DOJ: ERA ratification deadline has long passed

The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Vice President of U.S. Legal Division Kristen Waggoner regarding the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel’s opinion released Wednesday that the Equal Rights Amendment’s ratification deadline has long passed:

“The Department of Justice is correct in its conclusion that the Equal Rights Amendment’s ratification deadline passed a long time ago. The ERA not only undermines women’s rights and opportunities, it falls far short of the requirements to amend the Constitution. As it stands today, the ERA is legally dead and has been for the last 40 years because its proponents failed to achieve the required support from the states. Women deserve to be treated with equality and fairness under the law, but that’s not what the ERA does. If its proponents wish to convince the American people of its merits, they must follow the process laid out in the Constitution. Following that process by starting over respects the American people and the integrity of the Constitution. And that’s good no matter what side of the aisle we find ourselves.”

Excerpts from the opinion:

“We conclude that the ERA Resolution has expired and is no longer pending before the States. Even if one or more state legislatures were to ratify the 1972 proposal, that action would not complete the ratification of the amendment, and the ERA’s adoption could not be certified under 1 U.S.C. § 106b.”

“We conclude that Congress had the constitutional authority to impose a deadline on the ratification of the ERA and, because that deadline has expired, the ERA Resolution is no longer pending before the States.”

Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith.