Changes

The House of Representatives had passed this Amendment by a 354-24 margin.  The Senate had passed it by a margin of 84-8.  Both political parties (Republican and Democratic) favored it; all presidents until Ronald Reagan supported it; and the media strongly backed it.  Its ratification by 3/4ths of the states (38 states), as required to amend the Constitution, seemed inevitable.

The House of Representatives had passed this Amendment by a 354-24 margin.  The Senate had passed it by a margin of 84-8.  Both political parties (Republican and Democratic) favored it; all presidents until Ronald Reagan supported it; and the media strongly backed it.  Its ratification by 3/4ths of the states (38 states), as required to amend the Constitution, seemed inevitable.

The ERA would have required drafting women just like men; forcing taxpayer-funded abortion just like medical care for men; mandating same-sex marriage (can't discriminate "on account of sex"); ending special Social Security benefits enjoyed by widows; and eventually eliminating male and female restrooms in public facilities.  The courts could enforce ERA almost any way it liked due its open-ended and superficially appealing language.  ERA would shift the entire field of family law and marriage from state and local levels to the federal government, and to the federal courts where judges are not elected and are appointed for life.  ERA could end single-sex programs and classes, particularly in public schools.

The ERA would have required drafting women just like men; forcing taxpayer-funded abortion just like medical care for men; mandating same-sex marriage (can't discriminate "on account of sex"); ending special Social Security benefits enjoyed by widows; and eventually eliminating male and female restrooms in public facilities.  The courts could enforce ERA almost any way it liked due its open-ended and superficially appealing language.  ERA would shift the entire field of family law and marriage from state and local levels to the federal government, and to the federal courts where judges are not elected and are appointed for life.  ERA would prohibit single-sex programs and classes, particularly in public schools.

It was up to a handful of conservative women to stop it.  They met in a hotel near Chicago O'Hare airport on July 7, 1972, to discuss political strategy, and one woman proposed naming their movement "Stop Taking our Privileges" or simply "STOP ERA."  The name stuck.

It was up to a handful of conservative women to stop it.  They met in a hotel near Chicago O'Hare airport on July 7, 1972, to discuss political strategy, and one woman proposed naming their movement "Stop Taking our Privileges" or simply "STOP ERA."  The name stuck.

The leader of the STOP ERA movement was Phyllis Schlafly, and for the next ten years she opposed both Republican and Democratic Presidents, nearly all of Congress, the entire media, and big corporate supporters of ERA (like the pornography industry, who saw ERA as helpful in defeating laws against pornography).

The leader of the STOP ERA movement was Phyllis Schlafly, and for the next ten years she opposed both Republican and Democratic Presidents, nearly all of Congress, the entire media, and big corporate supporters of ERA (like the pornography industry, which saw ERA as helpful in defeating laws against pornography).

At the beginning, the momentum was too great to halt.  By the middle of 1973, 30 states had ratified the so-called "Equal Rights Amendment."  But then some states began to hold legislative hearings to consider the pros and cons of the amendment, and the tide began to change when the arguments were out in the open.

At the beginning, the momentum was too great to halt.  By the middle of 1973, 30 states had ratified the so-called "Equal Rights Amendment."  But then some states began to hold legislative hearings to consider the pros and cons of the amendment, and the tide began to change when the arguments were out in the open.