By Lauren Ellis, NWPC Political Planning Intern

The Equal Rights Amendment was initially called the Lucretia Mott Amendment when Alice Paul wrote it almost a century ago.  Alice Paul knew the fight for women’s rights was not over with the ratification of the 19th Amendment when she wrote, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.” It took almost 50 years for Congress to pass the ERA and send it to the states for ratification, and 30 states out of the required 38 ratified the amendment within a year. It took until 2020 for the 38th state to ratify the ERA, so why does the ERA still matter 100 years after it was first introduced in Congress?

There has been progress when it comes to women’s rights without the ratification of the ERA. Women were granted equal pay and access to credit, and they were given access to education and sports through different pieces of legislation that weren’t dependent on the states for ratification. However, people have questioned the legislative protections and why the ERA is still needed. The answer to that is simple: the ERA makes equality a constitutional right that cannot be taken away. The Dobbs decision showed how easily rights we assumed were safe are not, and the decision showed which rights will be attacked next. 

The ERA will allow congress to legislate further and enforce existing legislation about gender equality. The ERA would protect access to abortion and contraception. This constitutional protection would guarantee access to reproductive care across the country rather than the current patchwork of protections. The ERA would also protect LGBTQ+ individuals as sex-based discrimination included sexual orientation. The Marriage Equality act was just passed, but in the Dobbs decision, the attack on gay marriage was made clear. The ERA would constitutionally protect the rights of these marginal groups. While President Trump’s Archivist chose not to certify the Amendment, the Biden administration has the opportunity to do so. President Biden has the opportunity to make history and have the ERA certified. 

Lauren Ellis is the Fall 22 NWPC Political planning intern. She is an MPA candidate at American University with a BA in Women’s gender and sexuality studies from Rutgers University who has focused on the intersection of gender and politics