OPPOSITION RISES TO AMENDMENT ON EQUAL RIGHTS
Ratification of equal rights amendment to Const, which was passed early in '72 by Cong, outlawing all forms of sex discrimination that are based on law or Govt action, is uncertain; well-organized and apparently well-financed opposition groups have appeared; opposition in '72, when 22 of necessary 38 states approved amendment, was minor; opponents are effectively using assertion that amendment would subject women to mil draft and would abrogate laws that require men to support their families; Mrs D Meissner, exec dir of Natl Women's Pol Caucus, 1 of pro-amendment groups, sees difficulty in achieving ratification but predicts victory; apparent leader of opposition, Mrs P Schlafly, pol conservative, will not predict defeat for amendment; her por; she says her orgn, called Stop ERA, has several thousand members and is active in 26 states, in 8 of which it is particularly strong; advocates of amendment list 7 other states in which it faces difficulty; assert that Mrs Schlafly is receiving funds from J Birch Soc; she denies it; only other individual who has emerged as natl leader of opposition is Mrs J Davison, founder of orgn called Happiness of Womanhood; she says her husband pays her bills; Mrs Schafly, who admits she has no financial problems, says that advocates of amendment send people to lobby at taxpayers expense, reference to Citizen's Advisory Council on Status of Women, Labor Dept subsidiary; council chmn Mrs J G Gutwillig denies charge; minimizes draft and family support issue
