How has the ERA been related to reproductive rights?
The repeated claim of opponents that the ERA would require government to allow abortion on demand is a clear misrepresentation of existing laws and court decisions at both federal and state levels. In federal courts, including the Supreme Court, a number of restrictive laws dealing with contraception and abortion have been invalidated since the mid20th century based on application of the constitutional principles of the right of privacy and the due process clause of the 14th Amendment. The principles of equal protection or equal rights have so far not been applied to such cases at the federal level. The presence or absence of a state ERA or equal protection guarantee does not necessarily correlate with a states legal climate for reproductive rights. For example, despite Pennsylvanias state ERA, the state Supreme Court decided that restrictions on Medicaid funding of abortions were constitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court in separate litigation (Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 1992) upheld P
