The Proposed Equal Rights Amendment: Contemporary Ratification Issues

Abstract

[Excerpt] The year 2012 marked the 30th anniversary of the expiration of the proposed Equal Rights Amendment’s extended ratification deadline. Since that time, new analyses have emerged that bear on the question of whether the amendment proposed in 1972 remains constitutionally viable. This report examines the legislative history of an Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and both identifies and provides an analysis of contemporary factors that may bear on its present and future viability.