Biden says the Equal Rights Amendment should be considered ratified

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden announced Friday that the Equal Rights Amendment should be considered a ratified addition to the U.S. Constitution, making a symbolic statement that’s unlikely to alter a decades-long push for gender equality.

“It is long past time to recognize the will of the American people,” Biden said. “In keeping with my oath and duty to Constitution and country, I affirm what I believe and what three-fourths of the states have ratified: the 28th Amendment is the law of the land, guaranteeing all Americans equal rights and protections under the law regardless of their sex.”

The Democrat’s statement, coming days before he is replaced by Republican Donald Trump, will probably not have any impact. Presidents do not have any role in the amendment process. The leader of the National Archives had previously said that the amendment cannot be certified because it wasn’t ratified before a deadline set by Congress.

On Friday, the National Archives reiterated the position by saying “the underlying legal and procedural issues have not changed.”

A senior Biden administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the White House’s plans, said Biden was not directing the archivist to certify the amendment, sidestepping what could have become a legal battle over the separation of powers.

Asked why he waited until the end of his term before speaking out about it, Biden said he “needed all the facts.”

Activists gathered outside the National Archives to celebrate Biden’s statement and call on the archivist to take action.

“Do your job,” said Zakiya Thomas, head of the ERA Coalition. “The president has done his.”

Claudia Nachega, a leader in the Young Feminist Party, said certifying the Equal Rights Amendment would signal “the beginning of a new American era that gives us a fighting chance of surviving a second Trump presidency.”

The Equal Rights Amendment, which would prohibit discrimination based on gender, was sent to the states for ratification in 1972. Congress set a deadline of 1979 for three-quarters of state legislatures to ratify the amendment, then extended it to 1982.

But it wasn’t until 2020, when Virginia lawmakers passed the amendment, that 38 states had ratified it. The archivist said Congress or the courts must change the deadline to consider the amendment as certified

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Chris Megerian And Darlene Superville, The Associated Press