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The delegates to the 1970 Illinois Constitutional Convention were truly wonderful, thoughtful, reasoned persons. Although they had vastly different views on many issues confronting the convention, they managed to show respect for each other. For many Delegates it was their last political office. To name a few, Elbert Smith, David Davis, and John C. Parkhurst had served in the Illinois legislature. For other Delegates it was their first political office. Michael Madigan went on to become Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives. Richard Daley is now the Mayor of Chicago. Dawn Clark Netsch became a Senator and, later, the first woman elected to statewide office when she became Comptroller. It still amazes me that, given the turmoil in the country in 1969 and 1970, the Delegates managed to draft the Constitution-and that the voters accepted it.
Toward the end of the Illinois Constitutional Convention in August of 1970, Delegates Odas Nicolson and Betty Howard, with sixtysix co-sponsors, moved to amend the Bill of Rights2 of the proposed Illinois Constitution to include what became known as section 18. section 18, "No Discrimination on the Basis of Sex," provides that "[t]he equal protection of the laws shall not be denied or abridged on account of sex by the State or its units of local government and school districts." The sixty-eight sponsors were more than enough to pass the section.
In support of that provision, Delegate Nicolson said:
As you know, the struggle for women's rights started back in about 1846, with the organization of the Suffragette movement which culminated when women attained the right to vote by constitutional amendment in 1920.
I will try to anticipate some of your questions. You might ask, as I have been asked, "Is this not covered in the proposal of the Bill of Rights Committee?" And I want to (on behalf of myself and cosponsor) compliment the Bill of Rights Committee for the excellent job it did in covering two areas of women's rights. I refer to the matter of housing and the matter of employment. These are certainly by far the more crucial issues, but we believe this does not cover the whole area in which women are subjected to discrimination.
In section 2, the due process and equal...