Senate GOP Blocks Resurrection of Equal Rights Amendment

It’s a sad day for gender equality as Senate Republicans blocked the revival of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) on April 27. This comes a century after it was first introduced, and despite the efforts of Democrats, the vote to disregard the deadline set by Congress for the amendment’s ratification failed to reach the required 60 votes.

Although two Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), voted with 49 Democrats to take up the resolution, it wasn’t enough to invoke cloture. But Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) remains optimistic, saying, “We lost this vote; we are going to win this fight.”

He added, “Women are under assault politically in so many ways, whether it’s the right to choose, or women’s health care, or discrimination, or so many other things. It’s about time America said no to all of that.”

A Century of Debate

The ERA was first drafted in 1923 and passed by Congress in 1972, with the condition that it must be ratified within seven years. The amendment states, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”

However, by 1978, only 35 states had ratified the amendment, three short of the 38-state threshold required by Article V of the Constitution. Congress voted to extend the ratification deadline to June 30, 1982, but it wasn’t until 2020 that Virginia finally put the amendment across the line. Unfortunately, with the deadline long since passed, the amendment has yet to become law.

The Biden administration has shown support for removing the deadline, stating, “In the United States of America, no one’s rights should be denied on account of their sex.”