the amendments awaiting approval
the amendments awaiting approval
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What happens when amendments don't get ratified?
Since the Constitution's ratification in 1788, the United States Congress has added 27 amendments to the original document. Some of these amendments have given rights, prevented discrimination, clarified legal disputes, and limited the powers of the Government. Every single amendment that has been added went through the same process to get ratified, or officially approved. But what happens to all the amendments that don't make it through that process? What happens if the plan doesn’t get enough votes, or doesn’t get passed in enough states?
Amendments that get seriously considered but ultimately don’t get passed are known as dead amendments. Some of these amendments can sit for eternity, forever waiting to be approved, while some get quickly forgotten about. There is also a subset of amendments that are still being fought for to this day, with many supporters backing them up.
"Equal Pay Day Rally and Press Conference Chicago Illinois 4-10-18 0665" by www.cemillerphotography.com is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0; Image has been cropped
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was originally proposed almost a hundred years ago. It set out to stop discrimination on the basis of gender.
The ERA reads:
“Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”
The height of the ERA’s popularity was in the 1960s and 70s, when the women’s rights movement was gaining support. It was then proposed in Congress and was eventually passed. Despite passing through Congress, the amendment still required ratification in a minimum of 38 in order to actually be added to the Constitution. Despite the large amount of support it got during this time, the amendment took decades to reach its 38 state requirement, with the final ratification occurring just this year.
Despite meeting its requirements to be amended, the ERA has yet to be ratified for a multitude of reasons: Five of the states that previously ratified it have now asked to take back their approval and the deadlines set in the original amendment have long passed. Despite the original amendment dates being passed, the House of Representatives did vote to remove the original deadline. However, because the date passed ages ago, this decision has caused a healthy amount of controversy, with the case’s fate most likely being decided by the Supreme Court on whether or not the amendment can be even considered for ratification.
Generation Ratify is a youth-led movement to ratify the ERA. They work to educate, advocate, elect, and empower all across America. After just one year since their establishment, the group had accumulated more than five hundred members to their cause. Rosie Couture, an executive director of Generation Ratify, believes the main reason the ERA has yet to be ratified is because of the fierce split between the parties.
“Although there used to be wide support from both parties, the ERA has been boiled down to be a fight over abortion. Given Republicans' firm pro-life stance, it has been stalled in the Senate from ratification, because of the Republican majority and leadership,” said Couture.
Another example of an amendment’s ratification getting delayed is the Child Labor Amendment. Originally proposed in 1916, the main goal of this amendment was to limit the number of hours that those under the age of eighteen are able to work.
Although this amendment has yet to gain enough support from the states, this specific amendment has no time limit to it. The main reason it has not been added is because people believe there are enough laws around child labor. Since Congress already has some control over child labor from the Labor Standards Act, most people believe an amendment does not need to be added.
The ERA has the same central problem regarding its ratification; people just don’t think it matters enough. They believe that women are already equal, and that there are already laws in place to prevent discrimination. They think that changing the Constitution should only be for the most important issues. However, if that were the case, the 27th amendment would not exist. Why does the wage of Senators or Representatives matter more than the equality of women or the rights of children?
These two specific amendments have not been passed because the states do not find them important or memorable. However, some amendments fail when the House itself won’t pass them.
While many Americans may only consider participating in the vote for the next president, some are unaware of the fact that many of the laws that leave a huge impact on the American public are decided by Congress, the House of Representatives, and the local government. No matter your political views or your own personal opinion, it is always important to be vocal and active in politics- you never know when Congress may make a historic decision.
This is Alicia's second year at Edgewood and first year on the Edge staff. She loves writing, debating, and bettering Brevard. She hopes to educate and entertain the members of her community.
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