Dingell Calls for Equal Rights Amendment Inclusion in Constitution

Statement

Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-12) today commemorated 50 years since Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment by renewing her call to finally enshrine the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) into the U.S. Constitution.

"Since the founding of our nation, women have not been extended the protections of men enshrined in the U.S. Constitution," said Dingell. "Today, women continue to face barriers to being treated equally under the law--from equal pay for equal work, inequitable access to comprehensive healthcare, pregnancy discrimination, and sexual and domestic violence. Enshrining the ERA in the Constitution would make a significant impact on all these fronts and ensure women are treated equally in the eyes of the law."

The first Equal Rights Amendment was written by Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman and introduced in Congress in 1923. It wasn't until 1971, under the strong leadership of Michigan Congresswoman Martha Griffiths, the ERA was reintroduced and passed in the U.S. House of Representatives.

On March 22, 1972, under the leadership of Indiana Senator Birch Bayh, the Senate joined the House in passing the Equal Rights Amendment--sending the ERA to state legislatures for ratification and setting a seven-year deadline for ratification. Michigan ratified the ERA on May 22, 1972, three months after the Amendment was put to the states.

A renewed push for ratification of the ERA began with the Nevada Legislature voting to ratify the ERA in 2017, followed by Illinois and Virginia in 2018 and 2020, respectively, bringing the total states to ratify the ERA to the required 38.

Having reached the total states necessary for ratification, Dingell voted to pass in 2020 legislation to remove the arbitrary 1982 deadline and allow for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment into the Constitution.

Constitutional and legal scholars alike have called into question the legitimacy of the 1982 deadline. In fact, the arbitrary deadline included in the ERA may violate Article V of the Constitution, which describes the ratification process.

Dingell is an original cosponsor of legislation expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the ERA--having met the necessary 38 state ratification threshold--is valid and shall be enshrined in the Constitution as the Twenty-Eighth Amendment.

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