Carter and ERA

ATTORNEY GENERAL GRIFFEN BELL'S effort to determine the possibility of extending the ratification deadline for the Equal Rights Amendment comes as a welcome indication of the Carter Administration's commitment to the ERA and what it represents.

While it is difficult to say at this stage whether such a move is feasible, Bell's statement shows that the government will do what it can to prevent the ERA from going down at the hands of woefully misguided equal rights opponents. The amendment might receive the three additional state ratifications it needs before the March 22, 1979 deadline, but, then again, it might not. Accordingly, an extension could be necessary. Because it is unclear whether the seven year limit was a part of the amendment per se, changing the time limit could conceivably be legitimate.

That the Carter Administration is worrying about such contingencies is a good sign. Passage of this crucial amendment requires full, active support from those who favor it.