Equal Rights Amendment

The Equal Rights Amendment, first proposed in 1923, would guarantee equality of rights under the law for all regardless of sex. The ERA passed Congress in 1972 with the needed two-thirds vote of the U.S. House and Senate. The required three-fourths of the state legislatures then ratified the ERA when Virginia became the 38th state to ratify in 2020. It still has not been added to the Constitution.

From Feminists, Messages to Young People Currently Living Through History

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Here is a collection of inspiring words from the National Young Feminists Leadership Conference held last weekend in Washington, D.C.—for any young feminist who might need some inspiration and encouragement right now.

“Yes, this work will break your heart. Some days, it will exhaust you—and still, you must continue, because here’s what the research ultimately shows: When younger people lead, democracy doesn’t just survive; it thrives.”

“We are living in a time where fundamental rights are under relentless attack, but history has shown us that when young people show up, when we organize, when we mobilize, we have the power to change everything.”

“Progress we fought for is being rolled back, and it is exhausting. But extortion is not the same as defeat.”

Twenty-Nine States Have a Not-So-Secret Weapon to Fight for Democracy

As the Trump administration’s attacks on women’s rights, reproductive access and LGBTQ equality continue in force, state executive leaders have emerged as potent frontline responders.

Among the tools in states’ arsenals are often underused state-level equal rights amendments (ERAs). Even as the federal ERA remains in limbo, an unlikely bulwark for the next four years—see professor Laurence Tribe’s Contrarian piece explaining its legal status—29 states have some form of an ERA (e.g., broader sex equality language than the U.S. Constitution) written into their constitutions. Several have already been used to advance abortion rights (Pennsylvania, Connecticut and New Mexico); many are broadly worded and inclusive of protection against pregnancy discrimination, age, disability and immigration status. Issues such as pay transparency and addressing gender-based violence also could be bolstered by a state ERA.

The Senate Wives Club and Carter’s ERA Extension: Four Decades Later, ‘Equality of Rights Under the Law’ Has Yet to Be Guaranteed

This Women’s History Month, we remember President Jimmy Carter’s role in establishing this official observance of women’s achievements, his related support for the Equal Rights Amendment, and some unsung heroes in the Senate Wives Club who were instrumental in gaining Carter’s support for an ERA milestone that advanced, but ultimately failed to achieve, ERA ratification.

The contributions of Senate wives in the 1970s, particularly their efforts to help delay the ERA’s ratification deadline, often go unrecognized even today.

The Feminist Path of Margaret Prescod: Black Women’s Fight Against Unpaid Labor

Margaret Prescod, co-founder of Black Women for Wages for Housework, knew that raising children is hard work and that women on welfare are among society’s hardest workers. In a newsletter printed up by Prescod and Wilmette Brown and handed out at the 1977 National Women’s Conference in Houston, they wrote, “We don’t need more work. We need more money to work less.”

And after several days of lobbying, bolstered by support from delegates from several Southern states, the National Plan of Action ratified by the conference included a plank labeled Women, Welfare, and Poverty, which stated: “We support increased federal funding for income transfer programs. And just as with other workers, homemakers receiving payments should be afforded the dignity of having that payment called a wage, not welfare.”

The demand encapsulated in the Women, Welfare, and Poverty plank of the Plan of Action—the result of lobbying and organizing by Black, working-class and poor women—was perhaps the most visionary proposal to come out of the conference.

On America’s 250th Anniversary, Let’s Remember Women’s Stories: The Ms. Q&A with Jill Hasday

The United States’ 250th anniversary in 2026 presents an opportunity to include women in the stories America tells about itself, according to Jill Hasday, author of the important new book, We the Men: How Forgetting Women’s Struggles for Equality Perpetuates Inequality.

We the Men tells the stories “of so many women who deserve to be remembered,” said Hasday. It also explores the ways in which forgetting women’s ongoing struggles for equality has perpetuated injustice and promote complacency. Remembering women’s stories more often and more accurately can help the nation advance toward sex equality.

Pa. Court to Hear Arguments *Feb. 5* on State Ban on Medicaid Coverage for Abortion and Equal Rights Amendment

In January 2024, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that abortion providers can challenge the Pennsylvania’s Medicaid coverage exclusion on abortion for violating the state’s Equal Rights Amendment and Non-Discrimination Clause of the Pennsylvania Constitution.

On Wednesday, Feb. 5, lawyers for Pennsylvania’s freestanding abortion clinics will argue before the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court that the ban discriminates on the basis of sex in violation of these constitutional provisions.

The case is the first Pennsylvania state court proceeding challenging an abortion restriction since the state Supreme Court restored the Pennsylvania Equal Rights Amendment last year.

Women’s Paychecks Are Shrinking—And Policy Isn’t Keeping Up

Last September, the National Partnership for Women and Families reported the wage gap for all women workers had widened to 75 cents for every dollar men earned, representing a 3-cent decrease in real pay per hour for women.

While on the surface this may seem negligible in a paycheck, even a seemingly small increase in wage disparity dramatically impacts the significant gains in pay since the 1980s. American Progress reports that with this current backslide, it will now take until 2068 to close the wage gap.

The Legal Status of the Equal Rights Amendment

Former President Joe Biden’s statement that the Equal Rights Amendment has been ratified and should be deemed part of the Constitution is welcome and correct as to the law. But it also is likely to engender great confusion and unfortunately has no legal effect.

The law is clear: It is for Congress to decide whether an amendment has been properly ratified—not the president, not the archivist, and not the courts.

Carolyn Maloney and Eleanor Smeal Applaud President Biden’s ERA Statement

On Friday, President Biden issued a strong statement declaring that the Equal Rights Amendment has been ratified and is the law of the land, having met both requirements of Article V with the vote of two-thirds of Congress and ratification by three-fourths of the state legislatures.

“The ERA would etch equal rights into the Constitution—to protect and expand our opportunities, choices and rights,” said Carolyn Maloney, president of New York State NOW and former member of Congress.

“There is nothing in the president’s statement that prevents the Congress from also affirming the ERA as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution, as they did with the 27th Amendment,” said Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority.