My first reaction was to roll my eyes and go about my day. Because no one could seriously be that ignorant, right? WRONG. As I kept seeing more and more posts from people who actually do want to repeal the 19th amendment, I realized that this line of thinking is much more dangerous than most of us want to believe. I know that the number of people who tweet #repealthe19th is small, but the fact that the hashtag exists at all is a sign that something isn’t quite right here in America. On that note, I’d like to point out some of the major things that are wrong with #repealthe19th.
First of all, we’re talking about a constitutional amendment. I don’t know how many people slept through their U.S civics class, but I didn’t. I learned all about our Constitution, and how the founders outlined procedures to change it through amendments. But because the founders were purty smart, they made it so that the Constitution could be amended, just not very easily.
According to the National Archives website, “The Constitution provides that an amendment may be proposed either by the Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the State legislatures… A proposed amendment becomes part of the Constitution as soon as it is ratified by three-fourths of the States (38 of 50 States).”
To repeal an amendment, another amendment has to be proposed and ratified. This makes repealing an amendment almost unheard of, and the only example in American history is that of Prohibition. Thus, this presents two problems to everyone who wants to do away with the 19th amendment: one being that the proposal and ratification of an amendment to repeal the 19th would never happen in the tiny window from now to November 8th. The second problem is that you’d be hard-pressed to get a ⅔ majority vote in favor of a proposal taking away female voting rights, and it would be just as difficult, if not more so, for such an amendment to be ratified. Not just because women are actually human beings who have legitimate political beliefs and values, but because political leaders depend on their female constituents to ensure that they stay in office.
The second issue with #repealthe19th that I’d like to address is the fact that some people actually want to take the right to vote away from their fellows Americans. Once you turn 18, you have the right to vote. All you have to do is register. No questions asked. We’re past the point of trying to prevent people from voting, and we’re better because of it. In what universe does it make sense to regress back to a time when only the few had a voice in our country?
We are a country that is supposed to be by the people, for the people. When, after 1920, did we suddenly decide that “the people” didn’t include women? If it is true that Trump won’t win if women vote, then that indicates that the majority of the American people don’t want him as the President of the United States. This is not a gender issue.
To anyone who seriously believes in taking voting rights away from women, I have to ask: Why would you want that for your daughters, your wives, your mothers, your sisters, your aunts, or your friends? Are you really willing to sacrifice the rights of others for what you think is right? And if you are… What rights are you willing to sacrifice yourself? Because I guarantee, if you don’t stand up for women when their rights are under fire, we won’t stand up for you whenever your time comes.
