LATEST NEWS: On October 20th, President Jimmy Carter signed a bill to extend our deadline until 1982. Now, we are just three states away from equal rights in America. Get on board and help us Ratify, NOW!

ERA detractors will tell you that conditions are already improving for American women, but how can they be improving when a woman makes less than $.59 to a man’s dollar–less than she made per dollar in 1951?

What the ERA Will Do For You:

• Are you a working woman who is tired of being denied respect and equal treatment at your workplace?
• Do you care about being compensated with equal pay for equal work?
• Do you want to see women holding more leadership and political positions?
  
• Would you like to live in an America in which you, as a woman, are legally guaranteed the same opportunities, rights, and freedoms as men?

If your answer is “yes”, the Equal Rights Amendment can help.  We at NOW are working ardently to ratify this important amendment to our Constitution. When we succeed, sex discrimination, in any form, will be rendered illegal and unconstitutional. Never again will it be acceptable for employers, businesses, educational institutions, or government organizations  to discriminate against women.  To learn  more about why it is important to ratify the ERA, visit this the “Why the ERA?” section of our website.

Full Text of the Equal Rights Amendment

Originally drafted by  suffragette and supporter of women’s rights, Alice Paul, in 1923, the ERA reads as follows:

Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.

Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.