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Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Equal Rights Amendment Dies in Virginia House of Delegates

Equal Rights Amendment Dies in Virginia House of Delegates

The Virginia House of Delegates’ Privileges and Elections Subcommittee voted against a resolution to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment on Jan. 22.

The Virginia Senate passed a bill to ratify the ERA on Jan. 15. If the House had voted to ratify the amendment, Virginia would have been the 38th state to do so, which could allow Congress to add the ERA, an amendment to guarantee the legal equality of the sexes, to the Constitution.

VA SENATE | The Equal Rights Amendment was approved by the Senate in 1972, but not enough states ratified the amendment for it to be added to the Constitution. Virginia would have been the 38th state to ratify the ERA.

After Illinois became the 37th state to ratify the ERA earlier this year, Senator Steve Andersson (R-Ill.), issued a request to Virginia’s legislative leadership to push forward a bill ratifying the amendment. Virginia is considered the most likely state to provide the 38th ratification, which would surpass the three-fourths of states necessary, according to CNN.

While the decision of the Privileges and Elections Subcommittee, which deals with matters concerning voting, apportionment and conflicts of interest, is only a recommendation to the full committee, the committee does not usually bring up a bill if it has previously been rejected, The Washington Post reported.

The ERA was first proposed in 1923 by the National Woman’s Party, a political party formed to fight for women’s suffrage, but it did not pass Congress. The amendment was then revived in the 1960s, following the emergence of second-wave feminism, which focused on issues such as domestic violence prevention, reproductive rights and workplace rights.

The U.S. Senate approved the ERA in March 1972 after the amendment won two-thirds of the U.S. House of Representatives votes. In October 1971, Hawaii ratified the amendment the same day it was passed in Congress, becoming the first state to ratify the ERA.

The ERA failed to acquire the necessary number of ratifications before 1982, the deadline set by Congress in order for it to become codified into law. Three-fourths of states must ratify an amendment through state conventions or legislatures for the change to become a part of the Constitution.

“I made the most historical vote I will ever make, but it is useless without you,” Andersson said. “We’re the 37th state, you’re the 38th. So you make the history, you pass this over the line, and you’ll be doing it for all of us.”

Virginia Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy (D-Va.), who co-sponsored the bill along with state Senator Glen Sturtevant (R-Va.), began a statewide bus tour to campaign for the ERA. The bill has received support from organizations including the National Organization for Women, the American Civil Liberties Union and the American Bar Association.

The amendment received bipartisan support in the Virginia Senate, with seven Republicans joining Democrats in a 26-to-14 vote to pass the bill, according to The Washington Post.

The ERA is necessary to establish gender equality under the law, American Bar Association President Bob Carlson wrote in a letter to Virginia House Speaker Kirkland Cox (R-Va.).

“It would require all judges to apply the highest standard of scrutiny when deciding cases involving sex discrimination,” Carlson wrote. “This means judges would use the same standard of review in sex discrimination cases that they now use in deciding cases involving discrimination based on race, religion and national origin.”

Critics of the ERA argue that it could threaten workforce protections specifically for women and cause a mandatory draft of women into the military, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service.

Even if 38 states ratify the ERA, the amendment still may not be added to the Constitution because the ratification period, which was set by Congress, elapsed in 1982. However, Congress has the power to extend the ratification date further, according to Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring.

“As recognized by the constitutional scholars who testified before Congress and in the report of the House Judiciary Committee recommending the extension, the limited Supreme Court precedent in this area suggests that Congress has the authority to extend the ratification deadline,” Herring wrote in an opinion issued to Virginia State Senator Richard Black (R-Va.).

Hoya Staff Writer Yolanda Spura contributed reporting.

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