President Biden says he believes the amendment has met the requirements to be enshrined in the Constitution. Its history has been long and complex.

The Equal Rights Amendment, which would prohibit discrimination based on gender, was sent to the states for ratification in 1972. Congress set a deadline of 1979 for three-quarters of state legislatures to ratify the amendment, then extended it to 1982.

President Joe Biden's executive opinion on the Equal Rights Amendment comes in the final days of his presidency. Some local advocates wish he and Democrats had acted sooner.