Legal discrimination on the basis of sex is not a concept of the past. We experience gender injustice in our day-to-day lives that could be remedied by the Equal Rights Amendment. Furthermore, the progress of the past 60 years is not irreversible. Take the overturning of Roe v. Wade for example. Here are a few of the things the Equal Rights Amendment will do once adopted:

1. The ERA would provide a clear judicial standard for deciding cases of sex discrimination. The equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment was first applied to sex discrimination only in 1971, and it has never been interpreted to grant equal rights on the basis of sex in the uniform and inclusive way that the ERA would.

2. The ERA would protect access to reproductive healthcare, including abortion, federally and at the state level. The Supreme Court’s egregious disregard for precedent in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization—the case which reversed Roe v. Wade—reflects the precarious nature of many constitutional protections. We need a constitutional guarantee of sex equality to make it clear abortion is protected by our Constitution. State level ERAs have already been used successfully to invalidate abortion restrictions in Utah, Minnesota, and most recently Pennsylvania. Recent attacks on mifepristone (medication abortion), which came dangerously close to being successful, further demonstrate the necessity of the ERA. Reproductive autonomy is a fundamental aspect of gender justice, which the ERA will work to ensure. Learn more about the ERA and abortion from our friends at the ERA Project at Columbia Law School.

3. The Equal Rights Amendment will expand protections for queer and transgender folks. Queer youth, especially, are increasingly the focal point of hateful legislative attacks in the form of Don’t Say Gay bills and restrictions on trans-affirming healthcare. Just this term, the Supreme Court held that religious liberties supersede LGBTQ people’s right to exist in Elenis v. 303 Creative. Federal courts have held repeatedly that limitations on sex discrimination extend to sexual orientation and gender identity (Bostock v. Clayton County). The stronger sex protections we have in our Constitution, the greater the protections for LGBTQ+ people. Read this article by queer ERA scholar Kate Kelly on why the ERA is queer. Then, check out this resource from our friends at the ERA Project.

4. The ERA will work to combat inequities seen in education. We live in a country where young women and LGBTQIA+ youth's access to a meaningful education remains hindered, including by sexual harassment and sexual assault, archaic gender-based stereotypes, and even the inability to access necessary menstrual hygiene products. Title IX, which is determined by whoever is in the White House, has repeatedly failed women and trans people. We need a permanent, strong tool to ensure one’s gender identity does not determine their educational experience.

5. The ERA would provide a strong legal defense against a rollback of the significant advances in gender equality that have been achieved since the mid–20th century. Legislation such as Title IX, Violence Against Women Act, the Fair Pensions Act, and the Paycheck Fairness Act, pieces of legislation that would work to achieve social, political, and economic equality for all genders, have been opposed, weakened, and even overturned.

6. The Equal Rights Amendment will advance economic justice. The ERA will chip away at discriminatory policies women and queer people face in the workplace. Whether its discriminatory hiring practices, pay inequity, workplace harassment, unpaid parental leave, or unequal representation in boardrooms, the Equal Rights Amendment will be a tool to fight for the economic security and freedom of women and LGBTQ+ people.