Should the ERA be passed?

The ERA, or the Equal Rights Amendment, is a proposed amendment that would make it so that people can not be discriminated against because of their sex. Therefore, men and women would have the same rights as men. Although the gap between men and women's rights is getting smaller, there is still a lot of work to be done to improve the rights of women. There are many laws that discriminate against women, although most range from state to state. For example, rapist can have parental rights over their victims in 7 states. This means that if you are a child victim of rape, you might be parented by your abuser. There are many other purposes of the ERA being passed.

The Equal Rights amendment was first proposed in 1923 by Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman. Both of these women were leaders in the women's suffrage movement, or the right to vote for women. For most women's rights activists, the ERA seemed like a resonable step in the future for women. They believed that by passing this amendment, it would ensure the equal rights of all sexes and guarantee women could not be discriminated against because of their gender. However, many men and even some women agree that the Equal Rights Amendment would hurt women more than help them. COnservatives and religious memebers of the church rallied to stop this amendment. In the end, only 30 of the necessary 38 states ratified for the ERA.

Some believe that the ERA would get rid of important laws that protect women. The laws were enacted to protect women form hazardous ofr difficulties of certain jobs. They may also get rid of medical leave for pregnancy and may not pay women during this time. However, women should still get medical leave for these types of needs. Pregnancy is a medical emergency. Women need time to recover from pregnancy as much as a man would need time to recover from a broken spine. Everyone deserves paid medical leave if they are unable to work for a medical-related reason.

The ERA would also change one major law, the draft. If the ERA is passed, women would most likely have to apply for the draft when they turn 18. This means that women would also be sent out to war if one were to occur. However, the government already has the right to draft women into war. Currently, Congress doesn't rely on the draft but rather a voluntary military. Still, women do not currently have to apply for the draft. Time, and most likely war, will tell if women can be drafted without applying or if the ERA will have to be enacted beforehand.

Regardless on your stance of the ERA, you cannot deny that it is a very important potential amendment. Passing this amendment would guarantee equal rights for everyone no matter what their gender is. I believe that the ERA should be passed. Women should be gauranteed the same rights as men, even if they have most of the same rights today. This may also prevent in discrimination of women, meaning men can't make fun of women becaue of their gender.