In the waning days of his administration, there is a pro-family, pro-democracy, and pro-economy policy that 75 percent of Americans support that President Biden could make a reality.

It’s the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), and it states simply: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”

Alice Paul, the Quaker suffragist from Mt. Laurel, NJ, spent three years drafting the ERA starting in 1920, the year the 19th Amendment was passed giving (some) women the right to vote. She consulted lawyers, scholars, and her fellow National Women’s Party members, even launching a national study on the status of women in 1921. She found that despite their newly won voting rights, women across the country were still not equal under the law.

The ERA was first introduced to Congress in 1923 and every following year until it finally passed in 1972. As per the requirements in Article V of the constitution, after a proposed amendment receives a two-thirds vote from Congress, it is sent to the states for ratification. Once three-quarters of the states — 38 to be exact — vote in favor, the amendment is added to the Constitution.

 “Every constitution written since the end of World War II includes a provision that men and women are citizens of equal stature. Ours does not.” — the Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsberg

In 2020, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the ERA, satisfying the three-fourths requirement. However, for the first time in American history, an amendment that met all requirements remains unpublished. Following Virginia’s action, President Trump’s Office of Legal Counsel invoked an arbitrary time limit placed on the ERA in 1972 to declare the amendment “expired,” and ordered the national archivist not to publish and certify it, which would have been the final step in the ratification process.

Another window of opportunity exists now. With one phone call, President Biden can order Colleen Shogan, the U.S. National Archivist, to certify and publish the already ratified ERA. He has the backing of the American Bar Association, who in August affirmed the ERA’s ratification and declared the time limit placed on the amendment in 1972 unconstitutional.

While opponents have stoked fears of women being drafted into the military, overturning laws that protect women, or broadening abortion rights, the ERA has generally received bipartisan support since Republican Congressman Daniel Anthony first introduced the ERA to Congress in 1923; in 1940, the GOP was the first major party to endorse it. The ERA remained a plank of the Republican Party platform well into the late 1970s until President Reagan, who supported the amendment as governor, folded to pressure from corporations and religious groups, removing it from the party platform.

Today, bipartisan support for the ERA simply makes sense. The ERA would render pregnancy discrimination and gender pay inequity unconstitutional, effectively putting more money in the pockets of American families. The ERA could create a new standard for both mothers and fathers to take paid leave after the birth of their child; the current norm of denying paternity leave while granting maternity leave discriminates on the basis of sex.

The ERA could prevent abortion bans and legislation that seek to deny women life-saving healthcare as these bills only apply to those with a uterus, effectively discriminating on the basis of sex. Perhaps most important of all, the ERA would finally put women in the Constitution. As Ruth Bader Ginsburg shared with law students in 2005, “Every constitution written since the end of World War II includes a provision that men and women are citizens of equal stature. Ours does not.”

“Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” — the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Biden expressed support for ERA by encouraging Congress to act; unfortunately none of the ERA related legislation seems likely to pass before Trump takes office. That’s why we must urge Biden to simply call the national archivist and order her to publish the ERA.

The women’s suffrage movement, to which Alice Paul dedicated her 20s and 30s, wasn’t fought in a single generation, but over the course of centuries.

The Alice Pauls of today in the Feminist Front and the Young Feminist Party have taken up the mantle, putting their bodies on the line for ERA time and time again. Earlier this month, they joined a press conference on Capitol Hill led by Congresswoman Cori Bush, urging President Biden to make gender equality his legacy. The cause requires a nationwide groundswell of support.

As Alice Paul turns 140 on January 11, I can’t think of a better birthday present than a fully published Equal Rights Amendment.

Molly Gonzales is Advocacy Manager for the Alice Paul Center for Gender Justice. For more information, visit equalrightsamendment.org, or contact her at [email protected].

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Correction: The proposed amendment codifying equal rights for women is the 28th. 

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