WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden announced on Friday that the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) should be considered a ratified addition to the United States Constitution, in a symbolic statement that is unlikely to change a decades-long fight for gender equality but has sparked a significant debate in the country just hours before he leaves office.
“It is time to recognize the will of the American people,” Biden said. “In accordance with my oath and duty to the Constitution and the country, I affirm what I believe and what three-quarters of the states have ratified: the 28th Amendment is the nation’s law that guarantees, to all Americans, rights and equal protections under the law regardless of their sex.”
Director of National Archives rejects its inclusion in the Constitution
The Democrat's statement will likely have no impact. Presidents do not have any role in the amendment process. The director of the National Archives, Dr. Colleen Joy Shogan, previously stated that the amendment cannot be certified because it was not ratified before a deadline set by Congress.
On Friday, the National Archives reiterated their position stating that “the underlying legal and procedural matters have not changed”.
A senior official in the Biden administration, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss White House plans, said the president was not ordering the archivist to certify the amendment, thereby avoiding what could have turned into a legal battle over the separation of powers.
Several activists gathered outside the National Archives to celebrate Biden's declaration and demand that the archivist take action.
"Do your job," said Zakiya Thomas, leader of the ERA Coalition. "The president has done his."
What does the project say about the 28th amendment?
The Equal Rights Amendment, which would prohibit discrimination based on gender, was sent to the states for ratification in 1972. Congress set the year 1979 as the deadline for three-fourths (or 38 states) of state legislatures to ratify the amendment, and later extended it until 1982.
But it wasn't until 2020, when Virginia lawmakers approved the amendment, becoming the 38th state to ratify it. The archivist said that Congress or the courts must change the deadline to consider the amendment as certified.
Currently, the Constitution of the United States has 27 amendments. The first, enacted in 1791, establishes “freedom of religion, speech, press, petition, and assembly.” The last was enacted in 1992, it addresses “the variation of the compensation of members of Congress” and waited... 202 years for its ratification.