Why Is It Possible To Fight Against The Mormon Church?

The proposed Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) would have given equal rights to women had it been passed. Although the Amendment was passed by both houses of Congress, it was then struck down by state legislatures when only 35 of the required 38 states agreed to ratify it. For three years the Mormon Church had stayed out of the politics involving the ERA while under the leadership of Harold B. Lee, however beginning in 1973, Spencer W. Kimball, the new President of the Mormon Church began his campaign against the ERA. During the 1970’s the Mormon Church almost single handedly defeated the ERA. Although Mormons only equaled approximately 2 million throughout the entire United States the church was able to rally its women into the fight against
627). In the Church’s eyes there were very gender-specific roles for men and women in life which made the ERA a moral issue, in their opinion the ERA contradicted the Church’s fundamental beliefs. Spencer W. Kimball had no fear in emphasizing the Church’s views of the ERA and so he set into motion a series of editorials in the Deseret New’s Church News section as well as sending word to every church ward that the were to recruit at least ten women to attend the Utah International Women’s Year conference (IWY) (Young, pg. 623). The IWY conference was being held to discuss various issues including the ERA and the conference in Utah was the
624). Many Mormon women that were recruited to speak out or vote against the ERA did not have much knowledge on the matter and most had not even heard of the ERA until the Church itself made them aware of it. Most women decided that if the Church was against the ERA then they were also, even going so far as writing letters to the legislatures in various states to oppose the