Equal Rights Amendment in the works

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Federal and state lawmakers have launched a drive to revive the Equal Rights Amendment, revisiting a feminist goal that faltered 25 years ago when the measure did not gain approval by three-quarters of state legislatures.

The constitutional amendment, which came three states short of enactment in 1982, has been introduced in five state legislatures since January. House and Senate Democrats reintroduced the measure Tuesday and pledged to bring it to a vote in both chambers by the end of the congressional session.

The amendment consists of 52 words and has one key line: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” That sentence would subject legal claims of gender discrimination to the same strict scrutiny given by courts to allegations of racial discrimination.