Equal Rights-are we there yet?

By Evelyn Lucus, C.P.A. August 2006 "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."

In case you are wondering, this is the wording of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) that was first introduced in Congress in 1923 through the efforts of Alice Paul and the National Women's Party.

In order to amend the U. S. Constitution, two-thirds (2/3) of the members of Congress (290 in the House of Representatives and 67 in the Senate) must consent to the passage of the amendment. After many years and much controversy, Congress finally passed the ERA in 1972. Following its passage in Congress, the proposed amendment needed to be ratified by three-fourths (3/4) or 38 of the States.

No problem. After all, the amendment sounds like a simple statement of what Americans believe in, right? Okay, answer this question. When was the Equal Rights Amendment ratified by the 38 states needed to make it a permanent amendment to the U. S. Constitution? Was it (a) 1972, (b) 1982, (c) 1992, (d) 2002, or (e) none of the above?

The correct answer is (e) none of the above. In fact, the Equal Rights Amendment has still not been ratified, even though 96% of Americans believe in equal rights for men and women. Furthermore, the idea of equal rights is so much a part of our country's ideals that 72% of Americans think that the Amendment has already been passed!

Why then, you might ask, do we need the Equal Rights Amendment? For centuries, women have had to fight long and hard political battles to win rights that men possessed automatically simply because they were male. The terms "citizens" and "persons" as written in our Constitution were apparently not meant to apply to women since the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was necessary to allow women the right to vote. Even after the significant advances that women have made over the years, to this day, the only right that the Constitution specifically affirms equally for both women and men is the right to vote.

The Texas Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs was organized on July 12, 1919, in Dallas, Texas. At this meeting, three delegates from Texas were elected to attend the First BPW National Conference held in St. Louis, Missouri two days later. At this national conference, two hundred twelve (212) delegates from forty-five (45) states representing 25,000 working women met and formed the non-sectarian, self-supporting and self-governing organization officially known as the National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs.

Once the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution was proposed in 1923, BPW found itself with a definite program-to secure the passage and ratification of this important legislation. The amendment was favored for many years, was formally endorsed at the 1937 Atlantic City Convention, and has been the core of BPW's National Legislative Platform ever since.

Although the Equal Rights Amendment was first introduced in Congress in 1923 and has had to be reintroduced in every subsequent Congress, it was not passed until 1972. Within one year, thirty (30) of the states had ratified the ERA. However, much like the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote, securing ratification of the 28th Amendment giving women equal rights has been a difficult task. Apparently, we have not moved beyond the traditional assumption that males hold rights and females must fight hard to simply acquire them.

To this date, thirty-five (35) states have ratified the Equal Rights Amendment. Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah and Virginia have not. In the 1990's the "3-State strategy" was developed and provides a promising means for attaining ratification of the ERA by the required 38 states. If the dream of women's equality is ever to become a reality, it is critical to obtain ratification by the states. We are so close-just three more states need to ratify the 28th Amendment for it to become a permanent part of the U. S. Constitution.

For more than 80 years, women have tried without success to be acknowledged as equals in our Constitution through an Equal Rights Amendment. Unless we amend the Constitution to include the core principle that equality of rights cannot be denied or diminished on account of sex, the political victories women have achieved with their blood, sweat and tears are vulnerable and subject to reversal at any time. Now is the time for the states to step up and "give" women the equal rights that men have always enjoyed.

Equal rights--are we there yet? Not yet but, hopefully, the long journey is nearly over!

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