Editorial Opinions: Ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment

The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), first proposed in 1923 to guarantee equal rights under the law regardless of sex, has been a focal point of debates surrounding gender equality for nearly a century. The Biden Administration faces mounting pressure to ratify the ERA amidst concerns of losing momentum during the lame-duck session. This long-standing issue remains a touchstone for American ideals of equality, justice, and constitutional integrity.

Initially passed by Congress in 1972, the ERA required ratification by three-fourths of state legislatures (38 states) within a seven-year deadline, later extended to 1982. Only 35 states ratified within the extended timeframe. However, Nevada (in 2017), Illinois (2018), and Virginia (2020) later ratified, completing the required 38 states for ratification. The expired deadline holds the national archivist from certifying the ERA.

Members of SGA and editors of The Independent shared their opinions on the ratification of the ERA:

Paulina Reyes, The Independent

I try to be a joyful feminist; however, I am incredibly angry. Congress passing a ratification deadline and not doing anything about ratifying the current equal rights amendment to be present in the Constitution is frustrating to see as a woman because this society is regressing our country is going backward, and Congress not taking equality seriously to include in their Constitution is telling of the direction this country is going and who is standing in the way of our rights. Do our rights and equality as women, as working-class people even matter in 2025? It seems not unless action is taken, and we advocate to reinstate a new equal rights amendment. When a proposed amendment has been passed and its ratification has expired, Congress does not need to put it into the Constitution once the deadline passes unless they lift the deadline. The Equal Rights amendment, which was first proposed in 1923 guarantees equal rights to everyone regardless of sex. This amendment was first passed in 1972, 38 states were needed to ratify the amendment into the Constitution. The ratification needed three quarters of the states (38 states) to legislate the ERA into our constitution, they even extended this deadline till 1982. So far, 35 states met the deadline, however Nevada in 2017, Virginia in 2020 and Illinois in 2018 finally ratified the ERA in their state Constitution. Years after the deadline. This poses an issue as Congress has this deadline in place and can make it so the ERA will not be ratified at all. Congress tried to push to lift the deadline last year, but it did not reach the 60 voters needed to in the Senate.

I really wonder who did not vote or chose to not lift the deadline. They must hate women. If the ERA is not in our constitution women will be second class citizens and will continue to be paid less than men in some workplaces and it leaves women at risk of being taken advantage in many vindictive ways. This ERA matters because it enforces protection and equality for everyone who is not a heterosexual white man and holds it down as a constitutional right for everyone to be treated equally. We have faced too may oppressive obstacles as women to be seen and respected the same way as our male counterparts. It is insane to me that we are in the year 2025, the 21st century day and we are still fighting to be seen as equal in our constitution. This country is regressing for the worst and it is up to us to speak about it and not permit this ignorance to continue. We must advocate for a new ERA. We are so far behind. We must ignore or remove the deadline. We must establish the ERA as the 28th amendment, and we must follow it justly so. In my lifetime. I want to be paid, respected and heard the same way they would to a man. I want to live to see those after me, have the same right.

I leave you with Toni Morrison for she writes what I think and it’s something to think about once you’re done reading this. She says, “We live in a world where justice equals vengeance. Where private profit drives public policy. Where the body of civil liberties, won cell by cell, bone by bone, by the brave and the dead withers in the searing heat of all war, all the time and, where facing eternal war, respect for even interest in, humanitarian solutions can dwindle. Even as the conviction that the “security of every other nation in the world can be subordinate to the comfort of the United States” is, finally, being challenged, civil rights and humanitarian solutions are being steadily crushed by the imperatives of that conviction.” As Toni Morrison has said, this is a modern war against error. This is a battle of cultivated ignorance, metastasizing lies and enforced silence on the American people. A war constantly fought by journalists in their journals, reports, statistics, and laments of injustices for the working class. Constantly encountering malign oppressive forces. We as the people who inhabit these 50 states have power here. We need a call, a battle for rescue, a call for revolution. One step at a time, from the violence and systemic oppression that is swallowing the dispossessed.

Frank Scales, SGA

The proposed “Equal Rights Amendment” would be both foolish and an overreach of the federal government, if ratified. The Equal Rights Amendment’s purpose in 1923 was to provide a legal remedy against sex discrimination and to clarify the legal status of sex discrimination. The thing is, we aren’t in 1923 anymore. Thankfully, employed women are protected from discrimination by Title VII of the “Civil Rights Act” passed in 1964, and are protected from discrimination in education by “Title IX” which was passed in 1972. These laws, and others, achieved the vision that Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman of the “National Women’s Party” set out to realize with their ERA. Ratifying the ERA, now, would be harmful to the plight of women in America and contradict our federalist system of government and other Amendments in the US Constitution.

Over time laws have been codified to protect mothers during divorce and ensure that they receive child support from the father of their children. Additionally, women are not a part of conscription, better known as the military draft. Would a mother be forced to fend for herself and be deprived of her child if the law did not distinguish differences between men and women? Would the military take an “equal rights, equal fights” attitude when it came to the draft? The answer to these questions is – probably.

I would be disheartened if mothers had to fend for themselves and fight in wars. I feel as though women ought to be protected by men. I understand that some may feel differently and that is okay. The Founding Fathers foresaw that there would be differences of opinion. To ensure the Union remained intact despite these differences they instituted a federalist system that, largely, gave states the right to govern themselves. Considering that many would agree that men and women are equal in value but have different needs, it would be undemocratic to impose the viewpoint that men and women are identical through an amendment to the US Constitution. However, states filled with people who agree that men and women are identical are free to codify laws saying such.

Look, the federal government must ensure that all people are protected and viewed as equals under the law. Right now, women are viewed as equals and protected by multiple laws, and even given certain protections that men are not. The Equal Rights Amendment, although it may sound ideal, will do a plethora of damage. If ratified, the ERA will hurt women, polarize the nation even more, and weaken the weakened Constitution that already protects all of us.

Jaritsa Hernandez-Orsini, SGA

\/ First and foremost; We love you, Justice Ginsburg; you are a queen for this \/

Regarding the Equal Rights Act, I do not understand why Congress will not allow for the act to be passed. I understand Virginia’s ratification was belated in 2020, even then, the legal complications behind the amendment seem onerous for God knows why (?) (misogyny? Cough.) Why can it not just be f***ing proposed again??? It has already been 4 years, and majority of the states have voted FOR it. C’mon, Biden administration… just as the bill was proposed, it states that men AND women are created equal. This prevents the infringement of our rights as men AND women. Yes, discrimination, whether you are a man or woman, is a call for a lawsuit.

My question is, why is it such a bad thing for women to be seen as equal to men? As women, our descendants have fought for us to be included in such decisions of the political state. They educated, marched, lobbied, and practiced civil disobedience to achieve what was formerly seen as impossible. We have come such a long way for women to have rights, to even have the right to vote. This is what political pioneers Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, founders of the women’s suffrage movement, FOUGHT FOR.

The 19th Amendment was first introduced in Congress in 1878, before that, women were continuously advocating for representation in women’s rights, thus sparking the women’s suffrage movement. Due to the countless here are women in places of power, like Jeanette Rankin, the first woman in Congress. The 19th Amendment was passed, which allowed women to vote in 1920. After all this time, a century later, we still fight for our voice to mean something. Women are still disadvantaged to this day, especially if the Equal Rights Act isn’t amended.

The Constitution is a doctrine that serves as a fundamental framework that acts as the skeleton of our society’s operations. Our founding fathers designed it this way to protect our rights as citizens and support the functionality of our civilization. In my honest opinion, each generation progresses to its desired outcome. I believe in a living constitution, and it shall be concurrent with the prevailing conditions held in today’s world. The world has changed significantly since the 18th century, and the originalist view of certain Congress members is appalling, quite scary. Why is gender equality such a bad thing? Maybe if you’re sexist it’s the worst thing in the world. Do you want your future daughter to be groped in the workplace? Do you want her to be discriminated against? In another person’s eyes, she’s not your “strong daughter”. She’s nothing; she’s in shambles, and she’s weak. Think about that, Billy, think long and hard. Why does it take a MAN to have a daughter to be less sexist??? Jar MIC DROP.

M.P. Hassel, The Independent

Opponents of the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) would say that it is past deadline and is invalidated because recent laws have come to protect women in divorce or because sexual harassment has received more attention in the past few years; the ERA would rather invalidate passed acts and laws that discriminate against women.

The heterosexual wife in an unfair custody or alimony dispute would not suddenly receive undue favor in the courts. The Jane Doe of a sexual assault case would not be suddenly believed when she was not before. The misogynistic cultures of America will ebb and flow as it has within the parameters of the national legal landscape. The question is whether we want that landscape to guarantee “equal rights under the law regardless of sex” or if what we have is suitable. The 14th amendment (1868) guarantees “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges… nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” and the 19th Amendment (1919) guarantees “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” Basically, the Constitution of the United States grants woman equal protections and suffrage. The rest is up to federal and state laws, including the ones that discriminate against women.

I can find no exception or privilege that I want as a man that should not extend to any woman. If something horrible happens, we should be protected equally; when we enter the labor force, we should have equal opportunity; and if we work hard, we should get the same pay.

If it really comes to a draft and America is no-diggity in wartime, yes, women of draft age could support our country. Men do not have to subscribe to the traditional masculinity sense that we are the only people that can protect ourselves. We can accept that women can be some mean fighting machines. Women already do support our military by growing numbers. As a Philadelphian, I believe the majority of Gen-Z and Millennial men in America are already unwilling to fight in a foreign war. Most American women are too. But when Uncle Sam needs a war, when Unc yearns for oil, why not let Him pick from the whole batch? Rosie the Riveter bolted airplanes in World War II. Sally the Sniper is my hero for the next great war.

The reality is that the Equal Rights Amendment will need a renaissance of attention in these coming years. House and Senate Democrats are pushing for a last-ditch effort to make lasting change for their constituency before the overall political temperament shifts conservative. The House of Representatives and the Senate will both be a conservative majority.

President Biden is a lame duck staring down retirement after a lifetime in politics. He has his mind on family. He could call National Archivist Shogan and tell her to ratify the gosh darn amendment. But he deserves rest.