Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Return of the ERA (8:34 pm)

Juliet Eilperin for WaPo reports:

Federal and state lawmakers have launched a new drive to pass the Equal Rights Amendment, reviving a feminist goal that faltered a quarter-century ago when the measure did not gain the approval of three-quarters of the state legislatures.

The amendment, which came three states short of enactment in 1982, has been introduced in five state legislatures since January. Yesterday, House and Senate Democrats reintroduced the measure under a new name — the Women’s Equality Amendment — and vowed to bring it to a vote in both chambers by the end of the session.
(…)
The ERA, originally introduced in Congress in 1923, gained popularity in the mid-1960s. In March 1972, it cleared the first of two hurdles: passing both chambers of Congress by the required two-thirds vote.

Thirty state legislatures ratified it the next year. Congress extended by three years its seven-year deadline for ratification, but the decade passed without approval by the required 38 states. ERA backers have since introduced the resolution in every Congress, but only now do they believe they have a realistic chance of success.

posted by Brian Zick

Reader Comments

Republicans will say that Democrats are trying to turn back the clock to yesteryear.  It’s been so long - I’m in the grandmother niche, now - maybe it won’t seem too radical for the nation to handle now that women have boots on the ground in Iraq.
All the wasted time.

posted by Sheila Condit on 3-28-07 at 12:09 AM

1) There is no need for the ERA.

2) If an ERA amendment is to pass, it will need to begin from scratch. Previous approvals are no longer valid (and some states retracted their initial approvals).

What a waste of time such an amendment would be. I guess the right whips up its base with foolishness (flag burning, religious “issues”, gay marriage, etc) so the left wants to do the same. Pity they cannot do something actually useful and substantial instead. . .  But that would take work and intelligence, sadly lacking in both parties.

posted by amy on 3-28-07 at 5:35 AM

Discussion Closed

Commenting is closed on articles six months or older. This helps us prevent spam and maintain continuous discussions. We also close discussions from time to time that we are unable to moderate. Thanks for your understanding.