LISTEN: Broadway Playwright Heidi Schreck Discusses What the Equal Rights Amendment Means to Her

Katie Couric Media and iHeartMedia announced the season two premiere of Next Question with Katie Couric, an iHeartRadio Podcast. In episode one, Couric examines the history of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), what it is and why we need it on the heels of Virginia becoming the 38th state to approve the bill.

Couric sits down with Tony-nominated playwright Heidi Schreck about why the ERA is so crucial for American women today. In an emotional conversation, Schreck talks about the surge in violence against women in the United States, her own grandmother's experience with domestic violence, and the legal case of Jessica Gonzales, a story that hits home for Shreck.

Listen below!

Gonzales' three young daughters were abducted and killed by her estranged husband after Colorado police refused to enforce a restraining order against him. Gonzales filed a lawsuit against the police, but in June 2005 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that she had no Constitutional right to police enforcement of her restraining order. In the conversation, Shreck breaks down how the ERA could have helped Gonzales, and millions of American women like her.

Shreck said, "My grandmother Betty didn't leave her violent husband. If we had an Equal Rights Amendment, the Supreme Court would have to say that the Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. It would have provided a way for people to take action on a state level. It would say let's address this problem of sexism in police departments. Let's address the fact that these [domestic violence] cases are often misunderstood."

Couric will continue to examine critical issues every Thursday on Next Question, including topics like America's staggering maternal mortality rate, the environmental impact of meat consumption and the 2020 presidential election.