The ERA has met all its Constitutional requirements, but course that’s not enough for this administration. Check out the very latest at Sign4ERA.org
Why Do We Need the Equal Rights Amendment?
NOW is a proud supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Only the ERA can provide permanent, nationwide protection for a wide range of personal freedoms ranging from abortion and birth control to marriage rights, financial equality, access to equal legal protection against sexual violence, and a host of other rights.
The ERA is essential and foundational because it introduces a primary, permanent legal principle directly into the bedrock of American law—the U.S. Constitution.
Rather than relying on temporary fixes, the ERA establishes sex equality as a fundamental constitutional right in three distinct ways:
1. It Provides Permanent Protection Against Political Shifts
Ordinary laws that protect against sex discrimination—such as Title IX (education) or the Equal Pay Act—are statutory. This means they are vulnerable to the political climate. As we have seen, a changing Congress can repeal them, a hostile administration can weaken their enforcement, and a shifting Supreme Court can narrow their scope. The ERA provides a permanent constitutional anchor that cannot be undone by a simple majority vote or executive order
2. It Shifts the Burden of Proof to the Government
Without the ERA, individuals who experience sex discrimination are having to fight long, expensive legal battles to prove that a specific law or policy violates their rights under broader constitutional clauses (like the 14th Amendment). The ERA flips this dynamic by explicitly stating that equality of rights cannot be denied or abridged based on sex. This forces the government or institutions to prove their discriminatory policies are legally justified from the very start.
3. It Elevates the Legal Standard of Review
Currently, the Supreme Court reviews sex discrimination cases under a standard called “intermediate scrutiny.” This means the government only needs an “exceedingly persuasive” reason to justify treating men and women differently. The ERA would elevate sex discrimination to “strict scrutiny”—the highest level of judicial review. Under this standard, any law that discriminates based on sex is presumed unconstitutional unless the government can prove it serves a compelling state interest using the least restrictive means possible.
Why isn’t the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment enough?
The 14th Amendment does not explicitly name sex or gender, and for over a century, the courts have consistently interpreted its original intent as applying strictly to racial equality.
The late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia stated in 2010 and 2011 interviews and speeches that the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment does not prohibit discrimination based on sex; this opinion has been supported by many court decisions since then.
How will the ERA help?
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) will serve as a fundamental principle for ensuring equal opportunity and treatment for women and men in all areas of life. Additionally, it will protect against efforts to undermine previous achievements in women’s rights and will empower women to seek redress for economic marginalization more effectively. In recent years, many of the equality gains made by the women’s rights movement have been weakened.
It will also promote laws and court decisions that fairly take into account women’s and men’s experiences and would make it easier to prove sex-based discrimination in court.
NOW believes that the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) will help advance the rights of all women, including Black women, Native American women, Latinx women, Asian and Pacific Islander women, and LGBTQIA+ individuals.
After a century of advocacy, women are closer than ever to having the ERA enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. The progress we are making toward women’s equality can be lost at any time because those advances depend on legislation that can be (and has been) weakened or repealed by Congress, but the ERA can stop that from happening.
“Equality is not debatable, we are born with it. All we are asking is for it to be recognized.” – Nevada State Senator Pat Spearman