In 1972, the U. S. Congress passed the proposed Constitutional Amendment granting women more rights beyond the right to vote: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” Congress sent it to the states for certification by their legislatures. A minimum of thirty-eight states is needed to ratify an amendment. The Illinois General Assembly was the 37th state to ratify the ERA Constitutional Amendment in 2018. In spring 2017 the IL-ERA Coalition of Bloomington-Normal was formed to promote Illinois’ ratification.