1971 Pennsylvania Amendment 2
Referendum on equal rights based upon sex
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1971 Pennsylvania Amendment 2 was a proposed amendment to the Constitution of Pennsylvania to guarantee equal rights on account of sex. Placed on the ballot by House Bill 1678 and House Bill 14, the measure was approved with over 62% of the vote in favor, and with the backing of 61 of Pennsylvania's 67 counties.
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May 18, 1971
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Shall Article I of the Constitution be amended by adding a new section, prohibiting any denial or abridgment of rights because of an individual's sex? | ||||||||||
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Legislation
House Bill 1678 of the 1969–1970 regular session and House Bill 14 of the 1971–1972 regular session placed the amendment on the ballot.[2][3] Both bills' prime sponsor was State Rep. Gerald Kaufman.[2][3] Kaufman introduced the first bill after he was urged to do so by six women who, at the time, were members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly.[4] No hearings were held on the bills,[4] and both were passed by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and Pennsylvania Senate unanimously in both sessions.[2][3]
The original text of the bill proposed that the constitution be amended to add the following language:[5]
Section 27. Prohibition Against Denial or Abridgment of Equality or Rights Because of Sex.—Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania because of the sex of the individual.
Two subsequent amendments to the bill, however, tweaked the wording. One amended the language to say that equal rights could not be denied or abridged "in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania" rather than "by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,"[6] and the second one fixed the typo in the section's title from "Equality or Rights" to "Equality of Rights".[7] The numbering of the amendment incorrectly being Section 27 rather than Section 28 was, however, not changed. After being ratified, the section initially was even erroneously identified as Section 27, and certain court cases, such as Commonwealth v. Santiago, 340 A.2d 440, 445 (Pa. 1975), cited the section as such.[8]
Endorsements
- Newspapers
Contents and amendment
Ballot wording
The measure, which was decided by voters on May 18, 1971, alongside four other amendments,[12] had the following question and information shown to voters for it:[12]
Joint Resolution 2
Shall Article I of the Constitution be amended by adding a new section, prohibiting any denial or abridgment of rights because of an individual's sex?
Yes
No
Amendment language
The amendment added Section 28 to Article 1 of the Constitution of Pennsylvania:[13]
Section 28. Prohibition Against Denial or Abridgement of Equality of Rights because of Sex.—Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania because of the sex of the individual.
Results
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50–60%
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40–50%
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30–40%
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20–30%
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10–20%
- No votes
61 counties voted in favor, 5 voted against, and Forest County cast no votes on the measure.[a] The highest level of support came from Allegheny County, with 69.92% in favor, and the lowest level came from Huntingdon County, with 36.80% in favor.[14][15]
| County[14][15] | Yes | No | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | |
| Adams | 3,330 | 57.26 | 2,486 | 42.74 |
| Allegheny | 139,449 | 69.92 | 59,978 | 30.08 |
| Armstrong | 9,586 | 57.64 | 7,045 | 42.36 |
| Beaver | 23,678 | 58.34 | 16,910 | 41.66 |
| Bedford | 2,846 | 53.94 | 2,430 | 46.06 |
| Berks | 16,812 | 66.05 | 8,642 | 33.95 |
| Blair | 10,551 | 47.04 | 11,877 | 52.96 |
| Bradford | 6,336 | 57.74 | 4,638 | 42.26 |
| Bucks | 17,785 | 66.90 | 8,800 | 33.10 |
| Butler | 10,284 | 64.99 | 5,539 | 35.01 |
| Cambria | 18,485 | 59.99 | 12,331 | 40.01 |
| Cameron | 1,171 | 65.93 | 605 | 34.07 |
| Carbon | 1,770 | 61.31 | 1,117 | 38.69 |
| Centre | 7,673 | 66.76 | 3,820 | 33.24 |
| Chester | 22,656 | 66.06 | 11,641 | 33.94 |
| Clarion | 3,694 | 58.86 | 2,582 | 41.14 |
| Clearfield | 5,581 | 51.40 | 5,277 | 48.60 |
| Clinton | 4,260 | 56.54 | 3,275 | 43.46 |
| Columbia | 6,007 | 54.32 | 5,052 | 45.68 |
| Crawford | 5,431 | 66.88 | 2,690 | 33.12 |
| Cumberland | 8,120 | 64.97 | 4,379 | 35.03 |
| Dauphin | 10,331 | 65.24 | 5,505[b] | 34.76 |
| Delaware | 29,564[c] | 69.28 | 13,112 | 30.72 |
| Elk | 3,163 | 56.25 | 2,460 | 43.75 |
| Erie | 23,416 | 64.90 | 12,664 | 35.10 |
| Fayette | 7,434 | 58.83 | 5,202 | 41.17 |
| Forest[d] | - | - | - | - |
| Franklin | 5,577 | 57.91 | 4,054 | 42.09 |
| Fulton | 567 | 41.33 | 805 | 58.67 |
| Greene | 4,716 | 57.55 | 3,479 | 42.45 |
| Huntingdon | 2,274 | 36.80 | 3,905 | 63.20 |
| Indiana | 7,351[e] | 58.14 | 5,293 | 41.86 |
| Jefferson | 6,469 | 60.31 | 4,258 | 39.69 |
| Juniata | 1,279 | 57.23 | 956 | 42.77 |
| Lackawanna | 13,036 | 47.33 | 14,504 | 52.67 |
| Lancaster | 10,640 | 55.97 | 8,369 | 44.03 |
| Lawrence | 8,851 | 61.24 | 5,602 | 38.76 |
| Lebanon | 5,625 | 66.11 | 2,884 | 33.89 |
| Lehigh | 12,171 | 64.05 | 6,830 | 35.95 |
| Luzerne | 11,271 | 61.43 | 7,077 | 38.57 |
| Lycoming | 11,052 | 57.17 | 8,280 | 42.83 |
| McKean | 2,053 | 62.86 | 1,213 | 37.14 |
| Mercer | 6,442 | 64.95 | 3,476 | 35.05 |
| Mifflin | 2,732 | 57.04 | 2,058 | 42.96 |
| Monroe | 2,913 | 61.95 | 1,789 | 38.05 |
| Montgomery | 33,278 | 69.56 | 14,564 | 30.44 |
| Montour | 1,962 | 55.44 | 1,577 | 44.56 |
| Northampton | 6,726 | 62.67 | 4,007 | 37.33 |
| Northumberland | 9,686 | 54.26 | 8,166 | 45.74 |
| Perry | 1,952 | 55.27 | 1,580 | 44.73 |
| Philadelphia | 105,855 | 63.98 | 59,596 | 36.02 |
| Pike | 642 | 62.39 | 387 | 37.61 |
| Potter | 2,010 | 59.15 | 1,388 | 40.85 |
| Schuylkill | 15,916 | 62.88 | 9,396 | 37.12 |
| Snyder | 2,433 | 53.27 | 2,134 | 46.73 |
| Somerset | 6,412 | 53.67 | 5,536 | 46.33 |
| Sullivan | 824 | 58.86 | 576 | 41.14 |
| Susquehanna | 3,489 | 50.97 | 3,356 | 49.03 |
| Tioga | 4,142 | 60.80 | 2,670 | 39.20 |
| Union | 2,412 | 53.45 | 2,101 | 46.55 |
| Venango | 4,979 | 66.34 | 2,526 | 33.66 |
| Warren | 2,735 | 67.25 | 1,332 | 32.75 |
| Washington | 24,316 | 61.22 | 15,403 | 38.78 |
| Wayne | 1,762 | 49.27 | 1,814 | 50.73 |
| Westmoreland | 25,967 | 64.41 | 14,348 | 35.59 |
| Wyoming | 2,399 | 55.89 | 1,893 | 44.11 |
| York | 9,110 | 61.61 | 5,676 | 38.39 |
| State total | 783,439[f] | 62.76 | 464,915[g] | 37.24 |
Analysis and later events
Pennsylvania became the first state in the United States to amend its constitution to add an equal rights amendment.[4] Two other states, Utah and Wyoming, had equal rights provisions before 1971, but those had been adopted alongside their state constitutions, rather than being added by an amendment.[4]
In 2021, Pennsylvania amended its constitution to ban racial and ethnic discrimination.[4]