Democratic Congress to Reintroduce Equal Rights Amendment

Democrats will revive an 80 year old amendment proposal for women's rights by reintroducing the Equal Rights Amendment.

The amendment was first introduced back in 1923. It passed both the House and Senate in 1972 but fell short of the number of states needed for ratification. Bills in support of the ERA were introduced as recently as 2005. Now that Congress is in control of the Democratic party, the ERA may stand a better chance of becoming an official part of the constitution.

Supporters this time around include Senators Ted Kennedy (Mass.) and Barbara Boxer (Calif.), as well as reportedly over 190 original co-sponsors.

The entire text of the ERA is as follows:

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.

Written by Alice Paul, founder of the National Women's Party, the ERA has been introduced in almost every session of Congress since it's first appearance.

Supporters cite rampant discrimination against women, not only in the workplace but also in the judicial system, as reasons why the Equal Rights Amendment is still valid and necessary.

Groups who formally support passage of the Equal Rights Amendment include the American Sociological Association, the League of Women Voters, YWCA of the USA, and the Unitarian Universalist Association.

Opponents of the Equal Rights Amendment claimed that passage would allow women to be drafted into war and placed at the front lines. Religious groups that embrace the belief that a woman is subservient to and dependent upon her husband opposed its passage, and believed it would provide support for abortion and homosexual marriages. Many business interest groups lobbied against the ERA out of concern over the requirement for equal pay.

Said one conservative women's group about the ERA, "To say that women are the same as men is dangerous, non-Biblical, and anti-woman."

Current groups that oppose the ERA claim it is outdated, unnecessary, and takes time and effort better spent working to ensure more freedoms for women in other countries who have less rights than American women.

According to equalrightsamendment.org, "the 15 states that have not ratified the ERA are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, and Virginia."

Sources: Monisha Bansal, "Democratic Lawmakers to Reintroduce ERA," CNSNews.com, March 27, 2007 AND www.equalrightsamendment.org