Here are key dates in the 100-year history of the Equal Rights Amendment

On By Littum

President Biden said Friday that he believes the Equal Rights Amendment met the requirements for ratification as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution. But his remarks were likely symbolic as he declined to order the government to end the process by officially publishing it, a move that could invite legal challenges.

According to the constitution, Mr. Biden not a direct role in approving changes. Colleen Shogan, the National Archivist, said last month that she could not certify the change “due to established legal, judicial and procedural rulings.”

The amendment will guarantee equality for women, improve pay equality, strengthen the protection of domestic violence and sexual harassment and block discrimination against pregnant women. Over the years, conservative activists opposed to the amendment argued that it could lead to a constitutional right to abortion.

The amendment has been ratified in 38 states, meeting the requirement that it receive ratification by three-quarters of state legislatures before becoming part of the Constitution.

But opponents say that did not happen within a deadline set by Congress, and they note that several of the 38 states have since moved to withdraw their ratification.

Here are some of the most important dates in the history of the amendment.

The Equal Rights Amendment was first introduced in Congress after being written by suffragist Alice Paul, a social worker and lawyer who had helped push through the 19th Amendment, which allowed women to vote. “Men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and in every place subject to its jurisdiction,” the amendment reads.

The amendment was introduced in every session of Congress for decades. After a gap of about 50 years, it was overwhelmingly approved in the House by a vote of 354-24.

Following the House’s lead, the Senate approved the amendment by a similarly wide margin, 84-8. “Equal rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex,” the amendment read. “Congress shall have power, by appropriate legislation, to enforce the provisions of this article.”

Lawmakers said the law would have to be ratified by 38 states within seven years, a deadline later extended to 1982 by President Jimmy Carter.

The subject became the subject of intense legislative battles and political campaigns. Phyllis Schlafly, an anti-feminist leader, created STOP THE ERAa movement against the ratification of the amendment. Schlafly argued that it would challenge traditional gender roles by, among other things, forcing women to serve in combat. Her work helped slow progress toward ratification in state legislatures.

Decades after the initial seven-year deadline for ratification expired, Nevada became the 36th state to approve the amendment, creating new momentum toward the 38-state mark. A year later, Illinois passed it, leaving the amendment a threshold-reticent state.

Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the amendment, allowing it to clear the threshold. Women filled the galleries of the State Capitol in Richmond during the debate, some wearing scarves that read, “Equal Rights for Women.”

Under President Donald J. Trump, Official Legal Counsel said that year that because the act was not ratified by the congressional deadline, it had “expired and is no longer pending by the states.” The memo noted that five states that had approved the amendment later tried to back out.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Representative Cori Bush of Missouri, both Democrats, introduced a joint resolution saying the measure had already been ratified and was enforceable as the 28th Amendment. That same year, Senate Republicans blocked a resolution that sought to remove the expired deadline for states to ratify the amendment.

While Ms. Gillibrand continued to lobby White House officials, more than 100 Democratic lawmakers called on Mr. Biden to act on the change before he leaves office.

In a statement, Dr. Shogan, the National Archivist, and her deputy, William J. Bosanko, court decisions at the district and circuit levels as well as memos from the Justice Department to argue that they “cannot legally publish the Equal Rights Amendment.”

During his confirmation process in 2022, Dr. Shogan that she would not add the amendment to the Constitution and leave the decision to Congress or the federal judiciary.