Arizona politics got a national shoutout when John Oliver on his HBO show "Last Week Tonight" pointed out the state's opportunity to make history for women’s equality.

Oliver used the episode, which aired Sunday, to talk about the proposed Equal Rights Amendment that states, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”

If you thought this was already an amendment, you’re not alone. Oliver cited a study that found the amendment is so popular, 80% of people think it’s already in the Constitution.

The U.S. House and Senate passed the amendment in 1972, but they needed but 38 states to ratify it. So far, only 37 have.

Arizona is one of the 13 states that still haven’t.

Oliver said the amendment, which has bipartisan support, was ratified by 30 states in less than a year, but a group called "Stop ERA" halted the momentum.

The group was led by Phyllis Schlafly, a conservative adversary of the ERA who did TV interviews in the 70s to talk about the consequences of women’s equality. One of her main talking points was the potential for increased access to abortion, despite there being no mention of abortion in the ERA.

Oliver noted that while some say the 14th Amendment already guarantees gender equality, not everyone interprets it that way — including former (and possibly future) Supreme Court justices.

“None of this is that complicated,” he said. “Equality for women should be a basic principle of our society. And if you think it already is, great! All the more reason to write it down. And if you think it isn’t, then we badly need the ERA.”

A clip at the end of the show featured Arizona legislator Victoria Steele vocalizing her support for the amendment.

“If we do this, this goes down in the history books; Arizona goes down in the history books,” Steele said in the clip.

Oliver added it would be some good publicity for Arizona.

“The most famous part of Arizona is the Grand Canyon. You know, the part of Arizona where there is notably less of Arizona ... and it's everyone's favorite part," he said.

According to the Equal Rights Amendment website, June 30 is ERA Day, which could create a final push for one of the 13 states to be the one to ratify the ERA.

Maybe it will be Arizona.

Contact the reporter at alexis.potter@gannett.com or follow the reporter on Twitter at @alexispotter_.