Outgoing President Joe Biden has thrown his weight behind efforts to dedicate Equal Rights Amendment Part of the United States Constitution.

Friday’s announcement was the latest in a series of 11th-hour statements and actions by the executive branch, as Biden seeks to cement his legacy despite one term in office.

In the news He releasesBiden gave unequivocal support for the proposed amendment, which stipulates that equal rights under the law shall not be denied “on the basis of sex.”

He also said it should be considered the law of the land, despite the continuing legal ambiguity.

“I have supported the Equal Rights Amendment for more than 50 years, and I have long been clear that no one should be discriminated against based on their sex,” Biden said.

“We as a nation must affirm and protect women’s full equality once and for all.”

Legal ambiguity

Although the US Constitution guarantees “equal protection of the laws” to all citizens, there is nothing in the document that explicitly refers to sex or gender.

This has led some scholars and activists to argue that the Equal Rights Amendment is necessary to prevent judges from dismissing discrimination based on sex or gender as falling outside the law’s jurisdiction.

For example, the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was among those who believed that the protections provided by the Constitution did not extend to sex or gender.

“You don’t need the Constitution to reflect the desires of the existing society,” Scalia told California Lawyer magazine in 2011. “The Constitution certainly does not require discrimination on the basis of sex. The only question is whether it prohibits it. It does not.”

More recently, in 2022, Justice Clarence Thomas published an opinion arguing that the Supreme Court “should reconsider” cases that established the right to same-sex marriage and contraception, on the grounds that they may not fall under constitutional protections.

He described those precedents as “clearly wrong decisions.”

The road to belief is bumpy

It is unclear whether Biden’s statement on Friday will allow the Equal Rights Amendments to clear the final hurdles to be considered settled law.

The amendment has been a long time in the making. Beginning in 1923, lawmakers repeatedly attempted to pass versions of the amendment several times, but found the U.S. Congress largely opposed.

But as the twentieth century progressed, the composition of Congress began to change, with more female politicians and minorities joining the largely white, male legislature.

In 1971, Democrat Martha Griffith once again reintroduced the Equal Rights Amendment in the House — and it passed with the necessary two-thirds support. The following year, the Senate approved the bill by an overwhelming majority.

But amending the US Constitution is a difficult process, one that requires participation at the federal and state levels. Three-quarters of state legislatures also need to ratify the amendment.

This is where the Equal Rights Amendment got stuck. Congress had allowed seven years to ratify the amendment, but only 35 states had done so by that point. 38 of the 50 states were needed.

Even when Congress extended the deadline to 1982, no other country succeeded in ratifying the amendment. The Equal Rights Amendment was largely considered defeated.

Renewed impetus

But recent concerns over abortion access and threats to LGBTQ rights have reignited interest in the amendment. Legal groups, including the American Bar Association, have questioned whether imposing the deadline was constitutional in the first place.

States began again to consider ratifying the law. It received approval in Nevada in 2017, then Illinois in 2018. In 2020, Virginia It became the decisive thirty-eighth country to ratify it.

Biden said he believed the measure made the Equal Rights Amendment the law of the land.

“In keeping with my oath and my duty to the Constitution and country, I affirm what I believe and what three-quarters of the states have ratified: The Twenty-Eighth Amendment is the law of the land, guaranteeing all Americans equal rights and protection under the law regardless.” he wrote in a statement on Friday.

But the legal fate of the Equal Rights Amendment remains unclear. Some states have taken action to revoke their initial certification, including Kentucky and Nebraska.

The US National Archives also refused to certify the amendment, stating that it had long expired Delivery time.

Ultimately, Biden, as president, has no direct authority to force the amendment’s adoption. However, his high-profile gesture of support drew applause from longtime advocates of constitutional change.

For example, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York praised Biden’s decision on social media.

“This is an amazing moment for reproductive freedom, and a historic day for equality — especially as Americans face further decline in reproductive freedom as the next administration takes office,” she said. booksreferring to policies President-elect Donald Trump.

During his first term, Trump appointed three conservative justices to the Supreme Court, paving the way for the Supreme Court Resolution 2022 Who overturned the federal right to abortion. Trump takes office for a second term on Monday.

Gillibrand noted that subsequent laws limit access miscarriage And other reproductive health care measures could conflict with the amendment, if it were to become law.

“Now, women living in states that restrict their reproductive freedoms can — and should — file lawsuits to overturn these unconstitutional sex-discriminatory laws.”