U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono, representing Hawaii, has joined forces with fellow lawmakers to reintroduce a bipartisan resolution aimed at advancing the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The resolution seeks to remove the deadline set by Congress in 1972, which currently stands as a barrier to the ERA becoming the 28th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Senator Hirono expressed her pride in Hawaii being the first state to ratify the ERA and emphasized the need for constitutional amendments to guarantee equal rights for future generations of women. "With the reintroduction of this resolution, we reaffirm our commitment to fighting for equal opportunity and equal rights for all," she stated. "It has been over a century-long fight to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, and we won’t stop until gender equity is enshrined in the Constitution."
The ERA aims to ensure that “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex.” Despite its passage in Congress on March 22, 1972, and immediate ratification by Hawaii on that same day, an imposed seven-year deadline required approval from 38 states for it to be added to the Constitution. Virginia's ratification in 2020 marked this threshold's fulfillment.
The resolution has garnered support from several legislators including Senator Lisa Murkowski from Alaska and Representatives Ayanna Pressley, Madeleine Dean, Sylvia Garcia, Sydney Kamlager-Dove, and Jennifer McClellan.