What Is Equal Rights Amendment in ‘Mrs. America’?

This spring one of the most anticipated installments in prestige television is all about a legislative battle that’s been glossed over by history. Mrs. America chronicles the near ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, also known as the ERA, in the 1970s. But the actual history of this proposed amendment is a lot more twisting and complicated than even the FX limited series portrays.

First put before Congress in 1923, the ERA is a proposed amendment to the Constitution. If passed, the legislation would guarantee equal rights to all Americans regardless of sex. At the moment certain states have legal distinctions between men and women when it comes to matters of owning or renting property, getting a divorce, and employment. If passed, the ERA would change that, finally making men and women fully equal in the eyes of the law.

Though the ERA has been discussed a lot over the years, the closest it came to being ratified was in the 1970s. That’s the battle Mrs. America chronicles. Thanks to the support of the Women’s Movement and its leaders Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan, Shirley Chisholm, and Bella Abzug, the ERA gained a lot of traction during this time period. It was even approved by the U.S. House of Representatives in 1971 and the U.S. Senate in 1972, paving its way for ratification. At first the ERA had wide bipartisan support. Liberals saw it as a way to further the rights of women and conservatives planned to use the ratification to throw the feminists a bone. But the ERA never received enough support before its ratification deadline of March 22, 1979.

That was all thanks to Phyllis Schlafly. Originally Schlafly was more interested in U.S. defense and saw the ERA as little more than an innocuous piece of legislation. But as she started to listen more to the wives and mothers in her inner circle, Schlafly’s opinion changed. She came to believe that making women eligible for the draft would endanger the U.S.’s defense. Not only that but she also argued that the ERA would destroy the traditional family and make abortion more accessible, something Schlafly deeply opposed.

Using her connections through her attorney husband and her newsletter, Phyllis Schlafly started to band together conservative housewives to fight against the ERA. To the surprise of everyone involved, it worked. Before the ratification deadline Idaho, Kentucky, Nebraska, Tennessee, and South Dakota revoked their support of the ERA. By the time of its deadline and 1982 extension the amendment was only able to secure 33 of the 38 states it needed for ratification.

Mrs. America‘s battle for equality is something that’s still being fought today. In 2017 Nevada became the first state to ratify the ERA despite the fact its 1979 deadline and its 1982 extension had passed. Illinois then followed in 2018 and Virginia followed this January after a lengthy legal battle, making it the 38th state to ratify the amendment.

This passage has put courts in a difficult situation. Opponents of the ERA have argued that since its ratification deadline passed the amendment is officially dead and has been for decades. But supporters have noted that deadlines have been extended in the past and that the ERA’s can be extended again. It just goes to show the battle for equality the Women’s Movement waged 50 years ago is still as depressingly relevant as ever.

Watch Mrs. America on FX on Hulu