Equal Rights Amendment

Definition

The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution that would guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex. It seeks to end the legal distinctions between men and women in terms of rights, responsibilities, and opportunities.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. The ERA was first proposed in 1923 and was reintroduced in Congress every year until it was finally passed by both houses in 1972.
2. The ERA required ratification by 38 states within 7 years to be added to the Constitution, but it fell short with only 35 states ratifying it by the 1982 deadline.
3. Supporters of the ERA argued that it would provide a strong legal foundation to challenge laws and policies that discriminate based on sex.
4. Opponents of the ERA were concerned that it would lead to the elimination of gender-specific protections, such as alimony and exemptions from military service.
5. The failure to ratify the ERA led to the continued legal inequalities between men and women, including disparities in areas such as employment, education, and healthcare.

Review Questions

• Explain how the Equal Rights Amendment relates to the concept of constitutional change.
  • The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is a proposed constitutional change that would have added language to the U.S. Constitution to guarantee equal rights regardless of sex. The process of amending the Constitution, as outlined in Article V, requires a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress and ratification by three-fourths of the states. The failure to ratify the ERA by the 1982 deadline demonstrates the difficulty of achieving constitutional change, even for issues with widespread support, due to the high bar set for amending the nation's founding document.
• Analyze the role of the women's rights movement in the push for the Equal Rights Amendment.
  • The women's rights movement played a crucial role in the fight for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Activists in the women's rights movement, such as Alice Paul and the National American Woman Suffrage Association, were instrumental in drafting and advocating for the ERA since its initial proposal in 1923. The movement leveraged grassroots organizing, lobbying, and public awareness campaigns to build support for the amendment, which was seen as a key step in achieving gender equality under the law. The failure to ratify the ERA despite these efforts highlighted the ongoing challenges faced by the women's rights movement in securing constitutional protections for women.
• Evaluate the potential impact the Equal Rights Amendment could have had on women's rights in the United States.
  • If ratified, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) could have had a significant impact on advancing women's rights in the United States. By enshrining the principle of gender equality in the Constitution, the ERA would have provided a strong legal foundation to challenge laws and policies that discriminate based on sex. This could have led to greater parity in areas such as employment, education, healthcare, and military service, where women have historically faced disparities. The ERA could have also served as a catalyst for further legislative and judicial action to address remaining inequalities. While the failure to ratify the amendment was a setback, the fight for the ERA highlighted the ongoing struggle for true gender equality under the law.

Related terms

Gender Equality:

The state in which access to rights or opportunities is unaffected by gender.

Women's Rights Movement: A social movement that has worked to establish and protect equal political, economic, and social rights and opportunities for women.

Constitutional Amendment: A change or addition to the Constitution, the supreme law of the United States, that is proposed and ratified by the states.