On March 22, 1972, the United States Senate passed the Equal Rights Amendment by a vote of 84 to 8.
The Senate and House of Representatives had finally approved an amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing women's rights with the simple declaration that "equality of rights shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex."
The Senate's approval of the ERA sent the amendment to the states for ratification. To become part of the Constitution, a proposed amendment requires a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress followed by ratification by three-fourths of state legislatures, a total of 38 out of 50 states.
The ERA had been introduced in every session of Congress since 1923. In previous decades, the Senate had passed versions that feminists felt limited the effects or watered down the intent of the amendment.
In 1970, the House of Representatives passed the ERA for the first time but the Senate did not. Finally, during the 92nd session of Congress, the House passed the ERA in October 1971 and the Senate approved it in March 1972. Unfortunately, the ERA ultimately fell three states short of approval, when only 35 states had ratified it before the final 1982 deadline.