Act locally: Although we have reached the 38-state threshold, it will be easier to convince Congress to enshrine this change in the U.S. Constitution if the remaining 12 states ratify it as well. If you live in one of the 12 states that have not yet ratified the ERA, you can connect with local activists and support the ratification campaign in your state. You can also contact your state officials and tell them you want them to vote to ratify the ERA in your state: Many ERA advocates blamed interest groups, particularly the insurance industry and conservative organizations, for their defeat, suggesting they had funded an opposition that undermined the democratic process and the will of the pro-ERA majority. [131] These supporters argued that while the public face of the anti-ERA movement was Phyllis Schlafly and her organization STOP-ERA, there were also other important groups in opposition, such as the powerful National Council of Catholic Women, working class feminists, and (until 1973) the AFL-CIO. Opposition to the amendment was particularly strong among religious conservatives, who argued that the amendment would guarantee the universal right to abortion and the right of same-sex couples to marry. [132] [133] Critchlow and Stachecki say the anti-ERA movement was based on strong support among Southern whites, evangelical Christians, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Orthodox Jews, and Catholics, including men and women. [134] The ERA has some symbolic significance as it makes clear that persons of all genders are inherently equal and deserve constitutional protection. This would show a fundamental respect for the value and support of women and people of all genders, just as the country has done since its inception for the privileged and powerful. And yet, it is not a perfect panacea.
ERA will not immediately secure rights for women and people across the gender spectrum that they do not already have under laws guaranteed by more than 100 years of litigation and activism. What the ERA could do, however, is provide essential support in litigation against gender discrimination by strengthening existing legal protections that are currently vulnerable to attacks from the Trump administration and conservative lawmakers. The Republican Party incorporated ERA support into its platform beginning in 1940 and renewed the board every four years until 1980. [33] The ERA was strongly opposed by the American Federation of Labor and other unions, fearing that the amendment would invalidate labor protection legislation for women. Eleanor Roosevelt and most of the New Dealers were also against the ERA. They believed that the ERA was designed for middle-class women, but that working-class women needed government protection. They also feared that the ERA would undermine the male-dominated unions that were an essential component of the New Deal coalition. Most Northern Democrats who had joined the anti-ERA unions opposed the amendment. [33] The ERA was supported by Southern Democrats and almost all Republicans. [33] Decided by the United States Senate and House of Representatives meeting in Congress that, notwithstanding the time limits provided for in Joint Resolution 208, 92nd Congress of the House of Representatives, as agreed to in the Senate on March 22, 1972, the article of amendment proposed to the States in this Joint Resolution shall be valid in all respects as an integral part of the Constitution, if it is ratified by the legislators of three-quarters of the Constitution.
several states. At the 1960 Democratic National Convention, a proposal to support the ERA was rejected after being rejected by groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union[35] (ACLU), the AFL-CIO, unions such as the American Federation of Teachers, Americans for Democratic Action (ADA), the American Nurses Association, the Women`s Division of the Methodist Church, and the National Councils of Jewish Women. Catholic and black. [36] Presidential candidate John F. Kennedy announced his support for the ERA in a letter dated October 21, 1960 to the leader of the National Woman`s Party. When Kennedy was elected, he made Esther Peterson the highest-ranking woman in his administration as Assistant Secretary of Labor.[37] Peterson publicly opposed the equal rights amendment, saying it would weaken protective labour legislation. [38] Peterson referred to members of the National Woman`s Party, most of whom were experienced suffragettes, preferring the “disease-specific bills” approach to equality. [38] Ultimately, Kennedy`s ties to the unions led him and his administration not to support the ERA. [39] In one year, 30 of the 38 countries required have ratified the ERA.