ERA resurrected
Federal and state lawmakers have launched a new drive to pass the Equal Rights Amendment, reviving a feminist goal that faltered a quarter-century ago when the measure did not gain the approval of three-quarters of the state legislatures.
The amendment, which came three states short of enactment in 1982, has been introduced in five state legislatures since January. Yesterday, House and Senate Democrats reintroduced the measure under a new name — the Women’s Equality Amendment — and vowed to bring it to a vote in both chambers by the end of the session.
The renewed push to pass the ERA, which passed the House and Senate overwhelmingly in 1972 and was ratified by 35 states before skidding to a halt, highlights liberals’ renewed sense of power since November’s midterm elections. From Capitol Hill to Arkansas, legislators said they are seizing a political opportunity to enshrine women’s rights in the Constitution.
“Elections have consequences, and isn’t it true those consequences are good right now?” Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) asked a mostly female crowd yesterday at a news conference, as the audience cheered. “We are turning this country around, bit by bit, to put it in a more progressive direction.”
The consequences of the last election continue to roll out, and I recall the number of “Blue Dog” Democrats who put that party slightly over the majority by running on socially conservative values. So where are they with these progresive efforts? Or are they being heard? The picture is getting blurry.
Although more states are considering ratifying the ERA now than at any other time in the past 25 years, activists still face serious hurdles. Every statewide officeholder in Arkansas endorsed the amendment this year, but the bill stalled in committee last week after Eagle Forum President Phyllis Schlafly came to Little Rock to testify against the measure…
“It’s very retro. It had 10 years of debate, very passionate debate for 10 years, and it was defeated,” Schlafly said in an interview yesterday. “Anytime you get a fair forum where both sides are heard, we win.”
Ah, but that’s the trick…to get a fair forum. At least this article gives voice to the other side on this issue.
Opponents warn that enacting the amendment could produce unintended consequences. Arkansas state Rep. Dan Greenberg (R) said he opposes the measure because courts in two states have ruled that equal-rights amendments in state constitutions justify state funding for abortion.
“The more general language you have in a constitutional amendment, the more unpredictable the policy impact will be,” Greenberg said.
We have only to look at history since Roe v. Wade to see how elastic the language can be.