CARSON CITY — Nevada lawmakers are ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment exactly 45 years after Congress first submitted it to the states.
State senators gave final approval Wednesday for Nevada to sign on to the effort set in motion by women's suffragists.
The move brings the nation two states shy — but decades past deadline — of amending the U.S. Constitution to plainly state women and men are equal under the law.
Opponents argue it could disrupt family and military culture, and possibly lead to unfettered abortion access and funding.
The amendment required approval from 38 states to take effect.
Thirty-five states ratified it by 1977.
No others joined in by a 1982 cutoff date.
Nine state legislatures later reconsidered the amendment.
Nevada is the first to approve it after the deadline.