Teleforum

First proposed in 1923 – yes, nearly one hundred years ago - the Equal Rights Amendment was finally passed by the U.S. Congress nearly 50 years later, in 1972, with a seven-year deadline for its ratification. With the deadline approaching, but the requisite 38 states not having voted to ratify, Congress approved, and President Carter signed, a three-year extension, to 1982.Several states and the U.S. Congress are now revisiting the ERA, raising a variety of issues:Whether it is constitutionally possible at this point to extend or eliminate the deadline for ratification of the 1972 ERA; the effectiveness (or not) of five states’ revocations of their votes to ratify; the effectiveness (or not) of the three states’ ratifications that came more than 35 years after the extended deadline;The pros and cons and wisdom (or not) and necessity (or not) and ramifications of amending the United States Constitution with the ERA.These and related matters will be discussed by Rep. Steven Andersson, founder