The ERA has been ratified by 38 states as required by the U.S. Constitution. There is no requirement in the Constitution nor in the proposed Equal Rights Amendment that the ratification occur in a particular time frame. However, the enabling legislation that sent the ERA to the states for ratification included a seven-year deadline for ratification. It is the failure to meet this deadline that has kept this amendment from being certified.
Congress has the power to modify the enabling legislation at any time and did so when the original seven years expired. The U.S. House has voted to certify the ERA. Now it is time for the Senate to act. The filibuster is being used by a minority of senators to block ERA certification. I hope you will contact Sens. Shaheen and Hassan, and especially Senate Leader Schumer, and tell them to override the use of the filibuster on constitutional amendments. Don’t let the filibuster get in the way of establishing the equal rights of women in the U.S. Constitution. It is time.
Mary Till
Concord