ERA



Conor Helfrich and Tyler Beauchesne //Section 1. //Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.

//Section 2. //The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

//Section 3. //This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.

The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was written and brought to Congress in 1923 by suffragist Alice Paul. Paul was a leader and founder of the National Women’s Party (NWP). The NWP thought that the ERA would be an effective movement after the 19th amendment, which allowed women the right to vote, to give all citizens “equal justice under law”. Paul believed that in order to have freedom from legal sex discrimination, an Equal Rights Amendment must be established to affirm the rights of the Constitution for all citizens. On March 22, 1972, the ERA passed the Senate and the House of Representatives. The deadline for state ratification was originally seven years, but it was extended to June 30, 1982. In order to be passed, the ERA needed a three-fourths vote (38 states), but on the deadline, it was only ratified by 35 states. The 15 states that have not ratified the ERA are: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, and Virginia. Since 1982, the ERA has been reintroduced in every Congressional session. The Equal Rights Amendment has had a significant impact on the women’s rights movement. National polls showed how the majority of the country supported the ERA; however, groups such as the John Birch Society and Phyllis Shafley’s STOP ERA stood firmly against the ERA. Even Protestants, Mormons, Catholics, and Jews stated their problems with the ERA. In 1976, Church leaders described the ERA as “a moral issue with many disturbing ramifications for women and for the family individual members as a whole”. The opponents fear was the change of roles for men and women, as well as the change of “traditional family values”. The man was supposed to provide for the family and work all day; the woman was supposed to stay in the house, take care of the children, and prepare meals. The fear was that this tradition would change, and with the Constitutional equality the ERA provided, women would become more independent. Some people also feared that the Constitution was becoming too specific with the addition of amendments. Non-supporters argued that there was no point for the ERA because the 14th amendment stated: “…nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” The words “any person” includes women, so opponents questioned why women needed their own amendment when they were clearly already included in one. Supporters of the ERA want to see Constitutional protection against sex discrimination, while non-supporters want the vagueness of the Constitution to remain intact.