The struggle over the Equal Rights Amendment started more than a century ago when leading suffragist Alice Paul first proposed it shortly after the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. The ERA, if formally recognized as the 28th Amendment, would make gender equality explicit under the Constitution.
President Joe Biden on Friday declared that the ERA should be considered a ratified addition to the Constitution. His announcement was symbolic, as the National Archives has declined to certify the amendment, noting it was passed with a ratification deadline that wasn't met.
