- Position‹2 of 2
- Women should vote for Biden
The argument
Biden co-sponsored the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) nine times. As President, he will advocate for gender equality in the US Constitution. In January 2020, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the ERA. As President, Biden will recognise that 75% of US states have ratified the amendment and take action to make it clear that any government-related discrimination against women is unconstitutional.
Premises
Counter-arguments
Critics reply that a president cannot simply "pass" a constitutional amendment. Ratification runs through Congress and the states, and the ERA faces genuine legal obstacles — the original ratification deadline expired decades ago, and several states voted to rescind — so the pledge may not be deliverable however sincere the intent. Co-sponsoring the amendment shows advocacy, not the power to enact it. They add that even a desirable single policy does not settle how women "should" vote, a judgement that turns on the full range of a voter's priorities — economic, security and social — rather than one contested constitutional question.
Rejecting the premises
[Rejecting P1] Co-sponsoring the ERA nine times shows advocacy, not the power to enact it; a president cannot pass a constitutional amendment, which requires congressional and state action. [Rejecting P2] The ERA's status is legally contested — the ratification deadline expired and several states rescinded — so "38 states ratified" does not mean it can be certified into the Constitution.