Women's Equality Is *Still* Not Guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution

Women’s Equality Is *Still* Not Guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution
8/25/2022 by Carrie N. Baker


Ms.’s Winter 2020 cover.

Article V of the U.S. Constitution sets out two requirements for amendments: approval by two-thirds of both chambers of Congress, and ratification by three-fourths (38) of the states.

In 1971, the U.S. House of Representative approved the Equal Rights Amendment with a bipartisan vote of 354–24. The next year, the Senate approved the ERA by another bipartisan vote of 84-8.
In January of 2020, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the ERA.

But despite finally achieving all of the requirements to become an amendment to the Constitution, recognition of the ERA was blocked by the Trump administration. The final ministerial steps to make a constitutional amendment official is for the U.S. archivist to verify the ratifications, then draft a formal proclamation certifying that the amendment is valid and is part of the Constitution. This certification is then published in the Federal Register and the United States Statutes at Large and serves as official notice to Congress and the nation that the amendment process has been completed. But these final steps never happened.

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In January of this year, the Office of Legal Counsel issued a new opinion stating that Congress may take action regarding ratification of the ERA. The House of Representatives has in fact twice passed a resolution lifting the timeline—in February of 2020 and March of 2021—but Republicans have used the filibuster to block the measure in the Senate. The only Republican senators who publicly support the ERA are Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine). Not one male Republican senator has indicated support for the ERA. “The ERA is not merely a symbol,” said Maloney. “It will make a real difference in the lives of women and people who face discrimination, sexual violence and unequal pay. The pay gap between men and women has persisted for decades with the average woman being paid 80 cents for every dollar paid to men. For women of color, the gap is even wider. That is shameful, and it shows that the current legal standards are not adequate.”
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Women’s Rights Are Front and Center in Upcoming Elections

Polls show massive public support for the ERA. The vast majority of respondents—men and women; Republicans, Democrats and Independents—want the ERA, and most think the ERA is already a part of the Constitution. Nearly two-thirds believe that the ERA would have a positive impact for women. “The ERA is very, very powerful—much more powerful than people understand in terms of motivating people to vote, and that’s going to be a very important factor in 2022 in particular,” said polling expert Celinda Lake of Lake Research Partners. Support for the ERA, combined with a backlash against Republican-led abortion bans, could mobilize significant numbers of women voters to show up at the polls in November and vote against Republicans, said Lake. To make the ERA a reality, Democrats need to keep the House and win 52 Senate seats in the fall elections so they can remove the filibuster and pass the ERA resolution. “We have to lift our voices as women,” said Representative Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich.). “Vote … so that we can get in the Constitution.”
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https://msmagazine.com/2022/08/25/womens-equality-era-us-constitution-equal-rights-amendment/