Advocates Urge Legislature to Rescind and Reject Dangerous Calls for a Constitutional Convention

Boston, MA –  Today, good government, organized labor, and reproductive rights leaders testified before the Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs in support of H.4692 and S.2684, joint resolutions filed by House Assistant Majority Leader Alice Peisch and Senate Majority Leader Cindy Creem to rescind all previous Article V Constitutional Convention applications. The groups also opposed any new resolution calling for an Article V convention. 

“A Constitutional Convention would hand the keys of our democracy to a handful of wealthy, unelected special interests,” said Geoff Foster, Executive Director of Common Cause Massachusetts. “By rescinding outdated calls for an Article V convention, we will protect our Constitution from powerful special interests and ensure that any effort to twist the math to reach the 34-state threshold cannot include Massachusetts.” 

"The League of Women Voters strongly opposes any call for an Article V constitutional convention unless and until Congress passes legislation to govern how such a convention would proceed. Right now,we don't know how delegates would be chosen and how many delegates there would be, if voting would be by state or by population, if the convention could be limited to specified topics or could consider anything, and many more crucial guidelines.  We therefore urge the state legislature to pass this joint rescission resolution to prevent Massachusetts from being counted toward a call for a convention," said Celia Canavan, Executive Director, League of Women Voters of Massachusetts. 

"We can’t afford to gamble with the constitutional bedrock that guarantees fair pay, safe workplaces, and the right to organize," says Chrissy Lynch, President of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO.  

“Massachusetts has long led the nation in protecting reproductive freedom — from codifying abortion rights to passing the strongest shield law in the country. Yet, an outdated and out-of-touch resolution calling for a constitutional convention to ban abortion nationwide threatens to stain this legacy,” said Claire Teylouni, Interim Co-Executive Director for Reproductive Equity Now. “Rescinding this antiquated resolution—and all those calling for an Article V Convention—ensures our Commonwealth is not tied to an anti-abortion agenda that fails to reflect who we are, and protects both our values and our rights from being undermined at the national level.” 

"The U.S. Constitution is our nation's most precious resource, and we should not toy with it," said Carol Rose, executive director at the ACLU of Massachusetts. "Without rules and guidelines firmly established by Congress, a constitutional convention could lead to utter chaos, including the weakening of our civil rights and civil liberties. This is an unacceptable risk, especially when our national politics are so fractious. As a non-partisan organization with over a century of experience defending our most cherished freedoms, the ACLU of Massachusetts strongly supports the rescission of our Commonwealth's outdated Article V applications and the preservation of our constitutional order." 

The joint initiative is in response to concerns that Congress and the Trump Administration can use prior Massachusetts resolutions calling for an Article V constitutional convention to advance their own political agenda. This could have broad and sweeping implications on our current protections under the U.S. Constitution. 

An Article V Convention is a process outlined in the U.S. Constitution allowing states to propose amendments if two-thirds (34) of the state legislatures call for it. An Article V Convention could open the entire Constitution to unpredictable changes, as there are no clear guidelines or limitations on what delegates could propose. While an Article V convention has never been called before in American history, there is recent conservative momentum to add up all active resolutions to meet the two-thirds threshold. 

Learn more about Common Cause’s nationwide efforts to stop an Article V convention here. 

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