From our nation’s founding until 1920, women were generally shunned from American politics and virtually invisible in our democracy. Laws and policies ensured that we were largely not seen and not heard. The founding of the League of Women Voters, by the very suffragists who fought for the passage of the 19th Amendment, is an important part of women’s history in this nation – and that history should never be erased.

The League of Women Voters has been a steadfast advocate for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), and is committed to continuing this fight until equal rights is enshrined in the United States Constitution. Although the required 38 states have ratified the ERA, it has not yet been published in the US Constitution, thanks to an arbitrary time limit imposed by Congress in the 1970s. Read this update to understand the status of the ERA as of January 9, 2025, as well as the conflicting views about how to finally get it published.