The Three "Hot Button" Issues

Equal Rights Amendment. The ERA states succinctly: "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex." So indisputable did that proposition seem that the amendment breezed through Congress in 1972 and was ratified by 35 states. But the last three it needs are the hardest to get. None of the remaining states is a sure bet.

The stalling of ERA is a tribute to its opponents' impassioned well-organized campaign. Some have tried to scare the public with exaggerated warnings of legalized homosexual marriages, unisex public toilets and other horrors. More restrained critics have wondered if the amendment is really necessary, since women's rights (as well as men's) are protected by the 14th Amendment. At the very least, they claim, the ERA would swamp already overcrowded courts and lead to more Government intervention. Until fallible judges start ruling, nobody would be sure whether women would have to serve alongside men in military combat or whether the payment of alimony would be outlawed.

Advocates argue that a constitutional amendment would add force to the thrust for equal rights. Women would find it easier to challenge archaic laws that in some states put them at a disadvantage in such matters as inheritance and property rights. They also would be in a better position to win law suits against employers charged with discrimination in hiring and promotions. Equally important, ERA would add a certain symbolic weight to the women's movement.

Abortion. Feminists are fighting to keep from losing more ground on the issue of abortion. The U.S. Supreme Court in 1973 gave women the right to have an abortion for any reason during the first three months of pregnancy, and later both federal and state Medicaid funds were provided for those who could not afford to pay for it. Since then, little has gone well for the supporters of abortion.

Opposition groups have displayed surprising determination, organizational skills and political power. Claiming that life before birth is no less life, they have convinced one politician after another to oppose abortion, or at least federal funding for it.

When Congress passed a bill last year eliminating Medicaid funds for abortions, the action was challenged in the courts. Last June the Supreme Court ruled that the Federal Government is under no constitutional obligation to finance abortions if the mother's health is not in jeopardy. Fifteen states have also cut off public funds for the medical procedure, and the number is bound to grow. The Houston conference voted to restore that funding.

Impatient with the slow process of getting an anti-abortion constitutional amendment through Congress, Right-to-Lifers have persuaded nine state legislatures to vote to convene a constitutional convention. If 25 more states go along --an unlikely proposition--America's second constitutional convention will be held.

Lesbian Rights. "Sexual preference," the feminist euphemism for lesbian rights, was not on the original agenda for Houston, but under the rules any subject had to be considered if ten or more state conventions asked for it. The demand for a lesbian rights provision came thundering down from no fewer than 36 state conventions. "It was obviously a grass-roots movement," says Lenore McNeer, who chaired the Vermont delegation and was one of the delegates who felt that lesbian rights is a civil liberties issue inappropriate to the agenda of a women's rights convention. But in the interest of unity, the less radical women persuaded themselves to pass the homosexual rights resolution.

It calls for an end to discrimination on the basis of "sex" and "affectional preference" in child-custody suits; in housing, employment, credit, public accommodations, Government-funded projects and the military; and in state laws restricting "private sexual behavior between consenting adults." Recognizing that many women feared that the resolution would hurt chances for passage of the ERA, Arizona Delegate Sue Dye explained: "It was a matter of sympathy, even though it makes things more difficult politically." Agreed Kentucky's Allie Hixson, chairwoman of her delegation: "This is a women's rights issue because if any group of individuals is repressed, it affects us all." The vote on the issue, said Liz Carpenter, head of ERAmerica, shows "how secure women have become. Five years ago, it would have been impossible."

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