Equal Rights Amendment proponents face roadblocks in effort to ratify law in Arizona

Proponents of the Equal Rights Amendment are revitalizing the charge to codify its provisions in the Arizona Constitution. But Republican control of the Legislature could again put the Democratic-led effort at an impasse.

National Council of Jewish Women president and longtime ERA advocate Civia Tamarkin said Republicans “have been so strategic in aligning the religious right, with conservative values and mounting such an aggressive, but cunning opposition.”

Much of the opposition said there are already sufficient laws that guarantee equal protection, citing legislation such as the Fourth and Fifth Amendments.

But for advocates like Arizona state Rep. Quantá Crews, laws already ratified aren't enough.

“We’re not standing here asking for these bills to be heard and to be moved through the legislative process because we think it’s just a cute idea,” Crews said. “We have worked hard for this.”

The nationwide adoption of the ERA has been on the table since 1972. Congress initially handed its ratification back to the states, where 38 states were needed within seven years for it to be added to the U.S. Constitution.

The deadline was then extended by three years after the country fell short by three states.

“We never anticipated the onslaught that we faced. We didn’t take the opposition as seriously because we thought we had succeeded, we thought everything was the law of the land,” Tamarkin said.

Nevada, Illinois and Virginia are the most recent states to add the ERA to its constitutions.

The renewed interest in the amendment can be largely attributed to a surge in women’s activism, including the annual Women’s March on Washington, the Me Too movement and the increase in women elected to state and federal offices, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

“This is a growing movement,” Arizona state Sen. Lauren Kuby said. “The ERA does not create special rights. It affirms equal rights for all.”