Virginia finalizes passage of Equal Rights Amendment

Virginia’s legislature finalized passage of the Equal Rights Amendment on Monday, with women presiding in both the Senate and House of Delegates for the historic votes.

Virginia becomes the 38th — and potentially final — state to ratify the amendment guaranteeing equal protection for women, setting the stage for a legal fight over whether too much time has passed to add it to the U.S. Constitution.

Both chambers of the legislature had approved the ERA on Jan. 15, but under parliamentary rules the measure had to “cross over” so each chamber could approve the other’s version.

Carol Jenkins of the ERA Coalition and several others promised a vigorous fight to ensure that ERA is fully ratified despite arguments from opponents that a time limit has expired.

The amendment, first proposed in 1923, passed Congress in 1972 and contained a seven-year deadline for three-quarters of the states to ratify it. ERA supporters now say that provision was unconstitutional because it was not included in the amendment text.

The deadline was extended to 1982, but only 35 of the 38 required states had approved it by then. After opponents declared the effort a failure, legislatures in five states rescinded their ratifications. Since 2017, Nevada and Illinois have ratified the ERA, which put Virginia in place as the final state needed for ratification, if the five withdrawals are not counted. But the U.S. Justice Department earlier this month issued a finding that the amendment had expired and could no longer be ratified.