The Illinois Senate has voted to ratify the federal Equal Rights Amendment.
The amendment guarantees equal rights for women. Illinois was one of fourteen states that never ratified it after passage in 1972.
If the House joins in, Illinois will be the thirty-seventh state to ratify the E-R-A, but well past the 1982 deadline and just shy of the thirty-eight states needed. Supporters hope congress will lift the deadline and include the amendment in the US Constitution.
