It's been 95 years since women in the US
gained the right to vote and since then
the fight for women's rights has come a
long way. In the 70's Title Nine
outlawed discrimination based on sex in
public schools and government programs
and yet there is actually no general
constitutional guarantee of equal rights
for women. In 1972, Congress passed the
Equal Rights Amendment or ERA
which simply 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"
But in the end that amendment never became part of the Constitution
The amendment was introduced by
women's rights activist Alice Paul in
1923. She argued that the then recent
passage of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, would not
protect women against discrimination in
other areas of life
Between 1923-1972, the amendment was introduced in every congressional session
Many famous feminists like Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem staunchly supported the idea
even First Lady Betty Ford voiced her
support
"It will help knock down those restrictions that have locked women in."
But the Amendment was not without its
opponents and surprisingly the head of
the stop
ERA campaign was not a man but a woman
Leading the charge against the ERA, this
conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly,
she argued that it would actually hurt
women by forcing them to be part of the
military draft and ending certain
protections such as alimony after
divorce
When the ERA made it out of Congress and was sent to each state to be ratified,
Schlafly led a campaign to stop its momentum
Whether by her intervention or
not, the amendment was only ratified by
35 to 38 states needed to amend the
Constitution
But despite the fact that it still hasn't been ratified,
the Equal Rights Amendment has not been completely forgotten
The amendment has been introduced all
over again in every Congress since then
Whether it will ever become a part of
the Constitution remains to be seen
