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.
It's another sign that the public mood has shifted towards progressive values.
2 comments:
I was in the gallery of the U.S. Senate in fall 1978 and saw some of the debate and the vote passing the ERA.
The Women's Equality Amendment is well-timed for Sen. Clinton's presidential election bid. It will get people thinking about womens' equality at a time when it has been largely taken for granted.
As someone who thought of herself as "post-feminist" I find I've been deluding myself. I am about as "post-feminist" as I am "post-Christian".
I'm glad for my daughters that a Women's Equality Amendment push has begun. It will stir up debate for equality for other minority groups which have been historically oppressed--not only women--just as it did for me when I was in my teens and 20s. It will also bring vitality to the Constitution and create renewed interest in our government.
Seems like a redundant amendment. What's wrong with enforcing the 14th? It already says everyone is equal.
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
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