Editing Equal Rights Amendment (section)

=== Ratifications ===
On March 22, 1972, the ERA was placed before the state legislatures, with a seven-year deadline to acquire ratification by three-fourths (38) of the state legislatures. A majority of states ratified the proposed constitutional amendment within a year. Hawaii became the first state to ratify the ERA, which it did on the same day the amendment was approved by Congress: The U.S. Senate's vote on {{USBill|92|HJRes|208}} took place in the mid-to-late afternoon in Washington, D.C., when it was still midday in Hawaii. The [[Hawaii Senate]] and [[Hawaii House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] voted their approval shortly after noon Hawaii Standard Time.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/03/23/archives/equal-rights-amendment-is-approved-by-congress-equal-rights.html |title=Equal Rights Amendment Is Approved by Congress|author1-link=Eileen Shanahan (journalist)|last=Shanahan |first=Eileen |date=March 23, 1972 |work=The New York Times |access-date=November 12, 2019 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/which-states-ratified-the-era-3528872 |title=Which States Ratified the ERA and When Did They Ratify? |last=Johnson |first=Jone |date=October 31, 2017 |publisher=Thoughtco.com |access-date=May 31, 2018}}</ref>

During 1972, a total of 22 state legislatures ratified the amendment and eight more joined in early 1973. Between 1974 and 1977, only five states approved the ERA, and advocates became worried about the approaching March 22, 1979, deadline.<ref name="ERA: History">{{Cite web |url=http://www.equalrightsamendment.org/history.htm |title=ERA: History |website=equalrightsamendment.org |access-date=April 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170410091210/http://equalrightsamendment.org/history.htm |archive-date=April 10, 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.equalrightsamendment.org/era-ratification-map|title=Ratification By State|website=Equal Rights Amendment}}</ref>

The ERA was ratified by the following states prior to the initial March 22, 1979, deadline:<ref name="CRSReport" />
# [[Hawaii State Legislature|Hawaii]]: March 22, 1972
# [[New Hampshire General Court|New Hampshire]]: March 23, 1972
# [[Delaware General Assembly|Delaware]]: March 23, 1972
# [[Iowa General Assembly|Iowa]]: March 24, 1972
# [[Idaho Legislature|Idaho]]: March 24, 1972 (rescinded ratification February 8, 1977)
# [[Kansas Legislature|Kansas]]: March 28, 1972
# [[Nebraska Legislature|Nebraska]]: March 29, 1972 (rescinded ratification March 15, 1973)
# [[Texas Legislature|Texas]]: March 30, 1972
# [[Tennessee General Assembly|Tennessee]]: April 4, 1972 (rescinded ratification April 23, 1974)
# [[Alaska Legislature|Alaska]]: April 5, 1972
# [[Rhode Island General Assembly|Rhode Island]]: April 14, 1972
# [[New Jersey Legislature|New Jersey]]: April 17, 1972
# [[Colorado General Assembly|Colorado]]: April 21, 1972
# [[West Virginia Legislature|West Virginia]]: April 22, 1972
# [[Wisconsin Legislature|Wisconsin]]; April 26, 1972
# [[New York Legislature|New York]]: May 18, 1972
# [[Michigan Legislature|Michigan]]: May 22, 1972
# [[Maryland General Assembly|Maryland]] (May 26, 1972
# [[Massachusetts General Court|Massachusetts]]: June 21, 1972
# [[Kentucky General Assembly|Kentucky]]: June 27, 1972 (rescinded ratification March 17, 1978)<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |url=https://www.equalrightsamendment.org |title=Equal Rights Amendment |website=Equal Rights Amendment |language=en-US |access-date=May 3, 2019}}</ref>{{efn|The [[Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky|lieutenant governor of Kentucky]], [[Thelma Stovall]], who was acting as governor in the governor's absence, [[Veto power in the United States#In state government|vetoed]] the rescinding resolution.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19780321&id=FgkdAAAAIBAJ&pg=2808,5122388|title=ERA Supporter Vetoes Resolution|date=March 21, 1978|work=The Tuscaloosa News|access-date=November 1, 2016|via=Google News}}</ref> Given that Article V explicitly provides that amendments are valid "when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states"<ref>[https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/constitution/article-v.html Article V of the Constitution of the United States of America.] ''National Archives''. Retrieved: August 15, 2016.</ref> this raised questions as to whether a state's governor, or someone temporarily acting as governor, has the power to veto any measure related to amending the United States Constitution.}}
# [[Pennsylvania General Assembly|Pennsylvania]]: September 27, 1972<ref name=":0" />
# [[California Legislature|California]]: November 13, 1972
# [[Wyoming Legislature|Wyoming]]: January 26, 1973
# [[South Dakota Legislature|South Dakota]]: February 5, 1973 (rescinded ratification March 5, 1979)<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/south-dakota-and-the-equal-rights-amendment/article_a75dc977-84fe-5622-aafa-92c2e105a5c2.html |title=South Dakota and the Equal Rights Amendment |first=Gene |last=Lebrun |website=Rapid City Journal Media Group |date=February 29, 2020}}</ref>
# [[Oregon Legislative Assembly|Oregon]]: February 8, 1973<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Watson |first1=Tara |last2=Rose |first2=Melody |year=2010 |title=She Flies With Her Own Wings: Women in the 1973 Oregon Legislative Session |journal=Oregon Historical Quarterly |volume=111 |issue=1 |pages=38–63 |doi=10.5403/oregonhistq.111.1.38}}</ref>
# [[Minnesota Legislature|Minnesota]]: February 8, 1973
# [[New Mexico Legislature|New Mexico]]: February 28, 1973
# [[Vermont General Assembly|Vermont]]: March 1, 1973
# [[Connecticut General Assembly|Connecticut]]: March 15, 1973
# [[Washington Legislature|Washington]]: March 22, 1973
# [[Maine Legislature|Maine]]: January 18, 1974
# [[Montana Legislature|Montana]]: January 25, 1974
# [[Ohio General Assembly|Ohio]]: February 7, 1974
# [[North Dakota Legislative Assembly|North Dakota]]: February 3, 1975<ref name=":0" />  (rescinded ratification March 19, 2021)
# [[Indiana General Assembly|Indiana]]: January 18, 1977<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1977/01/19/indiana-ratifies-the-era-with-rosalynn-carters-aid/59d7c58b-9a19-41da-a528-f66f075933be |title=Indiana Ratifies the ERA – With Rosalynn Carter's Aid |last=MacPherson |first=Myra |date=January 19, 1977 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=March 22, 2017 |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref>

The ERA has been ratified by the following states since the March 22, 1979, deadline:
{{ordered list|start=36
|[[Nevada Legislature|Nevada]]: March 22, 2017<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.lasvegasnow.com/news/nevada-ratifies-equal-rights-amendment-decades-past-deadline/678419418 |title=Nevada ratifies Equal Rights Amendment decades past deadline |date=March 22, 2017 |access-date=March 22, 2017 |publisher=Las Vegas Now |archive-date=March 23, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170323004100/http://www.lasvegasnow.com/news/nevada-ratifies-equal-rights-amendment-decades-past-deadline/678419418 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
|[[Illinois General Assembly|Illinois]]: May 30, 2018<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-met-equal-rights-amendment-illinois-20180530-story.html |title=Illinois House approves Equal Rights Amendment |last1=Pearson |first1=Rick |date=May 30, 2018 |work=Chicago Tribune |access-date=May 30, 2018 |last2=Lukitsch |first2=Bill |archive-date=May 31, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180531151948/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-met-equal-rights-amendment-illinois-20180530-story.html |url-status=dead}}</ref>
|[[Virginia General Assembly|Virginia]]: January 27, 2020<ref name="Virginia">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/15/us/era-virginia-vote.html|title=Virginia Approves the E.R.A., Becoming the 38th State to Back It|last=Williams|first=Timothy|date=January 15, 2020|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 15, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>}}


Ratification resolutions have also been defeated in Arizona, Arkansas,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Parry |first=Janine A. |year=2000 |title='What Women Wanted': Arkansas Women's Commissions and the ERA |journal=Arkansas Historical Quarterly |volume=59 |issue=3 |pages=265–298 |doi=10.2307/40027988 |jstor=40027988}}</ref> Louisiana and Mississippi.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uH1SPgyl5e0C&pg=PA289 |title=Mississippi Women: Their Histories, Their Lives |last=Swain |first=Martha H. |publisher=University of Georgia Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-8203-3393-9 |page=289 |display-authors=etal}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.nrlc.org/archive/Federal/ERA/GeorgeWillERALivingDead.pdf |title=Night of the Living Dead Amendment |last=Will |first=George F. |date=February 13, 1994 |newspaper=The Washington Post |via=National Right to Life Committee |access-date=January 5, 2014 |archive-date=April 22, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140422185932/http://www.nrlc.org/archive/Federal/ERA/GeorgeWillERALivingDead.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.equalrightsamendment.org/faq.htm |title=Frequently Asked Questions |last=Francis |first=Roberta W. |publisher=Alice Paul Institute |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417234051/http://www.equalrightsamendment.org/faq.htm |archive-date=April 17, 2009 |access-date=August 14, 2009}}</ref>

==== Rescinding ratification ====

Six states legislatures (noted above) have [[Repeal#Legislative use|rescinded]] their earlier ratification of the ERA. Article V of the Constitution is silent as to whether a state may rescind, or otherwise revoke, a previous ratification of a proposed constitutional amendment while it is pending before the states.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://law.justia.com/constitution/us/article-5/02-proposing-a-constitutional-amendment.html|title=Authentication and Proclamation: Proposing a Constitutional Amendment|publisher=Justia|access-date=July 20, 2014}}</ref> The rescinding of a ratification of a constitutional amendment has occurred previously. In the 1860s, a few states voted to rescind their ratifications for the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth]] and [[Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fifteenth]] Amendments. On both occasions however, these actions were rejected and the original ratification was counted when the federal government tallied the total states that had ratified the amendment.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=March 2021 |title=Columbia Law School ERA Project FAQ on Legal Issues Surrounding Final Ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment |url=https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1073&context=gender_sexuality_law |access-date=November 20, 2024 |publisher=[[Columbia Law School]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-10-09 |title=The Equal Rights Amendment Explained {{!}} Brennan Center for Justice |url=https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/equal-rights-amendment-explained |access-date=2024-11-20 |publisher=Brennan Center |language=en}}</ref>

In February 2024, the [[American Bar Association]] (ABA) passed resolution 601, supporting implementation of the ERA. The ABA urges implementation stating that a deadline for ratification of an amendment to the U.S. Constitution is not consistent with Article V of the Constitution and that under Article V, states are not permitted to rescind prior ratifications.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.americanbar.org/groups/diversity/women/publications/perspectives/2024/october/aba-sponsors-resolution-supporting-era-implementation/ |title=ABA Sponsors Resolution Supporting ERA Implementation}}</ref>

Researchers at [[Columbia Law School]]'s Center for Gender and Sexuality Law have written that "[t]he Constitution says nothing about whether a state can rescind or revoke its ratification of a Constitutional Amendment, either before the ratification process has been completed or after." Advocates and scholars dispute whether ratification is a one-time event, once done it cannot be undone as the Constitution only provides for ratification, not unratification.<ref name=":3" />