Equal Rights Amendment

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.

The Equal Rights Amendment was written in 1921 by suffragist Alice Paul. It has been introduced in Congress every session since 1923. It passed Congress in the above form in 1972, but was not ratified by the necessary thirty-eight states by the July 1982 deadline. It was ratified by thirty-five states.

• Background on ERA (NNT January 1994)

• Constitutional Equality Amendment Information

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Original Equal Rights Amendment, introduced in Congress in 1923, written by Alice Paul:

• Men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction.

• Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.