The segment discusses the challenges and progress of women's rights in America, highlighting the recent 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment granting women the right to vote. It focuses on the ongoing struggle to pass the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which aims to ensure legal gender equality. Despite broad public support and initial momentum in Congress, the ERA faced opposition and has not been ratified by the required number of states. The segment emphasizes the importance of enshrining gender equality in the Constitution to protect against potential rollbacks of existing laws and policies. It concludes by urging one of the remaining 13 states to ratify the ERA and make history.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. The 19th Amendment, which guarantees women's right to vote, was passed by Congress 100 years ago.
2. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is a proposed amendment to the US Constitution that aims to guarantee equal rights for women.
3. The ERA was first introduced in Congress in 1923.
4. The ERA was passed by Congress in 1972 with 84 senators voting in favor.
5. However, the ERA did not receive the necessary 38 state ratifications by the deadline of 1979.
6. As of now, 37 states have ratified the ERA, with Nevada and Illinois being the latest to do so.
7. Phyllis Schlafly, a conservative activist, played a significant role in opposing the ERA in the 1970s.
8. Schlafly's arguments against the ERA included claims that it would lead to women being drafted into the military and that it would outlaw sex-segregated bathrooms.
9. The ERA does not explicitly address issues like abortion or other policies, but rather aims to ensure that men and women are treated equally under the law.
10. The 14th Amendment to the US Constitution guarantees equal protection under the law, but its application to gender discrimination is not universally agreed upon.
11. Former Justice Antonin Scalia argued that the 14th Amendment does not cover gender discrimination.
12. The ERA would provide a constitutional guarantee of equal rights for women, which could not be easily rolled back by future Congresses or administrations.
13. Bills to revive the ERA have been introduced in both the House and Senate, with bipartisan co-sponsors.
14. Thirteen states have not yet ratified the ERA, including Arizona, Georgia, Oklahoma, and others.
15. Any of these 13 states could ratify the ERA and make history by putting the amendment over the top.