Constitutional equal rights amendments (ERAs) at both the federal and state levels have been at the heart of civil-rights advocacy for over a century. The federal equal rights amendment was drafted in 1923, and in 1972 Congress submitted the federal ERA to the states to ratify. The language of the proposed federal ERA reads:
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.
To date, the threshold number of states needed have ratified the federal ERA, but the final state ratified in 2020, long after the 1982 deadline. Efforts to extend or rescind the ratification deadline are ongoing.