40 years ago today - 1976-10-22

First Presidency statement against the ERA

The First Presidency issues its first of several statements on the ERA. While they "deplore" the "injustices" women have experienced and acknowledge that "there are additional rights to which women are entitled," they conclude that the ERA "could indeed bring [women] far more restraints and repressions. We fear it will even stifle many God-given feminine instincts. It would strike at the family, humankind's basic institution. ERA would bring ambiguity and possibly invite extensive litigation. Passage of ERA, some legal authorities contend, could nullify many accumulated benefits to women in present statutes. We recognize men and women as equally important before the Lord, but with differences biologically, emotionally, and in other ways."

[Source: Mormon Women's History Timeline, http://www1.chapman.edu/~remy/MoFem/mormonwomen.html]

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