Prentice Hall Documents Library: Equal Rights Amendment

Equal Rights Amendment

The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was originally proposed by Alice Paul in 1921. It was introduced in Congress in 1923 and in every session since. A major effort was undertaken in the 1960s and early 1970s by the National Organization of Women and other interests, culminating in its passage by Congress in 1972 but it failed to be ratified by sufficient states by its deadline of July 1982.

The Equal Rights Amendment

Section 1. Equality of Rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex.

Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.

Chronology of the Equal Rights Amendment
The Constitutional Equality Amendment. The CEA is the current equivalent effort supported by the National Organization for Women.