The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution that states, "Equality of rights shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex." Originally proposed by Alice Paul and the Woman's Party in the 1920s, the ERA was designed to provide full citizenship rights and complete the process begun with woman suffrage. However, it was originally opposed by many women leaders, such as Eleanor Roosevelt, because it would block legislation designed to protect women workers from harsh factory conditions. The ERA seemed designed to help educated middle-class women, and so labor unions opposed it. By 1972, however, the feminist demand was for access to the workplace rather than protection from it, and most women's groups endorsed the measure. It did not seem controversial, and...