US Senate to vote on Equal Rights Amendment, a century after introduction

Thursday’s Senate vote might add the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution, but Republican opposition will certainly kill it.

Since the Supreme Court last year abolished the national right to abortion, Republican-led states have banned the operation. Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer called the ERA important.

“Anyone who thinks the ERA isn’t necessary at a time like this isn’t paying attention to the terrible things happening in this country,” Schumer said in a Senate speech on Tuesday. “The ERA is essential.”

It will fail because it needs nine Republicans to meet the 60-vote barrier in the Senate, where Democrats hold a 51-49 majority.

The vote shows how women’s rights will certainly be a campaign issue days after President Joe Biden announced his reelection bid. Biden supported ERA last year.

Congress passed the ERA in 1972 after 1923’s proposal. Constitutional amendments require 38 of 50 state legislatures to ratify them.

Virginia became the 38th state to pass the amendment in 2020, some two decades after a 1982 deadline.

Trump’s legal brief aimed to stop the ratification.

The Senate resolution would eliminate the deadline to implement the amendment. No presidential approval is needed.

The ERA will be sued regardless of the vote. Former ratifiers later rejected the amendment. The states’ initial votes may not be binding.

Proponents claim the proposal would guarantee women equal pay and legal rights, while opponents say it may legalize abortion and compel women into the military.