Equal Rights Amendment

The Equal Rights Amendment

Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.

Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.

This amendment had been proposed at every new session of Congress since 1923, but had never reached the House or Senate floor

The National Organization for Women (NOW) made it their priority in the 1960s and 1970s to get this amendment passed

Goals for NOW

Equal pay for equal work Access to jobs traditionally held by men Access to affordable child care Better access to a college education (In the 1960s and 1970s the college acceptance rate for women was significantly lower than that of men)

The ERA passes both Houses and is signed by Nixon in 1972

38 states needed to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment in order for it to become law

Ratification had to be completed by 1979 22 states ratified the first year By 1977 , 35 states had ratified the ERA It was given an extension until 1982 to get the remaining 3 states

to ratify

Opposition to the ERA

It was claimed by Anti-ERA groups led by Phyllis Schlafly that the following would be a result if the ERA were passed

1) women would no longer be entitled to child support of alimony if divorced

2) women would be eligible for draft by the military 3) privacy rules would disappear (no separate mens and womens rest rooms 4) homosexual marriage would become legal 5) businesses claimed it would cost them more money

Those fears kept the ERA from being passed

It has still been re-introduced at every congressional session since its 1982 defeat

Numerous court cases have helped to promote equality

1964 – Title VII of the Civil Rights Act passes, prohibiting sex discrimination in employment. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is created

1972 – Title IX of the Education Amendments prohibits sex discrimination in all aspects of education programs that receive federal support

1984 – U.S. Supreme Court bans sex discrimination in membership for onetime all-male groups like the Jaycees, Kiwanis and Rotary clubs.

2013 – The ban against women in military combat positions is removed, overturning a 1994 Pentagon decision restricting women from combat roles.

Works Cited:

Bergeron, Ryan. "'The Seventies': Feminism Makes Waves." CNN. Cable News Network, 17 Aug. 2015. Web. 07 Apr. 2017.

"History." ERA: History. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2017. Milligan, Susan. "Stepping Through History." U.S. News & World

Report. U.S. News & World Report, 20 Jan. 2017. Web. 07 Apr. 2017.

Writer, Christian Seabaugh. "Vintage Ads: 1964-1967 Ford Mustang - Pick Your Favorite." Motor Trend. Motor Trend, 16 Feb. 2013. Web. 05 Apr. 2017.