He has introduced a resolution which lifts the deadline for ratification.
The Equal Rights Amendment could be making a comeback. Maryland Senator Ben Cardin, a Democrat, has introduced a resolution which removes the deadline for states' ratification of the ERA.
The Equal Rights Amendment says that "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on the account of sex." The ERA was passed by Congress in 1972, and was given seven for it to be ratified by at least 38 states. That deadline was extended until 1982. The amendment failed because only 35 states ratified it.
Senator Cardin says many states, including Maryland, have equal rights protections in their constitutions that prohibit discrimination based on gender. But there's no such protections listed in the US Constitution.
"As {Supreme Court} Justice {Antonin} Scalia has pointed out, there is not a protection in our Constitution. Therefore, we don't have the same scrutiny for discrimination against sex as we do for other types of basic rights. It is to make sure that we have the appropriate standards in our Constitution," Cardin says.
When it was being debated in the 1970's a number of opponents predicted horror stories if the ERA was ratified, and that numerous protections for women in the law would be overturned. But Cardin says he doesn't think that will happen this time. "Many states have it in their constitutions, and the sky hasn't fallen in," he says. "What we don't want to see is discrimination based on gender, and that's what the Constitutional protections provide."
If this resolution passes, Cardin says only three more states need to ratify it before the ERA can be added to the US Constitution. "We've seen some interest in some of the states that have not ratified it," he says. "I think there's a growing understanding that this is unfinished business that needs to be finished."
Cardin says there's no time limit listed in the Constitution on the ratification of amendments, and the approvals granted by the 35 states still stand. "The Amendment to the Constitution that prohibits us from getting pay raises before the intervention of an election took 200 years to ratify," he says.
Senator Cardin says his resolution has bipartisan support. One of its co-sponsors is Republican Senator Lisa Murkcowski of Alaska.
