The Equal Rights Amendment is Back

Seen at the Washington Post:

Federal and state lawmakers have launched a new drive to pass the Equal Rights Amendment, reviving a feminist goal that faltered a quarter-century ago when the measure did not gain the approval of three-quarters of the state legislatures.

The amendment, which came three states short of enactment in 1982, has been introduced in five state legislatures since January. Yesterday, House and Senate Democrats reintroduced the measure under a new name — the Women’s Equality Amendment — and vowed to bring it to a vote in both chambers by the end of the session.

When I first encountered the headline, I immediately wondered if folks on the right would squawk over the ERA due to shifts in how we think about gender and sexuality. Sure enough, an old, familiar name is mentioned:

In the 1970s, Schlafly and others argued that the ERA would lead to women being drafted by the military and to public unisex bathrooms. Today, she warns lawmakers that its passage would compel courts to approve same-sex marriages and deny Social Security benefits for housewives and widows.

While I probably wouldn’t mind much of what Schlafly and her ilk fear.perhaps some thought could be given to a more carefully worded amendment to remove that particular bogeyman?