Why do we still need the Equal Rights Amendment to be approved and added to the United States Constitution?

First of all, we have to recognize that there are many people who would say that we do not need an equal rights amendment to the Constitution.  Some of these are conservatives who believe that women already have enough rights or that we should be careful about giving women equal rights because it would lead to women being drafted into the military or men being allowed in women’s bathrooms.  Others are not necessarily conservative but they believe that the problems that women face today are not really because of legal discrimination and would not be solved by an equal rights amendment.  For example, women tend to make less money than men today, but that is largely not because of any conscious discrimination.  Instead, women tend to cluster in poorly-paid jobs and women in good jobs often do not climb as high because they have to take time off to raise children.  An equal rights amendment would not solve either of these problems.  For these reasons, there are many people who would disagree with the premise of this question.

However, let us assume that we do need an equal rights amendment.  There are two main reasons for this.  First, an amendment would subject laws that discriminate on the basis of sex to the same “strict scrutiny” standard as laws that discriminate on the basis of race.   Right now, laws that treat men and women differently are not subjected to this level of scrutiny.  This means that it is easier for a law to be upheld by courts if it discriminates on the basis of sex than if it does so on the basis of race.  Second, and perhaps more importantly, an equal rights amendment would send a message, even if it would not have that much of a legal impact.  Right now, our Constitution grants greater protection from discrimination on the basis of race.  This might send the message that discrimination on the basis of sex is simply not such a big deal.  It implies that we don’t need to care enough to ban such discrimination in the Constitution.  If we added such an amendment, it would make a statement about our values.  It would clearly state that we believe that sexual discrimination is just as bad as racial discrimination.  This might not have much of a legal, tangible effect, but it would send a message that would eventually help to change our society.

For more arguments in favor of an equal rights amendment, please follow the links below.