THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT -If women are going into combat, then it's time to amend the Constitution

[Jim Lane]

13. Many instances of gender-discriminatory laws have been struck down under the Equal Protection Clause

Are there specific discriminatory laws still on the books that a ratified ERA would invalidate?

This thread has mentioned the current requirement that men (only) register for Selective Service, so that a draft can be reinstituted quickly. That law might or might not survive the ERA. (In the 1970s, when the ERA was more of a hot issue, there would have been a better argument for preserving the males-only registration requirement, because the idea was to compel registration of people who might be drafted to serve in combat. Today, that defense wouldn't work. My guess is that the law would fall.)

Are there any others?

Bear in mind that the ERA applies only to government action. It won't stop Rupert Murdoch from running sexist headlines in the New York Post. It won't purge online forums of the use of "bitch" to put down women. It won't even require equal pay for equal work in the private sector. That requirement is imposed by federal statutes (and by some state statutes and municipal ordinances). Those protections could be repealed by simple legislative action, whether or not there's an ERA in the Constitution.

Yes, I recognize the argument for its symbolic value. I'm just trying to determine what the practical effects would be.