Tenth grade Social Studies class. My first term paper. Typed on a Remington Select with bottles of White Out and typewriter correction tape by my side. The topic: The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).
In case you haven't read it lately, the language in the ERA simply states:
Section 1: Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.
Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
The Amendment was originally introduced in 1923. In 1972, it finally passed in both the House and Senate but sits dormant, and is not part of the U.S. Constitution since it has only been ratified in 35 of the necessary 38 states.
As you might expect, I took the position 30-plus years ago that the Amendment should be passed. And, I still do. Not because women still need equal due process rights; the 14th Amendment takes care of that. Not because women still need equal opportunity for employment and compensation; the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Pay Act (1963), theoretically at least, afford these protections.
The ERA needs to be passed so that women finally have an equal opportunity to achieve and maintain their health.
Two weeks ago, the Institute of Medicine published a report: Women's Health Research: Progress, Pitfalls, and Promise. This report was commissioned by Health and Human Services to examine the status of women's health research over the last 20 years and to determine how effectively findings have been put into practice. The report's findings highlight that, indeed, there has been progress, particularly in the treatment of women with heart disease, breast and cervical cancer. There is a longer list of conditions for which progress has not been made.
Among the findings that I want to call attention to because, frankly, they are appalling, are those regarding the inclusion of women in clinical trials. Here is a brief synopsis; comments in parentheses are my editorial comments. What are blogs for, anyway?