The Senate failed to adopt a measure on Thursday to extend the deadline for ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment, a proposed constitutional amendment.
The resolution was defeated 51-47. Despite the fact that it had two Republican co-sponsors, Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski and Maine Senator Susan Collins, the majority of Republican senators opposed it. Republicans have traditionally maintained that the amendment is unnecessary because the 14th Amendment provides equal protection to women.
However, supporters argue that the ERA would prohibit sex discrimination and guarantee equality for all under the Constitution.
The vote acted as a method for Democrats to put Republicans on the spot on the issue, although it is unlikely that both chambers of Congress will support the resolution.
The ERA has been ratified by 38 states, appearing to satisfy the required three-fourths approval. However, some of those states accepted it after a congressionally mandated deadline had passed, casting doubt on the legality of their acts, while several more eventually retracted their support.
The failed resolution would have waived the deadline, allowing the ERA to be ratified by both chambers of Congress and signed into law by the President. According to a summary of the legislation, “this joint resolution provides that the Equal Rights Amendment, which prohibits sex discrimination, was ratified by three-fourths of the states and is thus a valid constitutional amendment, regardless of any time limit that was in the original proposal.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer urged his colleagues to approve the package before of the vote on Thursday.
“This resolution is necessary because America can never hope to be a land of liberty and opportunity while half of its population is treated as second-class citizens,” Schumer stated.
Schumer said that the ERA should be passed now, citing the Supreme Court’s decision last year to overturn Roe v. Wade.
“In 2023, we should move forward with all due haste to ratify the ERA,” Schumer added, “because if you look at the terrible things happening to women’s rights in this country… women in America have far fewer rights today than they did even a year ago.”
Prior to Thursday’s vote, the White House pushed the Senate to support the ERA, stating that “no one’s rights should be denied because of their gender.” It is long past time to permanently entrench gender equality in the Constitution.”