Question

Phyllis Schlafly a pioneer in modern conservatism is best known for her work in stopping which piece of legislation?

Answer 1

The Equal Rights Amendment

The Equal Rights Amendment, formulated as early as 1923 by the National Women's Party, proposed that "equality of rights under the law shall not be abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." When feminist groups in the 1960s and 1970s pushed for Congress to propose this as an amendment to the Constitution, conservatives such as Schlafly opposed it. The House of Representatives gave its approval in 1970; the Senate did so in 1972.  The next step was ratification by the states.  But the campaign against the amendment led by Schlafly contributed to its demise, failing to achieve ratification.  A key point Schlafly focused on was that women would then be subject to military draft and military combat service in the same way as men, and this became the key issue regarding the defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment.