Credit…Associated Press, Getty Images, National Archives, Erin Schaff/The New York Times

President Biden said on Friday that he believes the Equal Rights Amendment met the requirements of ratification as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution. But his remarks were likely symbolic, as he declined to order the government to finalize the process by officially publishing it, a move that could invite legal challenges.

Under the Constitution, Mr. Biden does not have a direct role in approving amendments. Colleen Shogan, the national archivist, said last month that she could not certify the amendment “due to established legal, judicial and procedural decisions.”

The amendment would guarantee equality for women, improving pay equity, strengthening domestic violence and sexual harassment protections and blocking discrimination against pregnant people. Over the years, conservative activists who were opposed to the amendment argued that it could lead to a constitutional right to abortion.

The amendment has been ratified in 38 states, meeting the requirement that it receive ratification in three-quarters of state legislatures before becoming part of the Constitution.

But opponents say that did not happen within a deadline set by Congress, and they note that several of the 38 states have since moved to withdraw their ratification.

Here are some of the key dates in the amendment’s history.

Image

Alice Paul celebrating the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, in 1920. Three years later, she wrote the first version of the Equal Rights Amendment.Credit…The Crowley Company/Library of Congress, via Associated Press

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