My Birthday Wish: Equal Rights for Women in Our Constitution

Dear Readers,

As I blow out the 82 candles on my birthday cake today, I will be, yet again, making the birthday wish I’ve made often since 1972 — equal rights for women in the US Constitution — a wish many American women leaders first launched as a public policy campaign before I was born!

Over the past few weeks, Equal Rights Amendment supporters, myself included, participated in a campaign of calls, texts, and pleas to President Biden asking him to order the archivist of the United States, whom he appointed (and who is woman, not that this matters), to publish the ERA, which has been sitting on the archivist's desk waiting to become official since 2020.

What our campaign yielded was a statement on Friday from President Biden in support of the Amendment, affirming it as part of the Constitution.

Progress, yes, to have this strong statement of support. But it falls short of what activists and several members of Congress hoped President Biden would do. The archivist remained unmoved by Biden's words, referring reporters to a statement she made in 2024 that the ERA “cannot be certified as part of the Constitution due to established legal, judicial and procedural decisions.”

Why? My WHY is why is there always a debate when it comes to women’s rights? It would take me longer than one post to answer that existential question, but let me try, once again, as I have written about this ongoing journey many times, to explain the legal, judicial, and procedural processes being used to delay full equal rights to more than half of the American population.

In a nutshell, the archivist says her hands are tied because the Amendment missed a deadline — and here's where it gets complicated.

In 1972, Congress passed the amendment and gave the states seven years to ratify it. By 1977, 35 states had ratified it, but three more were needed. We got there, eventually, but it took decades: Nevada, in 2017; Illinois, in 2018; and Virginia, the 38th state, ratifying it in 2020.

Legal scholars have argued that amendments shouldn't have deadlines. They say that the deadline Congress set was not constitutional — and therefore, irrelevant. Indeed, the last amendment added to the Constitution, which prevents congressional pay raises from taking effect until after the next election, took over 200 years to reach ratification. In the case of the ERA, there is also the complicating factor that several of the states that ratified the ERA later voted to rescind them. (Read more in this explainer from the ERA Project at Columbia University.)

For the full 100+ year history of the ERA, watch Deborah Riley Draper and Sabaah Folayan’s new film Ratified, which is screening in many US cities in 2025 and soon to be shown nationally on PBS! The film is more urgent and vital than ever, offering a powerful exploration of the century-long struggle to secure constitutional gender equality and basic human rights for women in the United States.

 The hope now for some of us longstanding advocates is that President Biden's statement will give “heft” to any future legal actions that may be undertaken in the courts. His affirmation can now be considered alongside the contentions of numerous constitutional scholars and the American Bar Association, which has previously recognized that the amendment has cleared all necessary hurdles and is the law of the land.

Former Senator Russ Feingold, a lawyer and constitutional scholar, agrees, telling the New York Times, “It’s completely historic to have the president of the United States say it’s already in the Constitution. I believe and many believe that whether or not the archivist certifies it or not doesn’t matter.”

Trump's DOJ will surely argue against certification and it’s unlikely that whoever he appoints as archivist will dare to act on an Amendment that he has already ridiculed as invalid and unnecessary because, after all, he’s “going to take care of American women,” so that we don’t have to worry about our reproductive health or our legal or economic rights.

Does that give you comfort? Hopefully it inspires you to keep the campaign going for the full equality for women that nearly every other modern constitution in the world guarantees.

 I'm so grateful to the women leaders who never gave up hope, including the ERA Coalition, the various constitutional scholars, and the countless Americans who used every platform and opportunity to rally Americans women and men to speak up, stand up, and VOTE for leaders who support the ERA.

Despite that, most Americans are unaware that the human rights of women and girls are not secured in the US Constitution. Join me in talking about the ERA with your family and friends, and doing whatever you can to support the legal efforts to enshrine equal rights for women in our Constitution.

Whatever it takes, what’s at stake is too important to let it be invalidated by inaction, delayed further by court cases, or have its true meaning diminished by the power politics that denied women the right to vote for the first 144 years of this democracy!

With so many global threats and crises here and around the world, it’s challenging to think, write, or talk about taking action on constitutional amendments. I recognize that and agree that it’s hard to prioritize problems or to prepare for all impending disasters… it’s easy to feel powerless when watching fires take away lives, homes, and livelihoods, or momentum losses for peace in the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.

But getting equal rights guaranteed in a democracy is a challenge we have the power to address. When it comes to the basic guarantees of rights that are part of the privilege of living in a democracy, we do have the individual and collective power of voice and vote.

I think of that everyday, but especially today as I count my many blessings, including the freedom I’m exercising now — to advocate for equality and justice for all, everywhere.

Onward!

- Pat

Help Los Angeles

I’m continuing to follow the news about the devastating fires in LA. They are under yet another urgent red flag alert this week. If you can, please support those who have been affected. Below are some links to organizations providing immediate support.