Investigation Plan This investigation addresses the following question: How important was Phyllis Schlafly's role in the defeat of the U.S. Equal Rights Amendment ? To assess its importance, this investigation will address several factors that contributed to the defeat of the ERA, such as the negative portrayal of women by the press, the decriminalization of abortion, the division among feminists who wanted the ERA to pass and those who believed its passage would lead to the deterioration of women's protection laws, and the role of Phyllis Schlafly and her Stop ERA campaign. One of the sources used in this investigation, “Stop ERA,” is evaluated for its understanding of Phyllis Schlafly's plan for how to campaign against the ERA, as she was the author of this document. The second source, an excerpt from the article “The Equal Rights Amendment: A Constitutional Basis for Equal Rights for Women,” will be analyzed for its professional and relatively unbiased opinions; this article was written for the Yale Law Journal in 1971, which means it consists of a factual legal analysis of the amendment from the period in which it was ratified.B. Summary of the Evidence In 1923, the Equal Rights Amendment was drafted by Alice Paul and subsequently introduced to Congress. Paul and the National Organization for Women began campaigning for its passage in 1967. In 1972, Congress passed the ERA and states began considering it for ratification, with a seven-year deadline. He won the support of 22 states in his first year, but the level of support slowly declined as time went on. The opposition against the ERA was led by Phyllis Schlafly, leader of Stop ERA. Opponents were effective in persuading states to abandon... half of the document... Magazine, July 12, 1982. http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009, 925544-3,00 .html.Klatch, Rebecca. “Coalition and conflict among the women of the new right”. Signs 12, n. 4 (1988): 671 – 694. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3174107.“National Women's Conference.” Off Our Backs 8, n. 1 (1978): 2-3. Accessed February 12, 2012. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25792578.Schlafly, Phyllis. “‘Equal Rights’ for Women: Wrong Then, Wrong Now.” Los Angeles Times, April 8, 2007. http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-schafly8apr08,0,6143259.story.Schlafly, Phyllis. “Stop the ERA.” December 6, 1978. http://www.smithsoniansource.org/display/primarysource/viewdetails.aspx?PrimarySourceId=1159.Scott, Wilbur J. “The Equal Rights Amendment as Status Politics.” Social Forces 64, n. 2 (1985): 499-506, accessed February 12, 2012. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2578653.