President Biden on Friday asserted that the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which prohibits discrimination based on sex, is part of the Constitution and meets the criteria to be added as the 28th Amendment.
Biden said in a statement that the ERA is “the law of the land” because it was passed by a two-thirds majority in Congress and ratified by three-quarters of states. But he stopped short of directing archivists to add the constitutional amendment, leaving it unclear what impact the outgoing president's statements will have and likely inviting legal challenges.
“The American Bar Association (ABA) has confirmed that the Equal Rights Amendment has cleared all necessary hurdles to be formally added to the Constitution as the 28th Amendment,” Biden said in a statement. “I agree with the ABA and leading legal constitutional scholars that the Equal Rights Amendment has become part of our Constitution.”
“It is long past time to recognize the will of the American people,” he added. “In accordance with my oath and duty to the Constitution and to this nation, I affirm what I believe, and which three-fourths of the states have ratified, that the 28th Amendment is the law of the land; We guarantee all Americans equal rights and protections based on their gender.”
Administration officials said Biden has no intention of directing archivists to add the provision to the Constitution. The official said the archivist's role was “purely ministerial” and that “if effectively ratified, the amendments would need to be published.”
Congress approved the Equal Rights Amendment in 1972. Congressional approval came with a seven-year deadline for states to sign the law into law as a constitutional amendment, but it wasn't until 2020 that Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the law. It is.
The decades-long delay is likely to be the subject of legal challenges from opponents, but the constitution does not mention a deadline for states to ratify the amendment.
Trump administration's Department of Justice expressed an opinion In January 2020, he said no action should be taken to add the ERA to the Constitution because it has expired.
Biden's announcement came just days before President-elect Trump returns to office for a second term and leaves office.
Democratic lawmakers and allies have been urging Biden for weeks to act on the amendments before leaving office. More than 120 House Democrats, led by former Reps. Cori Bush (Missouri) and Ayanna Pressley (Massachusetts), sent a letter to the president in December urging him to approve it as a constitutional amendment.
new york times reported Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D.Y.) is also lobbying Biden to uphold the Equal Rights Amendment after the Supreme Court rules Roe v. Wade in 2022, which They argue that it is a way to guarantee the right to abortion.
