what happened to Equal rights movement?

April 9, 2013 (myFOXtampabay.com)

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Women's-rights activists are trying to revive a campaign to add Florida to the list of states that ratified the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

A proposal (HCR 8001) seeking to make Florida the 36th state to ratify the 1970s-era amendment was reviewed Tuesday by the House Local and Federal Affairs Committee.

The committee didn't vote after hearing from amendment supporters, including one who urged lawmakers to "have the backbone" to vote.

Rep. Lori Berman says women have made great strides toward equality but insists the amendment is needed as a "fundamental legal remedy" against any remaining gender discrimination.

A law professor says a vote might have no binding effect since the ratification deadline long passed. Supporters say Congress or the courts could accept more ratification votes.

Feminist Newswire

May 23, 2014

With a 39-11 vote, the Illinois Senate voted – by more than the necessary three-fifths margin of elected senators, as required by state law – to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). If it moves forward in the state House, Illinois will become the 36th state to ratify the ERA.

“Ratification is not just a hugely important symbolic step but a move to establish women’s rights as a bedrock principle in the Constitution,” said Illinois Senator Heather Stearns, who has previously supported proposals for the state to adopt the amendment. “From equal pay to equal access to health care, freedom from gender-based discrimination should be the law of the land and not subject to political whims. Equal rights are not a fad; they’re in the fabric of our nation, and the ERA confirms that.”

“It’s exciting to see that the Illinois Senate has voted to ratify the ERA,” said Feminist Majority President Eleanor Smeal, who led a massive national ERA campaign as President of the National Organization for Women. “The ERA has strong support in Illinois, and women deserve action.”

“The ERA is on the move again. In February, the Virginia Senate voted to ratify, and now the Illinois Senate,” continued Smeal. “The overwhelming support of voters for the ERA and the gender gap in voting is moving the ERA forward.”

Authored by suffragist and National Women’s Party leader Alice Paul, the Equal Rights Amendment directs, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex” and gives Congress the power to enforce the Amendment through appropriate legislation.

Congress first approved the ERA and sent it to the states for ratification in 1972. Within five years, 35 states had ratified the ERA, but corporate interests and right-wing politicians have blocked the movement from obtaining the three additional states necessary for the ERA to become part of the US Constitution. States that have not ratified the ERA include: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, and Virginia.

Other sources: Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, CBS St. Louis

April 15, 2013 (mystateline.com)

SPRINGFIELD -- More than 40 years after it passed Congress and 30 years after the 'Equal Rights Amendment' lapsed after failing to get 38 states needed to ratify it, three state Representatives are introducing a bill to have Illinois ratify it. If passed, Illinois would be the first state since 1982 to pass the Equal Rights Amendment. 35 states did pass the 'ERA', but the act expired in 1983 before getting approval in 2/3rd's or states, meaning even adoption by three more states would not legally ratify it as an amendment to the Constitution.

Supporters believe that after passage by three more states, they could then argue in the courts that that the time limits imposed by and later extended by Congress for passage of the 'Equal Rights Amendment' are not legitimate because time limits are not mandated by the Constitution. Some legal analysts have expressed doubts that the Supreme Court would overturn previous rulings requiring a "sufficiently contemporaneous" time period for an amendment to the Constitution, or overturn a deadline self-imposed by Congress.

Re-passage of a new Equal Rights Amendment by two-thirds of Congress and 38 states is seen as highly unlikely politically.

The 1972 Equal Rights Amendment states the following:

• Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by 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.

It was passed at a time when gender discrimination was rampant, and supporters believed the only way to address it was with a Constitutional Amendment. Opponents argued, however, that women are already covered under the Constitution's 'equal protection clause' and that creating a separate amendment only for women would create more legal problems for women than it solved.

Reps. Lou Lang, Kelly M. Cassidy and Naomi D. Jakobsson disagree. They have introduced the 'Ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment' bill in the Illinois House. They argue the Amendment is needed because, as they wrote in a news release, "women do not have constitutional protection when it pertains to sexual and gender discrimination, fair and equal pay and the guarantee of a fair and balanced trial when a woman is raped-including women in the military."

It goes before the House Judiciary Committee for consideration on Tuesday [Apr. 16].

April 3, 2013

Senate committee fails to pass ERA ratification bill on April 2

SJR 19, a bill ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment, failed to pass out of the Arkansas Senate's Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs on Tuesday, April 2. The committee, which includes 5 Republicans and 3 Democrats, rejected the bill by a voice vote along party lines.

ERA bills were also introduced in the state's 2005 and 2007 legislative sessions and failed to get out of committee by tie votes in both years. Primary sponsors of the 2013 bill are Sen. Joyce Elliott (D-31) and Rep. Warwick Sabin (D-33).

Lindsley Smith, former AR Representative and primary sponsor of the 2007 ERA bill, testified in favor of the bill.

[Further information: Marena Groll, nc4era@gmail.com]

February 14, 2017: ERA ratification bills were reintroduced in the NC Senate (SB 85) and House (HB 102). (more)

Read ERA-NC press release.

NC4ERA, Ratify ERA-NC Co-Chair New State Alliance 
ERA-NC ALLIANCE FORGED
Equal Constitutional Rights for Women

It's a historical moment for women in North Carolina. It comes not a moment too soon. A new, state wide alliance was recently forged among leading women's organizations and other groups interested in constitutional equality for women. NC4ERA is honored to act as one of the founders of the new ERA-NC Alliance.

Networking conversations began in the fall of 2015 and culminated with the establishment of the alliance in February 2016. The alliance immediately became a state-affiliate with the national ERA Coalition. In another historical development, the alliance serves the ERA Coalition as a model for other states interested in building state wide alliances to advocate for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).

The political reemergence of the ERA occurs at a time of significant unrest for women dissatisfied with the status of women’s rights in our state and across the nation. The demand for equal rights is rising in response to recent legislation and ongoing practices seen as hostile to women, particularly in the areas of workplace discrimination, reproductive justice, violence against women, and political parity. Yet in the midst of the unrest, our country is witnessing the resurgence of a national ERA movement to secure the bedrock constitutional guarantee of equal rights for women and men.

ERA-NC Alliance Co-Chairs are Marena Groll, NC4ERA, Chair and Roberta Madden, Ratify ERA-NC, Co-Chair. Plans are underway to publicly launch ERA-NC to announce its formation and recognize the organizations leading the efforts. Membership is open now. Visit ERA-NC to learn more about how to join the alliance and subscribe to the alerts mailing list. The website is under construction as the alliance network is developing, but will be fully functional soon.

If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact Marena Groll or Roberta Madden at membership@era-nc.org.

ERA-NC extends special thanks to Roberta Francis, Gender Equity Consultant, for her assistance in the development of the state model of collaboration and to Bettina Hager, ERA Coalition for her support.