Executive officer of 4ERA.org
Executive officer of 4ERA.org, a national nonpartisan single-issue organization
PROFILE
Idella Moore
Guest
FROM Idella Moore
To the Point
An Old Controversy Gets a New Name On this 4th of July, a lot of people may think that equal rights for women are part of the Constitution. They are not. The drive for women's equality under the law began in 1923, three years after the granting of women's suffrage. In 1972, Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment by the required two thirds of both houses. But in the next ten years, it gathered just 35 of the 38 states it also needed, failing to meet a deadline set by the Congress. With Nancy Pelos i now the first female House Speaker in history, the ERA is back under a new name . The key sentence: "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." On this archived edition of To the Point, does an idea as old as women's suffrage finally have a chance? Would women lose as much as they might gain?
To the Point
An Old Controversy Gets a New Name Fifty years after the civil rights movement began, many people think equal rights for women are part of the Constitution. They are not. The drive for women's equality under the law began in 1923, three years after the granting of women's suffrage. In 1972, Congress gave the Equal Rights Amendment the required two-thirds vote, but by a deadline of 1982, it was three states short of the 38 needed to pass. With Nancy Pelosi now the first female House Speaker in history, the ERA is back under a new name: the Women's Equality Amendment . The key sentence states "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." Does an idea as old as women's suffrage finally have a chance? Would women lose as much as they might gain? We get several perspectives from political activists, attorneys and social critics.
Recommended
KCRW Features
One Year Later: Rebuilding from the Thomas Fire This week marks one year since the Thomas Fire descended on the city of Ventura. It burned more than 500 homes within city limits. Since then, roughly half of those properties have received the green-light to start construction, but only a handful have actually broken ground. We visit one neighborhood where some of the first homes are getting rebuilt.