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.

PHILADELPHIA — Progressive activists in Congress have put mounting pressure on President Joe Biden to direct the archivist of the United States to certify and publish the Equal Rights Amendment — which would become the first explicit mention of women in the U.

Biden announced that the Equal Rights Amendment should be considered a ratified addition to the U.S. Constitution.

U.S. President Joe Biden called the Equal Rights Amendment "the law of the land," on Friday, backing an effort to enshrine the change into the U.S. Constitution even though it long ago failed to secure the approval of enough states to become an amendment.

The move has no immediate legal force but will likely spark lawsuits that advocates hope will restore abortion rights.

Did Florida ever ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, the 1972 amendment that declared women equal under the law?

President Joe Biden says he believes Equal Rights Amendment should be added to the Constitution; archivist of the U.S. says it cannot.