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1971 Pennsylvania Amendment 2
May 18, 1971
Shall Article I of the Constitution be amended by adding a new section, prohibiting any denial or abridgment of rights because of an individual's sex?
Results
Choice
 Votes %
Yes 783,439 62.76%
No 464,882 37.24%

Yes

  80–90%
  70–80%
  60–70%
  50–60%

No

  70–80%
  60–70%
  50–60%

Other

  Tie
  No votes

1971 Pennsylvania Amendment 2 was a proposed amendment to the Constitution of Pennsylvania to guarantee equal rights on account of sex. Placed on the ballot by House Bill 1678 and House Bill 14, the measure was approved with over 62% of the vote in favor, and with the backing of 61 of Pennsylvania's 67 counties.

Legislation

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House Bill 1678 of the 1969–1970 regular session and House Bill 14 of the 1971–1972 regular session placed the amendment on the ballot.[2][3] Both bills' prime sponsor was State Rep. Gerald Kaufman.[2][3] Kaufman introduced the first bill after he was urged to do so by six women who, at the time, were members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly.[4] No hearings were held on the bills,[4] and both were passed by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and Pennsylvania Senate unanimously in both sessions.[2][3]

The original text of the bill proposed that the constitution be amended to add the following language:[5]

Section 27. Prohibition Against Denial or Abridgment of Equality or Rights Because of Sex.—Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania because of the sex of the individual.

Two subsequent amendments to the bill, however, tweaked the wording. One amended the language to say that equal rights could not be denied or abridged "in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania" rather than "by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,"[6] and the second one fixed the typo in the section's title from "Equality or Rights" to "Equality of Rights".[7] The numbering of the amendment incorrectly being Section 27 rather than Section 28 was, however, not changed. After being ratified, the section initially was even erroneously identified as Section 27, and certain court cases, such as Commonwealth v. Santiago, 340 A.2d 440, 445 (Pa. 1975), cited the section as such.[8]

Endorsements

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Yes
Newspapers

Contents and amendment

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Ballot wording

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The measure, which was decided by voters on May 18, 1971, alongside four other amendments,[12] had the following question and information shown to voters for it:[12]

Joint Resolution 2

Shall Article I of the Constitution be amended by adding a new section, prohibiting any denial or abridgment of rights because of an individual's sex?

Yes

No

Amendment language

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The amendment added Section 28 to Article 1 of the Constitution of Pennsylvania:[13]

Section 28. Prohibition Against Denial or Abridgement of Equality of Rights because of Sex.—Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania because of the sex of the individual.

Results

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61 counties voted in favor, 5 voted against, and Forest County cast no votes on the measure.[a] The highest level of support came from Allegheny County, with 69.92% in favor, and the lowest level came from Huntingdon County, with 36.80% in favor.[14][15]

County[14][15] Yes No
# % # %
Adams 3,330 57.26 2,486 42.74
Allegheny 139,449 69.92 59,978 30.08
Armstrong 9,586 57.64 7,045 42.36
Beaver 23,678 58.34 16,910 41.66
Bedford 2,846 53.94 2,430 46.06
Berks 16,812 66.05 8,642 33.95
Blair 10,551 47.04 11,877 52.96
Bradford 6,336 57.74 4,638 42.26
Bucks 17,785 66.90 8,800 33.10
Butler 10,284 64.99 5,539 35.01
Cambria 18,485 59.99 12,331 40.01
Cameron 1,171 65.93 605 34.07
Carbon 1,770 61.31 1,117 38.69
Centre 7,673 66.76 3,820 33.24
Chester 22,656 66.06 11,641 33.94
Clarion 3,694 58.86 2,582 41.14
Clearfield 5,581 51.40 5,277 48.60
Clinton 4,260 56.54 3,275 43.46
Columbia 6,007 54.32 5,052 45.68
Crawford 5,431 66.88 2,690 33.12
Cumberland 8,120 64.97 4,379 35.03
Dauphin 10,331 65.37 5,472 34.63
Delaware 29,564[b] 69.28 13,112 30.72
Elk 3,163 56.25 2,460 43.75
Erie 23,416 64.90 12,664 35.10
Fayette 7,434 58.83 5,202 41.17
Forest[c] - - - -
Franklin 5,577 57.91 4,054 42.09
Fulton 567 41.33 805 58.67
Greene 4,716 57.55 3,479 42.45
Huntingdon 2,274 36.80 3,905 63.20
Indiana 7,351[d] 58.14 5,293 41.86
Jefferson 6,469 60.31 4,258 39.69
Juniata 1,279 57.23 956 42.77
Lackawanna 13,036 47.33 14,504 52.67
Lancaster 10,640 55.97 8,369 44.03
Lawrence 8,851 61.24 5,602 38.76
Lebanon 5,625 66.11 2,884 33.89
Lehigh 12,171 64.05 6,830 35.95
Luzerne 11,271 61.43 7,077 38.57
Lycoming 11,052 57.17 8,280 42.83
McKean 2,053 62.86 1,213 37.14
Mercer 6,442 64.95 3,476 35.05
Mifflin 2,732 57.04 2,058 42.96
Monroe 2,913 61.95 1,789 38.05
Montgomery 33,278 69.56 14,564 30.44
Montour 1,962 55.44 1,577 44.56
Northampton 6,726 62.67 4,007 37.33
Northumberland 9,686 54.26 8,166 45.74
Perry 1,952 55.27 1,580 44.73
Philadelphia 105,855 63.98 59,596 36.02
Pike 642 62.39 387 37.61
Potter 2,010 59.15 1,388 40.85
Schuylkill 15,916 62.88 9,396 37.12
Snyder 2,433 53.27 2,134 46.73
Somerset 6,412 53.67 5,536 46.33
Sullivan 824 58.86 576 41.14
Susquehanna 3,489 50.97 3,356 49.03
Tioga 4,142 60.80 2,670 39.20
Union 2,412 53.45 2,101 46.55
Venango 4,979 66.34 2,526 33.66
Warren 2,735 67.25 1,332 32.75
Washington 24,316 61.22 15,403 38.78
Wayne 1,762 49.27 1,814 50.73
Westmoreland 25,967 64.41 14,348 35.59
Wyoming 2,399 55.89 1,893 44.11
York 9,110 61.61 5,676 38.39
State total 783,439[e] 62.76 464,882 37.24

Analysis and later events

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Pennsylvania became the first state in the United States to amend its constitution to add an equal rights amendment.[4] Two other states, Utah and Wyoming, had equal rights provisions before 1971, but those had been adopted alongside their state constitutions, rather than being added by an amendment.[4]

In 2021, Pennsylvania amended its constitution to ban racial and ethnic discrimination.[4]

References

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  1. ↑ Municipality-level results:

    Delaware County: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-quzIL2n3Rfiw2X5C4RXLj-frWDWzDWO-WmS3ZV-hK4/edit?gid=0#gid=0

    Forest County (cast no votes): "State and Congressional Files Returns, 1971, Primary Election Adams – Lackawanna". Department of State – via Pennsylvania State Archives.

    Fulton County: "State and Congressional Files Returns, 1971, Primary Election Adams – Lackawanna". Department of State – via Pennsylvania State Archives.

    Indiana County: "General Certificate of Result of Votes Cast by the Democratic Party at the Municipal Primary 1971" – via Indiana County Board of Elections (The results of both parties are included in the Democratic results book).

    Lebanon County: https://www.newspapers.com/article/lebanon-daily-news-lebanon-county-pa/201138117/ Results found for Lebanon County are unofficial; however, the municipality results add up exactly to the official countywide results.

    Somerset County: https://www.co.somerset.pa.us/files/voter_files/Voter%20Books/Fed-State-County/1971/1971%20Democratic%20Municipal%20Primary-Fed-State-County.pdf

    Susquehanna County: "Official Returns of the Primary Election Held in the Several Election Districts of Susquehanna County on Tuesday, May 18th, 1971". – via Susquehanna County Elections Bureau.
  2. 1 2 3 "House Bill 1678". Pennsylvania General Assembly. Retrieved 10 January 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 "House Bill 14". Pennsylvania General Assembly. Retrieved 10 January 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 McKenna, Lauren P. (December 10, 2021). "Fifty years of equal rights for women in Pennsylvania: A case for the federal Equal Rights Amendment". WHYY. Retrieved June 26, 2026.
  5. ↑ "Printer's No. 2126". Pennsylvania General Assembly. Retrieved July 19, 2026.
  6. ↑ "Printer's No. 2248". Pennsylvania General Assembly. Retrieved July 19, 2026.
  7. ↑ "Printer's No. 2907". Pennsylvania General Assembly. Retrieved July 19, 2026.
  8. ↑ Beck, Phyllis W.; Baker, Joanne Alfano (1994). "An Analysis of the Impact of the Pennsylvania Equal Rights Amendment" (PDF). Historical Society of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. Retrieved July 19, 2026.
  9. ↑ "Editorial comment". The Danville News. May 14, 1971. Retrieved July 3, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Equal Rights, Yes, But 'No' To Constitutional Amendment". The Philadelphia Inquirer. May 11, 1971. Retrieved July 7, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "Rights Amendment Could Be Harmful". The Scranton Times-Tribune. May 12, 1971. Retrieved July 3, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. 1 2 "1971 Pennsylvania ballot measures information". Public Opinion. May 13, 1971. Retrieved June 26, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ Shapp, Milton J. "Constitutional Amendment—Article 1" (PDF). PA Constitution. Retrieved July 19, 2026.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "State and Congressional Files Returns, 1971, Primary Election Adams – Lackawanna". Department of State – via Pennsylvania State Archives.
  15. 1 2 "State and Congressional Files Returns, 1971, Primary Election Lancaster – York". Department of State – via Pennsylvania State Archives.
  16. 1 2 Results data was obtained from the Delaware County Archives, and was transcribed into Google Sheets. The Google Sheet containing the data can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-quzIL2n3Rfiw2X5C4RXLj-frWDWzDWO-WmS3ZV-hK4/edit?usp=sharing
  17. 1 2 Results data was obtained from the Indiana County Board of Elections, and was transcribed into Google Sheets. The Google Sheet containing the data can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LrlAITmNRa4Rohr-0ZG0eeSJQ5QFgJN02DjhWMhEox8/edit?usp=sharing

Notes

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  1. ↑ Forest County election officials wrote in place of the certified results that a printing error had occurred on the ballot, which was not discovered until around 10 A.M. on Election Day, so no voting took place on any of the amendments on the ballot that election. The officials noted that 1,455 votes were cast in the county.[14]
  2. ↑ The municipality-level results for Delaware County add up to 29,564 yes votes,[16] six more than the certified number of 29,558.[14]
  3. ↑ Forest County election officials wrote in place of the certified results that a printing error had occurred on the ballot, which was not discovered until around 10 A.M. on Election Day, so no voting took place on any of the amendments on the ballot that election. The officials noted that 1,455 votes were cast in the county.[14]
  4. ↑ The municipality-level results for Indiana County add up to 7,351 yes votes,[17] eight less than the certified number of 7,359.[14]
  5. ↑ The municipality-level results for Delaware County add up to 29,564 yes votes,[16] six more than the certified number of 29,558.[14]

    The municipality-level results for Indiana County add up to 7,351 yes votes,[17] eight less than the certified number of 7,359.[14]

    As such, two votes have been subtracted from the statewide yes total (783,441 to 783,439).
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