Equal Rights Amendment is getting a Second Push

"Federal and state lawmakers have launched a new drive to pass the Equal Rights Amendment, reviving a feminist goal that faltered a quarter-century ago when the measure did not gain the approval of three-quarters of the state legislatures.

The amendment, which came three states short of enactment in 1982, has been introduced in five state legislatures since January. Yesterday, House and Senate Democrats reintroduced the measure under a new name -- the Women's Equality Amendment -- and vowed to bring it to a vote in both chambers by the end of the session." - Washington Post

According to the article, the ERA was first proposed in 1923.... it's unbelievable the amount of time common sense takes. I mean really, how could it have failed to be approved? Who says no to equal rights? What do the nay-sayers believe equal rights are, that they would say "absolutely not!"?
Then again, what does passing the Bill accomplish? Is it just words that say women and men are equal? Could that really be contested legally--will the Bill affect the legal system, the hiring process, the payment of salaries..?

Read the full article at the Washington Post.

This follows so closely on the heels of a parallel struggle in Canada to preserve the function of the Status of Women Department. I've got a preliminary page up with a brief timeline following the dismantling of the agency by the Harper Government since September 2006. The article is incomplete, however the resources are excellent.