LA EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT- For those old enough to remember, the Equal Rights Amendment was a hot topic in the 1970’s. The ERA is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of gender. But it has yet to be added to the U.S. Constitution because not all states ratified the amendment, including Louisiana. The ERA needs 38 states for ratification. And for the first time many years, the Louisiana Legislature is once again, set to consider ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment. If successful, Louisiana would be the last state needed to adopt the amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Senator JP Morrell (D-New Orleans) is leading this latest effort and sees it as a chance to send a message to the rest of the country.
“This really could be an opportunity to tell the United States we’re not the same Louisiana we’ve been when it comes to issues like this,” Morrell explained.
The Louisiana Legislature has debated the amendment many times, but never got past committee. However Morrell says times have changed.
"There is a forced acknowledgement that women make up more than 50% of the electorate.," Morrell said. "And as such, you can’t simply ignore this issue and hope that it goes away."
Louisiana’s ERA effort will likely draw both support and opposition from across the country.
