Equal Rights Amendment Fails Ratification

The Equal Rights Amendment, which declared that equality of rights under the law could not be denied on account of sex, passed both houses of Congress in 1972 and was sent to the states for ratification. To become part of the Constitution it required approval by thirty-eight of the fifty states. Although a majority of states ratified it relatively quickly, support stalled, and by the original 1979 deadline, later extended to 1982, only thirty-five states had ratified, three short of the number required.

The amendment's failure to win ratification was a major setback for the women's movement, which had made the ERA a central goal. The campaign against it, led by conservative activists such as Phyllis Schlafly, helped mobilize a broader opposition and shaped national debates over gender roles, the family, and the law. Despite the defeat, the long ratification struggle galvanized supporters and kept questions of constitutional sex equality prominent in American politics for decades afterward.