Conservative Counterattack 831Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey (1992), the
Supreme Court allowed states to impose certain con-
ditions, such as tests of viability and waiting periods,
before abortions could be performed. But well into
the twenty-first century,Roe v. Waderemained the
law of the land.
Conservatives were more successful in contest-
ing the ERA, which seemed headed to prompt rati-
fication. In 1973 Phyllis Schlafly, a former vice
president of the National Federation of Republican
Women and publisher of a conservative newsletter,
spearheaded a nationwide campaign against ratifi-
cation of the ERA. She argued that it would subject
young women to the military draft, deprive
divorced women of alimony and child custody, and
make married women legally responsible for pro-
viding 50 percent of household income. As the
recession after 1973 dragged the economy down,
Schlafly’s words struck a responsive chord among
anxious housewives and low-wage-earning women
who doubted they could survive the recessionary
economy on their own. The ratification campaignARKANSASKANSASNEBRASKAMISSOURIIOWAWISCONSINMINNESOTATEXASSOUTH
DAKOTANORTH
DAKOTANEW
MEXICOOKLAHOMAMONTANAWYOMINGCOLORADOARIZONAUTAHNEVADAOREGONWASHINGTONCALIFORNIAIDAHOLOUISIANAMICHIGANINDIANA
ILLINOISOHIOALABAMAMISS. GEORGIASOUTH
CAROLINANORTH
CAROLINAVIRGINIAWEST
VIRGINIAKENTUCKYTENNESSEENEW
YORKPENNSYLVANIA
N.J.CONN.MASS.VT.
N.H.MAINER.I.MD.DEL.FLORIDACANADAGulf of
MexicoATLANTIC
OCEANStates ratifying ERA 1972
States ratifying ERA 1973
States ratifying ERA 1974–77
States ratifying ERA 1972,
later rescinding ERA
States unratifiedALASKA
HAWAIIFailure of the Equal Rights Amendment, 1972–1982The states that failed to ratify ERA were mostly in the South and the predominantly
Mormon Rockies. The states that NOW regarded as pivotal were Illinois, North Carolina, and Virginia.
Phyllis Schlafly drew much of her support from working-class
women who were left vulnerable by the recession after 1973.