Ready Reference Files

E.R.A (Equal Rights Amendment)

The E.R.A., Equal Rights Amendment, was a proposed addition to the U.S. Constitution which provided that:

Section 1. Equality of Rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or 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.

The Equal Rights Amendment was written in 1921 by suffragist Alice Paul. It has been introduced in Congress every session since 1923. It passed Congress in 1972, but failed to be ratified by the necessary thirty-eight states by the July 1982 deadline. It was ratified by thirty-five states. The ERA had never been ratified by Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah, and Virginia. Five states had ratifed the amendment, but later voted to rescind their approval. They were: Idaho, Kentucky, Nebraska, Tennessee, and South Dakota.

Sources:
The Guide to American Law : Everyone's Legal Encyclopedia. West Pub. Co., St. Paul, MN., 1984. Volume 4, p. 352.
World Book Encyclopedia, World Book Inc., Chicago, IL. 1998. Volume 6, p. 345.
"Equal Rights Amendment Deadline Expires", Facts on File, July 2, 1982, p. 467.

Verified by: GM, 5/98

Disclaimer:
While the Library has verified the information presented in these files in what it considers to be reliable and authoritative sources, it cannot take responsibility for nor guarantee the accuracy of the information presented.