In the preamble to the Constitution of the United States, we are instructed to form a more perfect union.

The American experiment may never be complete; we are always striving as we commit ourselves to the challenge of new circumstances and uncertain times.

We are in uncertain times, but we can still reach for that more perfect union by requesting that President Biden require the National Archivist to publish the full text of the 28th Amendment and thereby formally acknowledge as law the Equal Rights Amendment.

When the U.S. Constitution was drafted, women and people of color did not enjoy a full enfranchisement of rights. Amendment 14 allowed for equal justice under the law for race, religion and national origin, but not sex. We must now meet this moment and ensure that no discrimination can be based upon sex/gender.

Mark Twain reflected that “No civilisation can be perfect until exact equality between man and woman is included.” Joe Biden can affirm Mark Twain’s aspiration and his own legacy by acting now. His historic appointment of the first black female Supreme Court Justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson, coupled with his courageous choice of Kamala Harris for vice president can advance a more perfect union by enshrining the ERA in the Constitution.

Thirty-eight states have ratified this amendment, meeting the threshold of the legal requirement.

The time constraints later added to the documents were not part of the original amendment that the states signed. There is no constitutional authority for a state to rescind its prior authorization, yet a handful did attempt that.

In 2020, the only remaining formal step for ratification was for the nation’s archivist to print the document. President Trump, in his first term, blocked that action. The American Bar Association passed a resolution this year on the ERA stating that the amendment had already been ratified and affirmed that the archivist’s role is purely ministerial and not essential. They urge “federal, state, local, territorial and tribal governments to support implementation of the Equal Rights Amendment to the constitution in accordance with Article V.”

We must implore President Biden to formally ask the current archivist, Colleen J . Shogan, the first woman appointed to lead the National Archives and Records Administration in 2023, to certify and publish the Equal Rights Amendment.

All readers are encouraged to contact him at president@whitehouse.gov to cement women’s rights in our constitution for our daughters, our sisters, our mothers and ourselves.

This is the future that all men and women deserve: one essential step to a more perfect union.

Jacqueline A. Schwarz, PhD, lives in Louisville.