WASHINGTON (Reuters] – U.S. president Joe Biden has called upon Congress to take immediate action to enshrine Equal Rights Amendment into the U.S. Constitution. This would formalize women’s rights for decades, after the legislation was adopted.

Biden released a statement from the White House urging Congress “to adopt a resolution recognizing ratification [of the ERA]” following a recent legal analysis that found there wasn’t anything stopping lawmakers from acting.

We must acknowledge the will of American citizens and enshrine in the Constitution the principle of equality for women. Biden declared that “it is past due to we put all doubts to rest.” “No one should be discriminated against based on their sex—and we, as a nation, must stand up for full women’s equality.”

Biden’s appeal comes amid ongoing legal jostling about the deadline for enacting the ERA. Congress passed it in the 1970s, with a 1982 deadline. 38 state legislatures had to vote to approve.

Virginia was the 38th state that backed it in 2020. But then-President Donald Trump attempted to block its approval by issuing a legal notice stating the new process must be started.

A new analysis by the Justice Department, however, allowed the process to move forward, Biden said, adding the memo “makes clear, there is nothing standing in Congress’s way from doing so.”