PHILADELPHIA — Progressive activists in Congress have put mounting pressure on President Joe Biden to direct the archivist of the United States to certify and publish the Equal Rights Amendment — which would become the first explicit mention of women in the U.S. Constitution.

When Biden announced Friday that he believed the sweeping amendment, which would add language to the U.S. Constitution explicitly prohibiting sex discrimination, should be considered ratified, U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, a progressive Pennsylvania Democrat, said it was "long overdue."

The amendment was initially proposed in the 1920s and approved by Congress in 1972 but not ratified by the required 38 states before the 1982 deadline for ratification set by Congress.

"Declaring the ERA law of the land is just one piece of what must be a broader effort to close the gender pay gap, defend reproductive justice, combat gender-based violence, and ensure the rights of women and LGBTQIA+ people are protected and expanded," said Lee, a longtime advocate for the ERA, in a statement.

Biden's announcement comes in the final days of his presidency and is likely indicative of the president's attempts to further amplify his legacy. But his statements, though exciting to many advocates, stopped short of holding any force of law.

Presidents have no role in ratifying constitutional amendments and the archivist of the United States, who is responsible for certifying and publishing new amendments once they meet the threshold for ratification, said last month the amendment cannot be certified without action from Congress or the courts.

Still, advocates wish Biden acted sooner or took more definitive action by issuing an executive order, which could have opened the door for legal battles. He told reporters Friday that he held off on voicing his executive opinion until he had all the facts.

"It's pretty disappointing that Joe Biden decided to make an executive opinion today instead of an executive order, which he very easily could have done," said Molly Gonzales, advocacy manager at the Alice Paul Center for Gender Justice.

Members of Pennsylvania's U.S. congressional delegation, who would help determine the future of the ERA, have mixed opinions on whether the amendment can still be ratified.

"I believe it is the duty of the archivist of the United States to publish the ERA as the 28th Amendment now that President Biden has reaffirmed that it has been properly ratified," U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans, D-Pa., said.

U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., a staunch ally of President-elect Donald Trump, said as a father of two daughters, he believes "women deserve equal protection under the law and equal opportunity to succeed," but that the states did not act in accordance with the deadline.

In 2020, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the amendment. Biden and other advocates argue that the ERA itself did not mandate a timeline for its ratification.

Pennsylvania codified its own state-level ERA in 1971 and the amendment has been used to strike down prohibitions on government funding for abortion. But a federal version of the amendment would extend the same protections to women in other states where there are fewer guardrails, said Gonzales, of the Alice Paul Center.

'An opportunity for opponents of sex discrimination'

For weeks, Biden has faced pressure from feminist groups and Democratic lawmakers to announce the amendment certified before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Monday.

David S. Cohen, a constitutional law professor at Drexel Law, said the recognition of the ERA could go a long way toward bolstering equal protection rights in the U.S., protecting transgender rights and protecting abortion rights nationwide. Abortion rights and transgender rights have been persistently curtailed under Republican state legislatures, and members of the U.S. Congress have unsuccessfully sought to do the same nationally. Trump campaign supporters spent tens of millions of dollars on anti-transgender rights ads that aired in Pennsylvania and other battleground states.

While Cohen said Biden's statement Friday means nothing legally, it could spur further activism and legal action around the ERA.

"This is an opportunity for opponents of sex discrimination to go on the offensive," Cohen said. "Whatever you think of the state of American politics, I think most people would probably agree that women deserve equal rights under the constitution and people should be beating the drum on this issue constantly."

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