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Why not ratify the ERA?
In 1923, women were finally given the right to vote. Three years later, a bill that stated “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex” never even passed the Senate floor.
The fight for this bill, dubbed the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), resurfaced in the 1970s, and was sent out by Congress for ratification in 1972. This ratification required 38 of the 50 states to accept it into their laws by (what ended up becoming) the deadline of June 30, 1982. They fell three states short.
Even to this day, there are 13 states that refuse to make it illegal to deny or abridge rights due on the account of sex. These states are Mississippi, Virginia, Utah, Louisiana, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Arizona, Arkansas, Alabama and Missouri. If these states are truly giving equal rights to their citizens in court, then why is it not in their laws?
Judaea Simone
Spokane