President Biden on Friday declared the Equal Rights Amendment to be officially ratified, saying it should be considered the 28th Amendment to the Constitution.

The actual effect of the lame-duck president’s claim is unclear, however.

In a statement, Mr. Biden said the proposed amendment, now more than 50 years old, has cleared all the steps to be formally added to the Constitution.

“It is long past time to recognize the will of the American people. In keeping with my oath and duty to Constitution and country, I affirm what I believe and what three-fourths of the states have ratified:

The 28th Amendment is the law of the land, guaranteeing all Americans equal rights and protections under the law regardless of their sex,” he said.

But legal experts have questioned — and courts have rejected the argument — that the ERA cleared all the necessary hurdles to be added to the government’s founding document.

The key point is whether the ERA, which was passed by Congress in 1972 and was sent to the states for ratification, has amassed the 38 states needed.

Just 35 had ratified the amendment by 1979, which was the deadline set by Congress. Capitol Hill then approved a three-year extension of the deadline, but that came and went with no new ratifications.

In 2017, Nevada belatedly voted for approval, followed by Illinois in 2018 and Virginia in 2020. ERA backers said that was enough to cross the finish line.

But that argument was rejected by federal courts that ruled the deadline had passed.

There’s also the problem that a handful of states that voted to ratify the amendment have since voted to rescind those approvals.

ERA backers argue that post-deadline ratifications should be counted, while revocations — even those that happened within the original deadline — should be ignored.

The ERA’s key text reads: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”

Supporters say it will strip away remaining vestiges of sex discrimination. Opponents say the law, and court decisions, already require equality. They see the ERA as a backdoor attempt to enshrine abortion rights in all the states.

Legal complications aside, ERA backers hailed Mr. Biden’s announcement.

“This is a moment of historic importance,” said Sen. Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat.

• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.