Last Friday, former President Biden declared the Equal Rights Amendment "the law of the land" - so why has it failed to become the nation's 28th constitutional amendment.

The Equal Rights Amendment, which would prohibit discrimination based on gender, was sent to the states for ratification in 1972. Congress set a deadline of 1979 for three-quarters of state legislatures to ratify the amendment, then extended it to 1982.

The remarks were largely a symbolic gesture of support for a century-long campaign to enshrine gender equality in the Constitution. But advocates said they could add heft to a future legal fight.

U.S. President Joe Biden called the Equal Rights Amendment "the law of the land," on Friday, backing an effort to enshrine the change into the U.S. Constitution even though it long ago failed to secure the approval of enough states to become an amendment.

Presidents have no direct role in approving constitutional amendments. So what could President Biden’s pronouncement recognizing a new one actually do?

President Biden asserted the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, is part of the Constitution, arguing Friday it had met the criteria to be added as

President Joe Biden announced on Friday that he considers the Equal Rights Amendment to have been ratified. His statement “affirm[ed] what I believe and what three-fourths of the states have ratified: the 28th Amendment is the law of the land,

New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand says at a news conference an hour after President Joe Biden issued a statement of his belief that the Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified that the day marks a historic achievement for women and girls as equality becomes enshrined in the Constitution after Biden's recognition of the ERA as law enables millions to challenge discriminatory laws in court.