Article Five of the United States Constitution provides a mechanism by which the Constitution can be amended. The process can be undertaken either by Congress or by a national convention, all of which bypass the President and the Supreme Court. In the case of the Equal Rights Amendment, which would have made discrimination on the basis of sex and gender illegal, the process worked through both houses of Congress by 1972, and was given an "expiration date" of 1979. By 1977, 35 of the necessary 38 states (which would constitute a three-fourths majority) had ratified the amendment. No more states would ratify it, and five would eventually repeal their ratification.

As the American Civil War came to a close and debates over rights of former slaves came to the forefront of national consciousness, the American Women's Rights movement, historically allied with abolitionist movements, began to debate whether the voting rights of black men should take precedence over that of (generally white) women. Many argued that a radical amendment which guaranteed voting rights for both women and black men would not get enough support. Students should consider what major social changes occurred immediately after the Civil War, and thus what the women's rights movement could feasibly split over. 

Incorrect answers are either: anachronistic (serving in the military), more likely to occur mid-Civil War (breaking into two movements and preventing civil discord), or not controversial enough (supporting the wounded).

Before fighting for their own voting rights amendment, female activists pressured government to add “gender” to the fifteenth amendment. The Fifteenth Amendment prohibited denial of voting rights based on one’s skin color, and American suffragettes unsuccessfully attempted to attach their own cause to its passage.

Roe v. Wade established the right of women to access abortion as a personal choice, though this ruling was nuanced with the declared need to protect human life and women’s health.

The federal workforce and government contractors were forced to end gender discrimination in hiring and employment after XO 11375. Government contractors like rubber companies and aircraft companies faced many court battles after the passage of this order.

In 1973, the male-only armed forces draft ended. Women were integrated into the military, representing all branches of the new volunteer corps. Women still faced discrimination, but became increasingly more accepted as soldiers.

Griswold v. Connecticut struck down a Connecticut Comstock law that prohibited citizens from using drugs or medical instruments for contraception. This right was later extended to unmarried couples in Eisenstadt v. Baird.

The League of Women Voters emerged as a new organization in the women’s rights movement after 1920, and set about directing the new female voting bloc. The organization remains active to this day and continue to mobilize politically minded women in the pursuit of women’s rights.

Before the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920, which gave women the right to vote, many Western states had already extended suffrage to their female residents, some decades previously. Wyoming, in particular, was especially forward-thinking, allowing women to vote since 1869, and had even made the preservation of women’s suffrage a condition of statehood. The successful passage of the Nineteenth Amendment was celebrated by women across the nation, but it would not prove powerful enough to unite all feminists. Indeed, the first feminist movement was quite diverse in opinions, with some women adopting a more traditional patriarchal self-conception, while others believed in the complete equality and immersion of women within society. Confounded by this lack of consensus, the women’s rights movement soon dissolved into separate factions, each pursuing different, and even sometimes conflicting, goals. Perhaps the best example of this reality was illustrated by the defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which was intended to prohibit gender discrimination. Surprisingly, the ERA did not enjoy popularity among most women, many of whom regarded its statements as running counter to traditional familial values. This, of course, helped ensure the ERA’s defeat, both in 1923 and in the case of its short-lived revival in 1972. While women have served in the US military since World War II, federal restrictions banned any female soldier from taking part in direct fighting – until just recently. This prohibition was lifted on January 24th, 2013, opening both combat zones and up the highest ranks of the military, including the Navy Seals and Marines, to qualified women.