Why the ERA matters

Despite the past century of women’s rights protests there has been no definitive amendments in the Constitution that calls for the equality of women, the Equal Rights Amendment would allow that. 

35 out of the needed 38 states have currently ratified the amendment. Proponents of the amendment have adopted a “three-state strategy”. Activists in unratified states have launched petitions, hosted events, and written numerous letters in the hopes of garnering the needed attention to make the change. In ratified states, supporters have asked their Senators and Representatives to cosponsor the ERA. Gloria Totten, activist and president of Progressive Majority, said “Young people have been at the heart of every social change movement. No matter what state you live in, there’s work to be done.”  

The ERA was first introduced to Congress in 1972. By 1977, 35 states had ratified the amendment. When the seven year deadline passed without the needed 38 states the amendment was put on hold until it was reintroduced in 2015. However, the amendment has not been away from political conversation. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg stated in 2014, “If I could choose an amendment to add to the Constitution, it would be the Equal Rights Amendment.”

With the addition of the ERA in the Constitution, this would be the clear push needed for women in their strive for equality, being as this would be the first time women would unequivocally be named in the U,S Constitution. Section 1 of the The House’s version of the amendment reads, “Section 1. Women shall have equal rights in the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”