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.