John Oliver wants 1 final state to finally push the Equal Rights Amendment across the finish line

John Oliver wants 1 more state to ratify the ERA
(Image credit: Screenshot/youTube/Last Week Tonight)

"Tuesday marked the 100th anniversary of Congress passing the 19th Amendment, which enshrined in the Constitution women's right to vote," John Oliver said on Sunday's Last Week Tonight. That's "both a long time and, when you think about it, not nearly long enough. In an ideal world, women would have been guaranteed the right to vote for a lot longer than Kirk Douglas has been breathing."

"Tonight, I want to focus on a milestone for gender equality that we haven't actually achieved yet: the Equal Rights Amendment," Oliver said. "The core of the Equal Rights Amendment is just 24 words long, and the idea behind it is broadly popular." The ERA, under consideration since 1923, sailed through Congress in 1972, and 30 states quickly ratified it, but the amendment requires 38 states, and "we are tantalizingly close — 37 states have ratified it over the years," Oliver said. "Tonight we thought it might be a good time to ask why has it taken so long to pass the ERA, what would it mean if we did, and how can we finally get it done?"

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.