BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - North Dakota's Republican-led Senate has killed a House resolution that seeks to rescind the state's 1975 support of the Equal Rights Amendment.
The resolution sponsored by seven male GOP House members says Congress' deadline for ratification of the gender-equality amendment came and went 40 years ago and is no longer valid.
Opponents call the resolution a response to offset revived efforts to enshrine the near half-century-old gender-equality measure in the U.S. Constitution.
The Senate defeated the resolution 24-23 on Monday. The resolution sailed through the House earlier this month by a vote of 67-21.
Idaho, Kentucky, Nebraska, Tennessee and South Dakota ratified the amendment and later withdrew their support
But North Dakota is believed to be the first state to seek to withdraw its ratification since the 1970s.