The ERA, as interpreted by pro-abortion activists, could create a constitutional right to abortion. Fortunately, three-fourths of the states are required to ratify a constitutional amendment. This did not happen before the ERA's ratification deadline of March 22, 1979. This deadline was written into the original amendment, but radical pro-abortion activists have chosen to ignore it.
Between the years 2017 and 2020, the legislatures of Nevada, Illinois, and Virginia voted to "ratify" the dead amendment. After Virginia voted in favor of the amendment in January 2020, these radical activists argued that the amendment had surpassed the 38-state minimum required to ratify an amendment. This, of course, refuses to take into account both the deadline and the fact that many states that voted to ratify the amendment 40+ years ago might now hold different stances.
Finally, Virginia has come to understand the ruling of Judge Contreras, who ruled in Virginia v. Ferriero that the ERA's deadline expired decades ago. In his decision, he said that it would be "absurd" for the Archivist to certify the ERA as part of the Constitution. His ruling follows a streak of decisions by federal judges who have all ruled that the amendment is dead.
