By CHRIS MEGERIAN, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden announced Friday that the Equal Rights Amendment should be considered a ratified addition to the U.S. Constitution, inserting himself into a long-running legal battle over gender equality.
“It is long past time to recognize the will of the American people,” Biden said in a statement. “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.”
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However, it’s unclear if his statement will have any impact. Presidents do not have any role in the amendment process. And the leader of the National Archives has said that the amendment cannot be certified because it wasn’t ratified before a deadline set by Congress.
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.
A rally including members of Congress was set for outside the National Archives later in the morning.
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.
