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.

If Biden really wanted to make the ERA the “law of the land,” he would have needed to direct the head of the National Archives to ignore the Department of Justice. But he didn't do that—or really anything for women's rights during his presidency.

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

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,

President Joe Biden’s declaration the Equal Rights Amendment is “the law of the land” likely only sets up more debates for Congress and the courts.

President Biden says he believes the amendment has met the requirements to be enshrined in the Constitution. Its history has been long and complex.

Did Florida ever ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, the 1972 amendment that declared women equal under the law?