The move has no immediate legal force but will likely spark lawsuits that advocates hope will restore abortion rights.

President Joe Biden’s declaration the Equal Rights Amendment is “the law of the land” likely only sets up more debates for Congress and the courts.

Presidents have no direct role in approving constitutional amendments. So what could President Biden’s pronouncement recognizing a new one actually do?

In his final week as president, Biden is using his bully pulpit to try to push forward the amendment that would enshrine sex equality in the U.S. Constitution.

The struggle over the Equal Rights Amendment started more than a century ago when suffragist Alice Paul first proposed it shortly after the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the

President Joe Biden announced a major opinion Friday that the Equal Rights Amendment is ratified, enshrining its protections into the Constitution, a last-minute move that some believe could pave the way to bolstering reproductive rights.

President Joe Biden renewed his call for the Equal Right Amendment to be ratified, but is stopping short of taking any action on the matter in his final days in office.

The ERA’s deadline expired decades ago, but the president argues that recent approvals by three states put the amendment over the top.

Biden announced that the Equal Rights Amendment should be considered a ratified addition to the U.S. Constitution.

Supporters say it is needed to protect against discrimination. Opponents argue the timetable to have it become part of the Constitution has passed.

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.