Biden backs Equal Rights Amendment in final push before leaving office

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Outgoing US President Joe Biden has thrown his support behind efforts to enshrine the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) into the Constitution, in a last-minute move to secure his legacy before leaving office.

In a statement on Friday, Biden called for the long-debated amendment—banning discrimination based on sex—to be recognised as law, despite ongoing legal uncertainties.

“I have supported the Equal Rights Amendment for more than 50 years,” Biden said. “We, as a nation, must affirm and protect women’s full equality once and for all.”

A Legal and political battle

The US Constitution does not explicitly guarantee equal rights based on sex, a gap that has fuelled decades of debate. Supporters argue the ERA is necessary to prevent courts from dismissing sex-based discrimination cases.

The amendment was first introduced in 1923 but faced repeated resistance in Congress. It finally gained the required two-thirds majority in both chambers in the 1970s, but the ratification process stalled when it fell short of the 38-state threshold before a 1982 deadline.

In recent years, renewed concerns over abortion rights and LGBTQ protections have revived efforts to push the ERA forward. Nevada, Illinois, and Virginia ratified the amendment between 2017 and 2020, meeting the required state count—albeit decades past the original deadline.

Legal uncertainty

Biden insists the ERA is now law, calling it the 28th Amendment. However, the U.S. national archivist has refused to certify it, citing expired deadlines and legal challenges from states that withdrew their ratification.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand welcomed Biden’s move, calling it “a historic day for equality.” She suggested that restrictive abortion laws could now face legal challenges under the ERA.

However, with President-elect Donald Trump set to return to office on Monday, the fate of the ERA remains uncertain. Trump’s appointment of three conservative Supreme Court justices in his first term paved the way for the 2022 rollback of federal abortion rights, adding another layer of complexity to the fight for gender equality in US law.