U.S. Representative Cori Bush along with other U.S. lawmakers and advocates hold a press conference outside the Capitol Hill building to urge U.S. President Joe Biden to certify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) before his term ends in January in Washington DC, United States on December 10, 2024.
Celal Gunes | Anadolu | Getty Images
President Joe Biden called the Equal Rights Amendment “the law of the land,” on Friday, backing an effort to enshrine the change into the U.S. Constitution more than a century after the guarantee of gender equality was first proposed.
It was unclear what practical impact Biden’s comments might have. The White House issued his statement just three days before he leaves office, handing off to President-elect Donald Trump on Monday.
The ERA declares that “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”
Its supporters say that it is needed to protect against sexual discrimination and would help achieve equal pay, while opponents argue that the original timetable to have it become part of the Constitution has passed and that the amendment is no longer needed.
The U.S. Senate blocked the Equal Rights Amendment from being ratified into law in 2023, a century after it was introduced, with a 51-47 vote in favor, nine votes shy of the 60 needed to clear the 100-member chamber’s filibuster hurdle.
The ERA was proposed in 1923 and passed Congress until 1972. Under U.S. law, amendments to the Constitution must be ratified by three-fourths, or 38 of the 50, state legislatures and do not require presidential approval.
In 2020, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the amendment, but opponents of enshrining the law said the state deadline to do so had passed. The National Archivist, which is responsible for certifying and publishing new amendments, agrees that it was too late.
The National Archivist said on Dec. 17 that the ERA cannot be certified as part of the Constitution due to “established legal, judicial and procedural decisions.”
In 2023, U.S. women working full-time year-round jobs made 84 cents for every dollar earned by a man, according to Department of Labor reports. Black women made 69 cents for every white man’s dollar.