Question

How did Phyllis Schlafly and her supporters invoke the principle of freedom in the battle over the ERA?

Answer 1

When feminist groups in the 1960s and 1970s pushed for Congress to propose the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), conservatives such as Phyllis Schlafly opposed it as something that would harm women rather than help them, that would infringe on their rights and freedoms rather than grant them greater freedom.   The ERA stated that "equality of rights under the law shall not be abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."  A key point Schlafly focused on was that this would force women to be subject to military draft and military combat service in the same way as men.  This became the key issue regarding the defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment.  House of Representatives gave its approval to the ERA in 1970; the Senate did so in 1972.   But the amendment failed to achieve ratification by the states, due to the influence of the movement led by Schlafly.