The Equal Rights Amendment: Close to Adoption? (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Revised Nov. 13, 2019 |
| Report Number |
LSB10163 |
| Report Type |
Legal Sidebar |
| Authors |
Jon O. Shimabukuro |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
-
Premium July 2, 2018 (4 pages, $24.95)
add
|
Summary:
Illinois’ recent ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the U.S. Constitution has revived
questions about the potential for the amendment to be adopted. First presented to the states in 1972, the
ERA provides that “[e]quality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States
or any State on account of sex.” 37 states have now ratified the ERA, and some supporters of the
amendment maintain that ratification by just one additional state could result in its adoption. After
ratification by one more state, the ERA will have been ratified by three-fourths of the states, as required
by Article V of the Constitution. Whether the ERA can be so adopted, however, is not entirely certain.
Questions concerning the expiration of Congress’s original ratification deadline without approval by
three-fourths of the states, and the rescission of ratifications by five states between 1973 and 1978, would
likely have to be addressed before the ERA would be formally adopted.
