April 30, 2021
by Anne Schlafly Cori
Last week, North Dakota officially notified the U.S. House, the U.S. Senate, and the Archivist that its ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment in 1975 expired at the seven-year deadline set by Congress: March 22, 1979. So North Dakota’s ratification of ERA is no longer valid and must not be counted among the “thirty-eight” states that passed ERA (three of which only ratified in the last four years).
I suggest that other states follow North Dakota’s example and use their model legislation to clarify their position on ERA. The ERA proponents are using votes made fifty years ago to press their claim that ERA is alive and valid today. If ERA is such a good idea, then Americans would be clamoring for it, but it remains very controversial. Eagle Forum was founded because women opposed the harms that ERA would cause by making men and women interchangeable in every situation.
Another point to consider is if the Leftists have their way and make a 51st state out of the District of Columbia, then any amendment to the Constitution would need to be ratified by the legislatures of 39 (not 38) states — and a large city does not have a state legislature!
As Phyllis Schlafly said, ERA died on March 22, 1979, because that was the deadline set by Congress. I was there with a thousand Eagles at the victory party in Washington, D.C. The other side attempted to rain on our parade by calling in a fake bomb threat, but the celebration was not dampened by the sore losers! (There were two ERA victory parties in D.C.: March 22, 1979, and June 30, 1982.)
Anne Schlafly Cori is the Chairman of Eagle Forum. She is also the daughter of our founder, Phyllis Schlafly.
