a doctor can look a pregnant woman in the eye and say, “I am so sorry. Your baby has anencephaly, a condition where most of the brain and skull is not present”
Or
I am so sorry. Your baby has holoprosencephaly, a condition where the brain fails to divide into two hemispheres.
Or
I am so sorry. Your baby has Trisomy 13, a condition involving heart deformities, brain deformities, limb deformities, facial deformities, vision impairment, spinal cord dysfunction, among other impairments
What do these conditions have in common? They can all result in the birth of a live baby who is certain to die soon after birth – and they all introduce complications for the pregnant woman.
For the sake of thoroughness, let’s take one more look at that statutory language. What are those magic words again?
life-threatening physical condition aggravated by, caused by, or arising from a pregnancy
Let’s say a woman early in a pregnancy learns that she has cancer and needs immediate treatment. Her cancer is completely unrelated to her pregnancy. Her cancer will not be aggravated by her pregnancy – she just can’t receive the chemo and radiation she needs without damaging the fetus.
Sorry, ma’am, the Texas legislature says you don’t have a choice. Oh wait – you do, actually. You can choose to have chemo and radiation which will hurt your fetus. Or you can delay your cancer treatment. Good luck.
What’s the icing on the cake for Texans? If the Attorney General thinks that a physician has performed an abortion when a woman wasn’t close enough to dying, he can bring a civil action against that doctor and fine him or her 100,000 dollars. Even better, if the local prosecutor thinks a doctor performed an abortion when a woman wasn’t close enough to dying, he can bring criminal charges against the doctor – CRIMINAL charges -- the doctor can even be charged with a first-degree felony and go to prison for life.
If you are a Texas woman of childbearing age, or someone who loves a Texas woman of childbearing age, you may be thinking that luck is on your side. You won’t be raped. You won’t get cancer. You won’t ever seek an abortion unless you really are close to dying and then surely you will find a doctor willing to put her liberty on the line and give you the care you need when you need it. But don’t think so fast.
What else is going on in Texas? Well, Obstetricians are leaving and medical school graduates are leaving, too. For some reason – who can guess – they don’t want to practice medicine in Texas.
They say everything is bigger in Texas. And if troubles for pregnant women are any indication, the saying is true. Women shouldn’t have to almost die to get some help. Abortion is healthcare. And it should be a right.
It is past time to recognize the ERA as the 28th Amendment to our Constitution. The lives of Texas women and the lives of women in 24 other states depend on it.
The ERA says that equality of rights under the law cannot be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.
Why does that matter for abortion?
Because pregnancy is not something that affects everyone equally. Laws that force people to continue pregnancies can uniquely restrict the lives, health, bodily autonomy, and ability to participate equally in society of people who can become pregnant.
The ERA would give courts a clear constitutional command that sex discrimination is prohibited. Sex discrimination includes unequal access to healthcare. Abortion is healthcare. The ERA will help guarantee the right to abortion that has been lost to millions of women.
Help us make this a reality by signing our pledge here: bit.ly/ERApledge
