Certainly, any assurances coming from amendment proponents about its likely interpretation or effects are meaningless – as empty as Hubert Humphrey’s sincere pledge that the Civil Rights Act of 1965 would never be used to justify race quotas or preferences. And it’s disquieting to realize that many ERA supporters are being deeply disingenuous in their arguments for why the amendment is allegedly necessary.
In an effort to broaden the ERA’s appeal, its proponents often insist that it’s designed simply to secure basic rights to economic fairness and protection under the law. Yet equal pay has already been mandated by existing legislation, including the Equal Pay Act of 1963; the Civil Rights Act of 1964; and the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972, among others. Likewise, the topic of equal protection under the law has been addressed by federal legislation such as the Fourteenth Amendment; the Comprehensive Health Manpower Training Act of 1971; the Higher Education Act of 1972; and the Federal Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1975.
To the extent that true injustices still exist, they result from a failure to enforce existing laws, rather than the absence of them. Even alleged inequities in education have been addressed by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 – much to the detriment of men’s college athletics across the United States.
In truth, despite their ringing perorations on gender equality, many of the ERA's supporters are pursuing a much broader, pernicious agenda. In an effort to force the restructuring of American society at a fundamental level, they’re seeking to use the heavy hand of government to eradicate even natural, wholesome and appropriate distinctions between the sexes. Indeed, many amendment supporters are loath to admit that even the most obvious differences exist, or that they’re worthy of recognition.
At the moment, the newly revived Equal Rights Amendment – now renamed the Women’s Equality Amendment – has 194 House cosponsors, with 10 in the Senate. Unlike its hoary predecessor, it contains no deadline for ratification. It will be interesting to see whether feminists will succeed in their newest efforts to impose unnecessary and largely unwanted gender-equity measures on the rest of the country or whether Americans will drive a stake through the heart of the ERA once and for all, rejecting it as a bad idea whose time will never come.