The MN NOW Constitutional Equality Committee works to add an amendment guaranteeing protections for gender equality in both our federal and state constitutions.
While the passage of legislation has moved us toward gender equality, legislation can and has been reversed by future legislation. The only way to ensure that we continue moving forward and not back again, is to ensure gender equality in the bedrock of our government, the constitution.
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), written by suffragist Alice Paul, was introduced in Congress in 1923 for the first time. In 1972, it easily passed both houses of Congress and went to the state legislatures for ratification.