If you thought that the proposed Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the United States Constitution offered by the 92nd Congress to the state legislatures for ratification back in 1972 was just a distant memory–and a thing completely of the past–think again. Its cheerleaders during the 1970s endeavored to sell ERA as nothing more than guaranteeing equal legal rights for women and men. And, certainly, that had a nice ring to it. The U.S. Senate shouted its approval of ERA on March 22, 1972, with 84 yeas, 8 nays and 7 not voting. Previously, on October 21, 1971, the U.S. House of Representatives roared its blessing with 354 yeas, 24 nays and 51 not voting. And, with that, ERA was placed before the nation’s state legislatures for their consideration, pursuant to the well-established procedures found in the U.S. Constitution’s Article V. In tendering ERA to the states, the 92nd Congress had imposed a customary deadline of seven years–or until March 22, 1979–for America’s state lawmakers to fully ratify ERA in order for the measure to officially become part of the U.S. Constitution. With 50 states in the Union in 1972–and still 50 in it today–a proposed federal constitutional amendment must be…
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