Women Going Our Way

Repealing the 19th Amendment

Repealing the 19th Amendment

Send a letter to your local representative by downloading our .docx sample letter.

Please remember to edit all placeholder names with your information, or use it as an example to write your own.

Read about the forgotten occult origins of the Suffragette movement, the coalition of women behind the Declaration of Sentiments and The Woman’s Bible of the Suffragettes and other radical feminists of the period

Repealing the 19th, procedure and concerns

To overturn or repeal an existing amendment to the U.S. Constitution, a new amendment must be proposed and successfully ratified. This is because the Constitution itself does not allow for amendments to be directly undone or revoked; instead, the process requires creating a new amendment that nullifies or supersedes the one prior.

The general legal process for amending the U.S. Constitution involves the following steps:

  1. Proposal:
    • An amendment can be proposed by a two-thirds majority vote in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
    • Alternatively, a constitutional convention can be called by two-thirds of state legislatures.
  2. Ratification:
    • Once proposed, an amendment must be ratified by three-fourths (38 out of 50) of the state legislatures or by conventions in three-fourths of the states.

In overturning the 19th Amendment, the constitutional amendment process must be followed.

Amendment Ratification Process

  1. Proposal Stage:
    • Congressional Proposal: Two-thirds of both the Senate and the House of Representatives must vote in favour of the proposed amendment.
      • Opposition: Legal challenges may arise if opponents argue that the proposed amendment violates existing constitutional principles, such as equal protection under the law.
    • Constitutional Convention: Two-thirds of state legislatures call for a constitutional convention.
      • Opposition: Critics may claim that the convention’s scope is not clearly defined, leading to concerns about potential overreach.
  2. Ratification Stage:
    • State Legislatures: Three-fourths (38 out of 50) of state legislatures must ratify the proposed amendment.
      • Opposition: Legal challenges might emerge if opponents argue that the ratification process was flawed, perhaps due to coercion or irregularities.
    • State Conventions: Alternatively, three-fourths of the states can choose to ratify the amendment through conventions.
      • Opposition: Similar to legislative ratification, challenges may arise if critics argue that the convention process was undemocratic or manipulated.

Potential Legal Opposition

  1. Constitutional Challenges:
    • Opponents might argue that the proposed amendment violates fundamental constitutional principles, such as equal protection, due process, or individual liberties.
  2. Voting Rights Challenges:
    • Given that the 19th Amendment specifically addresses voting rights, legal challenges might focus on the potential infringement of citizens’ right to vote based on gender, raising concerns of discrimination.
  3. Procedural Irregularities:
    • Legal challenges could arise if the amendment proposal or ratification process is perceived as irregular, undemocratic, or influenced by external factors.
  4. Civil Liberties Concerns:
    • Opponents might argue that the proposed amendment infringes upon individuals’ civil liberties, including the right to equal participation in the political process.

If you were to represent a movement seeking to repeal the 19th Amendment, here are some arguments that might be presented

  1. States’ Rights:
    • Argue that the issue of suffrage should be left to individual states to decide, emphasizing a more decentralized approach to governance.
  2. Originalist Interpretation:
    • Take an originalist interpretation of the Constitution, suggesting that the Founding Fathers did not explicitly intend for women’s suffrage and that constitutional interpretation should adhere to the original understanding.
  3. Legal Process Arguments:
    • Emphasize that the amendment process itself allows for changes, and if there is a broad consensus to repeal the 19th Amendment, it could be done through constitutional means.
  4. Concerns About Overreach:
    • Express concerns that expanding voting rights without a thorough understanding of the potential consequences might lead to unintended societal changes, and argue for a reassessment of the impact of the 19th Amendment.
  5. Public Opinion:
    • Highlight that public opinion has evolved over time, and a movement might argue that repealing the 19th Amendment reflects the will of a significant portion of the population.
  6. Framing as a Constitutional Experiment:
    • Present the idea that the 19th Amendment was an experiment in constitutional governance and suggest that it’s legitimate to revisit such experiments if they do not align with the envisioned societal order.
  7. Raise questions that suggest potential flaws or imbalances in the original ratification of the 19th Amendment that should be reevaluated:
    • Acknowledge that special interest groups, particularly those advocating for women’s rights, had an outsized influence on the ratification process, overshadowing broader public sentiment. Financial incentives from a small population of elite women with a lot of power and wealth to gain, or industrialists looking to mobilize women for a workforce at the expense of culture, sought to impose individualism and empiricist egalitarianism on women of low income that rely on tradition and family to survive, and are now alienated.

Important Criticisms of the 19th Amendment & Radicalism Framed as Civil Rights

  1. Argument Against Democratic Process:
    • The opposition might argue that the democratic process, as manifested through the 19th Amendment, undermines the original intent of the Founding Fathers in designing a republic rather than a pure democracy.
      • They could contend that the Founding Fathers established a representative republic to avoid the potential excesses of direct democracy, and the 19th Amendment, by imposing a uniform right to vote regardless of gender, deviates from this vision.
  2. Argument Against Federalism:
    • Another argument might center around the idea that the 19th Amendment interferes with the principles of federalism by imposing a uniform standard on voting rights across all states.
      • They could assert that voting regulations should be left to individual states to decide, as intended by the Constitution, and the 19th Amendment overreaches by imposing a national standard.
  3. Argument Against Unintended Consequences:
    • The opposition might suggest that the 19th Amendment, while well-intentioned, has had unintended consequences by potentially skewing the democratic process and shifting the balance of power in unforeseen ways.
      • They could argue that changes in demographics and voting patterns, influenced by the 19th Amendment, may lead to outcomes that were not originally contemplated by the framers, challenging the stability of the government.

The amendment is firmly established as a crucial step toward gender equality and voting rights, and any opposition to it on these grounds would face significant challenges. Additionally, constitutional amendments, once ratified, become integral parts of the constitutional structure, and any attempt to challenge them must consider the profound legal and ethical implications.