On Thursday, Senate Democrats failed to break a Republican filibuster of a bill that would have extended the ratification deadline for the Equal Rights Amendment. Of course, the idea that Congress can "extend" a ratification deadline on a constitutional amendment is absurd. The ratification measure that thirty-five states voted to approve had a 1979 deadline. To change the deadline would be to change the measure.

The Equal Rights Amendment, which would ensure "equality of rights under the law" is not denied on the basis of sex, is a Trojan horse to eliminate single-sex spaces, enroll women in the draft, and, most importantly for progressives, legalize abortion. Since men can't get pregnant, the argument goes—or, at least, how the argument used to go—"equality" demands that women be able to end a pregnancy whenever, however, and for whatever reason they wish. Progressives have historically denied that these were their intentions, but here's Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, flagged originally by National Review's John McCormack:

Anyone who thinks the [Equal Rights Amendment] isn’t necessary at a time like this is not paying attention to the terrible things happening in this country. In the past year alone, the U.S. Supreme Court has eliminated the protections of Roe v. Wade, our courts have targeted drugs like mifepristone, and we’ve seen over a dozen hard-right states enact near-total bans on abortions. We need the ERA more than ever, ever before.

Schumer said "we need the ERA more than ever, ever before." Why? Because some states have adopted "near-total bans on abortions." The implication, of course, is that the ERA could and would be read to justify reinstalling the abortion "protections" lost since the Dobbs decision. Sometimes they really do say the quiet part out loud.