Brief History of the Equal Rights Amendment: Have you ever heard about this?
Fresh off the victory of the 19th Amendment in 1920, which secured women's right to vote, suffragist leader Alice Paul argued that the vote alone was not enough to guarantee full legal equality. In 1923, at the 75th anniversary of the Seneca Falls Convention, Paul introduced the first version of the ERA, then called the "Lucretia Mott Amendment." It stated: "Men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction."
The rise of the "Second Wave" feminist movement in the 1960s and 1970s revitalized the ERA. Led by figures like Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan, and Representative Martha Griffiths, the amendment was rewritten to its modern phrasing:
"Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."
The momentum was overwhelming. In October 1971, the House of Representatives passed the ERA, followed by the Senate on March 22, 1972. Congress sent the amendment to the states for ratification, imposing an arbitrary seven-year deadline (until March 22, 1979) to secure the required three-fourths (38) of the states. Ratification started fast—30 states approved it within the first year.
However, momentum ground to a halt due to a highly organized conservative backlash led by activist Phyllis Schlafly and her "STOP ERA" campaign. The ERA lay dormant until a legislative strategy known as the "three-state strategy" argued that because the original deadline was in the preamble of the congressional resolution rather than the text of the amendment itself, the original 35 ratifications were still valid.
The strategy succeeded in crossing the finish line decades later:
- Nevada ratified the ERA in 2017.
- Illinois ratified it in 2018.
- Virginia became the critical 38th state to ratify it in January 2020.
The Legal Limbo
Despite reaching the 38-state threshold, the ERA has not been officially added to the U.S. Constitution. Under the current administration, the Department of Justice issued an opinion stating that the deadline had passed, and the Archivist of the United States refused to certify the amendment. Subsequent lawsuits by state attorneys general to force certification have been dismissed by federal courts, which ruled that the congressional deadlines are binding.
Today, the ERA remains in a unique legal tug-of-war. Advocates continue to push Congress to pass a joint resolution to retroactively eliminate the original 1982 deadline, while opponents argue the entire process must start over from scratch.