Get the ERA Passed

The Equal Rights Amendment is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex. It seeks to end the legal distinctions between men and women in terms of divorce, property, employment, and other matters.

“Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”

Text of the Equal Rights Amendment passed by Congress in 1972

The Equal Rights Amendment was first drafted by Alice Paul and was introduced in every Congress since 1923. It started to gain momentum in the 1970s due to the women’s movement and in 1972 passed both houses of Congress by the necessary two-thirds supermajority. Then it was sent to the states for ratification with a deadline of 1977, which was later extended to 1982. By the time the deadline expired, 35 states states had ratified it, three states short of the required three-fourths majority.

The text of the amendment is straightforward. Who could disagree with it? What happened??

The ERA ran into opposition from the nascent religious right movement led by Phyllis Schlafly. The STOP ERA campaign used the bogeymen of gender-neutral bathrooms, same-sex marriage, and women in combat, which was enough to derail the amendment.

In 2017, Nevada became the first state to ratify the ERA since 1977. Illinois followed suit in 2018. On January 15, 2020, Virginia became the 38th state. But the legal question is, can Congress roll back the 1982 deadline?

On March 17th of this year, the House of Representatives voted to remove the expired deadline. Now it must get past the legislative graveyard called the Senate. And then the fight begins to win back the five states that rescinded their ratification.

Times have changed since the 1970s, but some parts of the country want to set the clock back to the 1950s to the way things were before the women’s movement. And it’s definitely a regional thing.

Like many progressives, I admire the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. My daughter gave me action figure of her which I keep on my desk. No one has done more for the rights of woman than the Justice Ginsburg. In honor of her, I hope that the ERA finally gets passed. Then we can have a dance party on Phyllis Schlafly’s grave.