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Deception (de sep SHen). Noun.
The proposed Constitutional Amendment
being pushed by Democrats during the current Legislative Session
for this November’s ballot is an act of deception.
The current language of the Not-So-Equal-Rights Amendment which the deceptive supporters want on this November’s ballot, asks:
“Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to say that all persons shall be guaranteed equal rights under the laws of this state, and shall not be discriminated against on account of race, color, national origin, ancestry, disability, or sex, including pregnancy, gender and sexual orientation?”
Sounds pretty good, pretty harmless, right?
As stated by the Minnesota Catholic Conference (MCC), “The Equal Rights Amendment, more appropriately called the “Erosion of Rights Amendment,” would diminish the hard-earned rights and protections of women and could eliminate conscience rights and religious liberty of all Minnesotans.
The 2026 bill language (SF 473) goes beyond attempting to protect “sex” as a class, but rather would protect people based on their “gender identity or expression.” This would undo years of hard-fought women’s rights victories, and if passed by legislators, would be sent to Minnesota voters during a general election.”
(Here is the link to the MCC website: https://www.mncatholic.org/era.)
In a committee hearing during the 2024 Legislative Session, leaders from the Protestant, Catholic, Jewish and Islamic communities respectfully requested that the supporters of the proposed ERA legislation reinstate the religious exemptions level-headed Minnesota legislators have always included. Those requesting the re-insertion of the religious exemption language went out of their way to acknowledge the “inadvertent” and “unintentional” nature of the religious liberty exclusion.
How were those requests met?
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Rep. Brion Curran railed at the religious leaders calling them and their religious faiths “disgusting”. She called them disgusting not once, but five times in roughly 90-seconds.
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Rep. Leigh Finke not only made disparaging remarks in response to the faith leaders’ requests but also held his own press conference stating that his goal was to “dismantle organized religion”.
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The Chair of the committee stated in clear terms that the exclusion was not inadvertent or unintentional but intentional.
This was and remains a flagrant attack on the religious liberties of all Minnesotans.
Bottom line:
The proposed Minnesota ERA Constitutional Amendment,
as written, looks very innocent, even logical.
However, it is neither innocent nor logical.
Should this version of the ERA become a Constitutional Amendment, Minnesota will:
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Roll back Title IX protections for women and girls. The so-called Equal Rights Amendment will deny girls and women their rights. Do you want you daughter or granddaughter sharing a shower or a bed with a biological male pretending to be a female? This amendment allows for that to happen.
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Put cement on their disastrous decision allowing abortion up to and during birth, with few, if any, emergency protections for women if something goes wrong with the abortion procedure, and no protections for an infant who survives the abortion procedure. (Check out the Abortion Survivors Network website here: https://abortionsurvivors.org.)
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Likely create a litany of lawsuits by denying religious exemptions in hiring/firing practices for churches, synagogues, mosques and other religious non-profit organizations. In effect, Minnesota government trumps religious doctrine, indeed, changes religious doctrine, thus creating the “formal” Church of Minnesota, a government entity.
The nation, indeed, the world is already watching Minnesota for all the wrong reasons. Let’s not give them another one. Contact your legislators in St. Paul today and tell them to get rid the ERA.
And then, in November, let’s get rid of those in support of this legislation by voting them out of office.
Clean out the deception!
Restore Righteousness in Minnesota!
Make Minnesota Righteous Again!
Dale
Rev. Dale A. Witherington, Chief Steward
Restore Minnesota / Restore Minnesota ACTION
Dale@RestoreMN.org
www.RestoreMN.org |
