
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, December 11, 1993                   TAG: 9312110036
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

FEMINIST COALITION TRIES TO REVIVE ERA

A coalition of women's groups launched another drive Friday to pass the Equal Rights Amendment, arguing that a 1982 deadline for ratification was arbitrary and political.

Members of the ERA Summit said that because the measure passed 35 of the required 38 state legislatures by 1982, only three more states must pass it to make the amendment law.

"We are aware that it is within the prerogative of Congress to lift that expired deadline so that ratification of three additional states may be secured," said Allie Corbin Hixon, spokeswoman for the ERA Summit. "With an administration that favors constitutional equality for women, we also believe the time is now favorable to push our suit for justice for all."

Until the 18th Amendment establishing Prohibition, Hixon added, no deadline was ever placed on a proposed constitutional amendment.

The Equal Rights Amendment was introduced in Congress in 1923. The proposed amendment, written by feminist Alice Paul, stated simply: "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex."

by CNB