US Senate Fails to Advance Equal Rights Amendment Resolution

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Facts

  • By a vote of 51-47, the US Senate on Thursday failed to pass the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), a proposal to ratify the Constitution to include an amendment that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex.1
  • While two Republicans voted to ratify — Senators Susan Collins from Maine and Lisa Murkowski from Alaska — Democrats fell short of the 10 GOP votes needed.2
  • The ERA was first proposed in Congress in 1923 but didn't pass until 1972, with it requiring approval from at least three-quarters of all 50 states (38) to be added to the Constitution. The deadline to ratify was previously extended through 1982 but only had 35-state support.3
  • Several states have since helped pass the 38-state threshold, though after the cutoff, meaning Congress must now re-extend the deadline for it to be enshrined. However, several states, such as Nebraska, Tennessee, Idaho, Kentucky, and South Dakota, have attempted to repeal their previous ratification.4
  • While Democrats cite the recent SCOTUS ruling on abortion as a reason to pass it, Republicans have generally argued they don’t think the amendment is needed because of the equal protections provided to women in the 14th Amendment.1

Sources: 1CNN, 2ABC News, 3Washington Examiner, and 4Breitbart.

Narratives

  • Republican narrative, as provided by National Review. This proposal should have been dead on arrival, given that any proposed constitutional amendment must be passed during the two-year Congress that proposed it. Since that Congress ended 50 years ago, current politicians who took an oath to support and defend the Constitution should have balked at such an absurd "deadline extension." If Democrats want to pass this silly amendment, Congress must restart the process and ask 38 states to ratify it again.
  • Democratic narrative, as provided by Equal Rights Amendment. The only right applied equally to both sexes in the US Constitution is the right to vote, which leaves half the country vulnerable to the recent Republican attacks on women's rights that were fought for and won last century. From a technical standpoint, the ERA would also clarify sex discrimination jurisprudence and thus protect women from inconsistent protections across the nation.