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For the women of Virginia 
and the women of America, the 
resolution has finally passed.

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[cheers]

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[NARRATOR:] Last January, 
Virginia became the 
latest state to ratify a 
constitutional amendment

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that the country has 
been fighting about 
for nearly 100 years:

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the Equal Rights Amendment.

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But the move quickly 
drew challenges....

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[REPORTER:] Five Republican 
Attorneys General are 
seeking to block an effort

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to see the Equal Rights 
Amendment adopted into 
the US constitution.

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[NARRATOR:] The heart of 
the ERA is only 24 words.

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It would bar discrimination 
on the basis of sex.

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And the story of its 
long, circuitous path

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illustrates the changing debate 
in America about women's rights.

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[NEWSREEL:] The most dramatic 
step to date in woman's 
campaign for equal rights.

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[NARRATOR:] In 1920, women had 
just secured the right to vote.

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[NEWSREEL:] Women in Illinois 
are quick to register and vote

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while energetic suffrage 
adherents realize their 
long campaign is over.

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[NARRATOR:] The struggle for 
suffrage had taken decades.

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And the final few years had 
pushed leaders like Alice Paul,

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a founder of the 
National Woman's Party,

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to take radical 
steps for the cause.

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[NEWSREEL:] Ms. Paul, a 
dramatic campaigner, had gone 
on a hunger strike earlier

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in an effort to force 
congressional action.

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[NARRATOR:] But for 
Paul, winning the vote 
was just the beginning.

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Many states had laws that 
made it difficult for 
married women to work.

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If married women worked, 
they didn't necessarily 
own their own earnings.

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And they didn't have the same 
rights as husbands and fathers 
over their own children.

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So they thought that if they 
had a constitutional amendment

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that made discrimination 
against women illegal 
and unconstitutional,

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that would be a huge step 
towards women actually 
being equal in society.

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[NARRATOR:] Paul and her 
collaborators proposed 
what became known as the 
Equal Rights Amendment,

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and it was first introduced 
into Congress in 1923.

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But the seemingly 
straightforward idea

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raised concerns from 
many of the women

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who had worked 
together for suffrage.

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[SUK:] They were worried 
that it would wipe out laws

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that they had worked 
to get on the books

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to actually protect 
women in the workplace.

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[NEWSREEL:] America at 
the turn of the century.

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On the assembly 
line, as in the home,

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a woman's work is never done.

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[NARRATOR:] Those special 
protections for women, 
like shorter work days,

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were hard won by progressive 
reformers like Florence Kelley,

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and based on the 
idea that women,

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particularly vulnerable 
to exploitation,

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needed to be 
treated differently.

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The reformers and labor 
unions feared these 
protections would be undercut

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by an amendment guaranteeing 
equality of the sexes.

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[SUK:] That fear was 
not unreasonable,

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because the Supreme Court 
did strike down a law

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that guaranteed minimum 
wages for women.

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They pointed to the fact 
that women now have the 
constitutional right to vote

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as evidence that sex 
inequality was on its way out.

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[NARRATOR:] But for 
people like Alice Paul,

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special labor protections 
for one gender were at odds 
with the idea of equality.

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[NARRATOR:] It was a 
debate that would follow 
the ERA through time

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as women entered the workforce 
in increasing numbers....

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[NEWSREEL:] Employers find 
that women can do many jobs as 
well as men, some jobs better.

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[NARRATOR:] And Alice Paul 
and the National Woman's Party 
continued to press their case

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for the ERA over the 
next four decades.

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[NEWSREEL:] Surrounded by 
memories of suffragettes, 
these ladies have pursued 
the goal of a fair and

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equal break rate 
for American women.

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[NARRATOR:] By the early 1970s, 
labor opposition to the ERA was 
receding, in part because labor

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protections were expanding 
for both women and men.

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And with growing bipartisan 
support in congress, 
and momentum from

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The burgeoning 
women's movement...

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Equal rights to have a job, 
to have respect, to not be 
viewed as a piece of Meat...

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[NARRATOR:] The calls 
for the ERA were becoming 
too powerful to ignore.

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[ALICE PAUL:] Gradually instead 
of a little tiny cluster, 
we now have 10 million women

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backing this particular 
measure before Congress.

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[BELLA ABZUG:] We will settle 
for nothing less in the ultimate 
than equal representation

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in all levels of 
political power.

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[NARRATOR:] Congresswoman 
Martha Griffiths had 
repeatedly introduced the ERA

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into the House over the years

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and finally succeeded 
in forcing the Amendment 
onto the floor in 1970,

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where the broad backing for 
the measure soon became clear.

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[SUK:] Once it did 
get a full debate,

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well over 90 percent 
of the House actually 
voted for the ERA.

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[NEWSREEL:] The House 
today by the overwhelming 
vote of 354 to 23,

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passed a proposed 
constitutional amendment

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to guarantee equal 
rights for women.

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[NARRATOR:] By 1972, 
both the House and Senate 
had passed the ERA.

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[NEWSREEL:] The agreement now 
goes to the states and must 
be ratified by 38 of them.

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[NARRATOR:] And within one 
year, 30 states, out of the 
38 needed, ratified it...

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but then, an opposition 
movement emerged,

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led by conservative 
Phyllis Schlafly.

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The wife has the legal right to 
be a full-time wife and mother

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supported by her husband.

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[NARRATOR:] The campaign 
found a receptive audience

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among women concerned about 
changing gender roles.

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The major objection to 
the equal rights amendment

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is that it would 
take away from women

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rights and privileges 
which they now have.

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[NARRATOR:] Schlafly's push 
dovetailed with the rise of 
the powerful religious Right,

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and ERA proponents were stunned.

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The women here now fear they 
are facing an organized enemy,

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the Moral Majority and 
conservative groups

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who have found a newly powerful 
voice since the 1980 election.

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[NARRATOR:] In the 
end, the amendment 
fell three states short

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when the ratification 
period expired in 1982.

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The chimes strike at midnight 
for ratification of the ERA.

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At that moment the 
ERA becomes DOA.

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[NARRATOR:] But now over 
three decades later,

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as the number of women in 
Congress and State Houses 
reaches a record high,

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a new generation is 
reviving the ERA.

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There is only one 
way to spell equality

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and that is simply ERA.

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[NARRATOR:] Women in 
the Nevada, Illinois and 
Virginia legislatures 
are leading the fight.

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[REPORTER:] In the wake 
of the MeToo movement and 
the fight for equal pay,

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the ERA came back to life.

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What do we want? 
Equal rights!

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When do we want it? 
Now!

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[REPORTER:] Democrats in 
Congress are pushing for its 
addition to the Constitution.

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[NARRATOR:] The House of 
Representatives voted to 
remove the 1982 deadline.

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But Senate Republicans and 
the Trump administration 
remain opposed.

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And there's also the 
question of the five states

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that have tried to rescind their 
ratifications of the amendment.

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[SUK:] Ongoing litigation 
makes it unclear when 
or if it will be added.

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[NARRATOR:] Today, a 
century after the ERA 
was first conceived,

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it continues to hang in limbo.

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Over the decades, women have 
made gains through other 
changes in laws and policies.

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But the need for 
ratification remains

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for many of the women at the 
center of the struggle now --

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as a way to recognize the 
work that's come before,

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and to ensure women's 
rights going forward.

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When you enshrine my 
constitutional rights,

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as a human being equal to men,

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well then that is the only 
thing that's acceptable.

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Persistence, faith, and 
hope fuel the indomitable 
spirit of this movement.

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We got tired but 
we did not faint.

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We became weary but 
we did not stop.

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History demands that 
we take a stand.

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The struggle continues 
and the work is not done.