Equal Rights Amendment Pros And Cons

Words: 2995
Pages: 12

Introduction: On January 27, 2020, the nation broke down one of the most important barriers to equal rights within its democracy. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) met the final legal requirement for ratification under Article V when Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the amendment, a three-fourths supermajority of states’ ratification. As such, if the arbitrary time limit set upon the amendment’s ratification were not in effect, the amendment wouldn’t have just been ratified, it would have taken effect on January 27th, 2022. Now, there is a bill in the process, House Joint Resolution 25 (H.J.Res.25) that will do just this: remove the timeline restriction on the amendment. However, it has been stuck in committee for over a year, and depending on how the 2024 and 2026 elections go, it could be anywhere from 1 to 6 years before we see it pass the House of Representatives. After that, it will follow the same process in the Senate before being sent to the White House to be signed into law. Additionally, because of the third section of the ERA itself, it could be an additional two years after it is signed into law – depending on judicial review – before it is officially enacted as our 28th …show more content…
Drafted by suffragist Alice Paul in 1923, the ERA was designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex, seeking to end the legal distinctions between men and women in terms of divorce, property, employment, and other matters. The ERA was introduced in Congress in every session between 1923 and 1972 but often met with little support. The feminist movement's resurgence in the 1960s revitalized interest in the ERA. Advocates argued that existing laws were not sufficient to protect women's rights fully, and a constitutional amendment was necessary for true gender