Slow Start
To become an amendment
ERA must have two-thirds
approval of Congress and
ratification by three-fourths of
the state legislatures (38)
within seven years of
Congressional approval. Six
legislatures have already
rejected the bill, two within
the last month.
A victory for the
amendment in Virginia today
would have provided impetus
to a nationwide campaign for
ratification that is fast
beginning to falter. Instead,
momentum is growing to send
ERA to the graveyard of
unratified bills.
A look at educational and
employment statistics,
however, shows that there is
indeed justification for claims
of discrimination against
women.
Advocates of the
amendment say it is needed
because presently, there exist
many laws which discriminate
against both sexes, mostly to
the disadvantage of women.
Among these are the criminal
laws of several states which
grant women heavier penalties
than men for the same crime.
Other areas where
discrimination is widespread
are the admissions, scholarship
and hiring policies of public
colleges. The
Charlottesville-Albemarle
League of Women Voters, in a
booklet they have prepared
backing ERA, cite several
examples of educational
discrimination.
Perhaps the most startling
of these is the fact that since
1929, women's applications to
medical school have increased
300%, while men's have
increased only 29%; yet
women's admissions to medical
school have declined.
Discrimination also exists in
both private and public
employment. Assembled under
the rubric of protective
employment legislation,
women in 26 states are barred
from certain occupations or
professions open to men, and
in 18 states some women are
not permitted to work at night
except in occupations such as
nurses, telephone operators
and scrub-women.
