Minnesota Equal Rights Amendment

At Gender Justice, we worked to ensure that Minnesota’s Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) proposal included some of the strongest protections and language in the nation for gender equity, reproductive freedom, and transgender rights:

All persons shall be guaranteed equal rights under the laws of this state. The state shall not discriminate against any person in intent or effect on account of one or more of the following:

1. Race;
2. Color;
3. National origin;
4. Ancestry;
5. Disability; or
6. Sex, including but not limited to:
   1. Pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive freedom;
   2. Gender identity or gender expression; or
   3. Sexual orientation.

Any action by the state that denies an individual’s equal rights shall be invalid unless, at a minimum, it is the least restrictive means of achieving a compelling governmental interest.

For purposes of this section, reproductive freedom means making and effectuating decisions about all matters relating to one’s own pregnancy or decision whether to become pregnant, including, but not limited to: prenatal care, miscarriage care, abortion care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, sterilization, infertility care, and lactation. For the purposes of this section gender identity or gender expression includes but is not limited to making and effectuating decisions about gender-affirming care. For the purposes of this section, State means the state or any agency, or any political subdivision of the state.

This section is self-executing. This section does not limit or narrow existing rights in this constitution. Nothing in this section shall invalidate or prevent the adoption of any law, regulation, program, practice, or benefit designed to prevent or remedy discrimination on the basis of characteristics listed in this section.

People’s rights and freedoms are under attack, from state legislatures to the Supreme Court. We need to do everything we can to protect our families, our friends, our fellow Minnesotans — and ourselves. We fully support the ERA as a crucial step toward achieving that goal.

Gender Justice Action’s work to pass the ERA