In the twilight hours of his presidency, Democrats are asking Biden to officially ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.

From The Epoch Times. Over 120 House Democrats are calling on President Joe Biden to conclude the process for adding the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the U.S. Constitution.

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Have you taken your place on the wall?

The push, spearheaded by outgoing Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), wants the lame duck president to urge the national archivist to treat the ERA—an amendment from 1923 that would extend specific constitutional protections on the basis of sex—as having been ratified, despite questions about whether such a move is legal. …

They framed the effort as a response to President-elect Donald Trump’s second term, accusing him of having been “openly hostile to reproductive freedom, access to health care, and LGBTQIA+ rights.”

Such a move would have vast implications for U.S. legal life—but any effort by Biden to do what’s being requested would almost certainly be met with substantial challenges by both conservative groups and the incoming Trump administration, who would seek to advocate for clear definitions on sex and gender preference issues.

For supporters, the ERA is an overdue codification of sexual equality. …

For critics, meanwhile, the ERA has the potential to cause wide-reaching and unforeseen changes to U.S. law depending on how the courts interpret the brief text …

Other Republicans have expressed concerns that the ERA could lead to forced inclusion for transgender-identifying athletes in women’s sports, or could have other unforeseen impacts due to the proliferation of transgender ideas in American life. …

History of the ERA

The letter is the latest development in a debate that’s continued for over 100 years now.

First proposed three years after the 1920 ratification of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, the ERA’s core clause reads, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” …

In 1923, it didn’t get very far, languishing in committee and seemingly fated to join the vast historical wastebasket of failed constitutional amendments.

However, in 1972, both chambers of Congress revived and passed the ERA, initially giving a seven year deadline for ratification. By the time the 1979 deadline came around, 35 states had elected to ratify it, still three short of the 38 needed to add the ERA to the Constitution.

Congress extended the deadline to 1982, but this also came and passed without any additional states ratifying it.

In the intervening years, three state Legislatures—Nevada, Illinois, and Virginia—voted to ratify it between 2017 and 2020.

That technically means that the ERA now has the minimum support needed to become the 28th Amendment. But the final ratifications came well after the 1982 deadline put forward by Congress.

Legal Uncertainty

The core legal question hinges on whether the 1982 deadline is applicable at all. Bush and the Democrats joining her letter contend that it isn’t. …

Ultimately, it would likely fall to the Supreme Court to litigate the questions underlying the case, including the core question of whether the ERA was a genuine part of the Constitution or not.

What do you think of the ERA? Share your thoughts and prayers below.

(Excerpt from The Epoch Times. Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America – Joe Biden, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=87270976)