It is long past time for women's rights to be written into the U.S. Constitution. Fortunately, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is getting new life in Congress, 25 years after the time limit for its ratification expired. It overwhelmingly passed the House and Senate in 1972 only to fall three states short of the 38 states necessary to win ratification ten years later. Now, renamed the Women's Equality Amendment, it could finally help end sex discrimination.
We should be ashamed that our Constitution -- held up as a template for democracy around the world -- does not guarantee equality for both sexes. The amendment's key phrase states simply, "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."
A lot has changed for women in the past quarter century, but not enough. Women who work full time still earn 76.5 cents for every dollar men do, according to the 2004 Census data. And women continue to face discrimination on the job. The largest class-action lawsuit in the nation's history is pending against Wal-Mart on behalf of 1.6 million current and former female employees. The 9th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently acknowledged that plaintiffs "present significant proof of a corporate policy of discrimination and Š that female employees nationwide were subjected to a common pattern and practice of discrimination."
Existing federal law has failed to adequately protect women from discrimination in the workplace. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination based on sex. But in a decision last year, the 9th Circuit found in Jespersen v. Harrah's Operating Co. that sex-based grooming codes -- such as requiring women to wear makeup -- did not violate Title VII.
The Equal Rights Amendment would not create new rights. It states only that rights already in the Constitution be applied without regard to a person's sex. But over the years, ERA opponents have distorted the issue by saying it would lead to unisex toilets, women fighting in combat alongside men, and same-sex marriage. As we have seen over the last 25 years, the ERA has had nothing to do with any of these issues. The United States should have ratified the ERA in 1923, the year it was first introduced. Or in 1982. Guaranteeing equal rights for women into the U.S. Constitution is long overdue. Congress must act now and send the Women's Equality Amendment to the states for ratification.
Equality is an American value. Women in this country deserve no less.
Jill Hopke is development director at the Progressive Media Project in Madison, Wis. This column was produced for the Progressive Media Project, which is run by The Progressive magazine, and distributed by the Tribune News Service.