Since the beginning of the Women’s Rights Movement, society has been under the impression that women have the ability to take control over their bodies, whether that be through birth control or abortion. The truth is that merely having the “right” of a “choice” is barely a substantial platform for females of every socioeconomic background to have reproductive control. The choice should not be the long-term or sole goal of the reproductive rights movement (Price, 2010). The ability for a person to fully exercise their reproductive rights is where the paradigm shifts to form a complete movement of “reproductive justice”. That is, females have the accessibility and support to fully exercise their reproductive rights. In listening to the interview of Elaine Barney I, myself, was able to formulate a clearer consensus as to why females currently do not have full reproductive justice. In this paper, I will more specifically explain why the feminist stereotype, the opposition of the ERA, and the inaccessibility of abortion has contributed to the lack of reproductive justice in the United States. There is a misconception that Feminism is an Umbrella so to speak of all women. In reality, there are many subdivisions within the feminist spectrum, advocating for different things. The term feminism has been hyper- appropriated throughout history that it’s like a funnel used in rhetoric, that strains out the outliers in the feminist community. When people, or more so white
Today, the availability of birth control is taken for granted. There was a time, not long passed, during which the subject was illegal (“Margaret Sanger,” 2013, p.1). That did not stop the resilient leader of the birth control movement. Margaret Sanger was a nurse and women’s activist. While working as a nurse, Sanger treated many women who had suffered from unsafe abortions or tried to self-induce abortion (p.1). Seeing this devastation and noting that it was mainly low income women suffering from these problems, she was inspired to dedicate her life to educating women on family planning—even though the discussion of which was highly illegal at the time (p.1). She was often in trouble with
In the news article “Abortion: Every Woman’s Rights” Sharon Smith wrote an article about women’s rights to get abortions prior to the hearing of the Planned Parenthood v. Casey court case, “which threatened to severely restrict women access to abortion” (Smith). Women wanted reproductive control over their lives and felt that they were not equal to men no matter what advances they got at work and how high their level of education was. The women’s right movement wanted women to have the choice of abortion for all women, the rich and the poor. In the US, thirty- seven states did not provide
Feminism is a female movement that has been around for a long time and it has evolved through many years. Many women call themselves feminists because women are not treated as equals to men and they would like to change that. Women were treated very unfairly, well up to the late 1900’s and they did not have many rights. Back in those days gender stereotypes were clear, the woman was there to be a housewife and the man made the money. Men also made the decisions in the family and the woman had to obey. I think feminists back then were right to want change, because they were not even close to be equal with men. White women did have it hard in those times, however they did not have it as hard as the black women. For example, “ Black women whose
In the mid-1800s American women united to participate in social reforms movements more than ever before. This movement’s involved: struggle to abolish slavery, outlaw alcohol, and ban child labor among others (Rupp, 1987). Despite the failure of the women's movement to attain one among its primary goals, the passage of the ERA , the movement overall accomplished an excellent deal. For several women activists, management over their bodies was a central issue in the campaign. Women needed to be liberated to explore and control their gender, while not being judged by society. An oversized a part of management during this arena concerned having access to birth control, or contraception ways (Fishman, 1998). The contraception pill, associate inoculant,
Margaret Sanger and the Birth Control Movement highlighted a variety of important issues. These issues include women’s right to make decisions privately versus the right of a community to regulate moral behavior; the ethnic demographics of the American people; the ability of women to control their own physical destinies by limiting family size; and the idea that small families were the way to keep the American dream alive. The debate over birth control spoke to personal and political issues, which poses the question: Was birth control merely a matter of individual choice, or was it about power, wealth, opportunity and similar issues? Birth control was not merely a technique to expand the realm of personal freedom; it grew out of a radical
Even to this day, women have not reached maximum equality, but the landmark Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade has helped the women’s equality movement drastically take a step in the right direction. Prior to the case, women had their rights very limited and restricted. Everyone was and still is entitled to their basic rights, however pregnant women were not. Their first, fourth, fifth, ninth, and fourteenth amendment rights were violated and were not addressed until Jane Roe testified in court. The decision made by the court still has a lasting impact even to this day. The landmark Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade was not just a win for Jane Roe, but a win for all women as it helped break the barrier that surrounded women’s equality.
Women having been fighting for equal rights for many years. Because of our genitalia, we will be paid less, we will be judged more, and we will have to fight to protect our basic human rights. Most women are born with the amazing ability to carry life; this is a blessing and a curse. Because of this ability, some people believe that a woman’s body is not completely her own, but that the government has rights to that body as well. We have been fighting to control our own bodies for many years. All women must understand that fighting for our reproductive rights is not just a simple pro-life or pro-choice battle, but a complex fight to teach proper sex education, maintain women’s health facilities, and protect our essential human rights.
This tiered system sets up privileges that are difficult, if not impossible, to break out of. “Even before the cuts less than 20% of women in need… were served… out of the 1.7 million women in need” (Stevenson, 2014). A legislation that was created to benefit and, as the advocates for the bill have said before, create the ideal world without abortion has succeed in undermining the health and safety of the individuals within the state. The benefits of this bill help little to no one as people are forced to conform based around moral ideals.
The Women’s March on January 21, 2017 also stirred the emotions of American citizens, for different reason. The vast response to the March throughout the country left some wondering why such action was needed, when women’s rights have come such a long way from when the US was founded. Those unware of the March’s mission are likely unaware that it was centered around many principles including: ending violence, LQBTQIA rights, worker’s rights, civil rights, disability rights, immigrant rights, environmental justice, and reproductive rights (Women’s March, 2017). The focus on reproductive right’s centered on reproductive freedom and an access to quality reproductive healthcare services, birth control, HIV/AIDS care and prevention, medically accurate sexuality education, and access to safe, legal, affordable abortion (Women’s March,2017). Access to abortion is an issue that varies state to state, similar to the issue of gun regulation.
They affirmed that women must have the freedom to access safe and effective birth control, the freedom of financial equality, and the freedom to vote. Although these women were advocating for financial equality and birth control over a hundred years ago, women today still do not have equal pay; in 2015, women earned seventy-eight cents for each dollar that a man earned for equal work. Moreover, during the 2016 Women’s March, Americans marched to express that they do not support cutting funding to Planned Parenthood, an organization that, like Margret Sanger’s, provides affordable, safe, and effective birth control to women. Many of the efforts that Progressive feminists fought decades ago are still being fought today; the topic is arguably as relevant as it was during the
With the roe decision, a woman had the constitutional right to make personal decisions about her reproduction without government restrictions. “Keep your laws off my body!” the protest signs in favor of legalizing abortion said. Since then Third Wave feminists point out that choice is a complex concept that’s influenced by social issues such as class and race” (Higgins79).“Reproductive justice activists advocate for a woman’s control of her “reproductive destiny.” Women have the “right to have children, not have children, and to parent the children [they] have in safe and healthy environments,” regardless of race, disability, and sexual orientation” (81). The options for women before roe v. wade were very small and even though the court passed it more unnecessary restrictions were added. “If a teen girl does get pregnant, she may choose an abortion, which is illegal-and dangerous. If she gets raped or if she is the victim of domestic violence, she has almost no legal recourse to bring her attacker to justice” (5). “The Supreme Court disagreed with Roe’s assertion of an absolute right to terminate
Bridgewater (2009) argues that an understanding of reproductive justice and the implications of its regulations in the U.S requires more than just a deep understanding of the laws that govern reproductive rights but also a very good understanding of the story of slavery. Slavery experiences of reproductive oppression, especially towards the Women of Color in the U.S, have fueled the movement for reproductive rights. The lack of freedom to reproductive rights and decisions has subjected the Women of Color to racism and sexism, creating stereotyped minds that they cannot be in control of their reproductive bodies. Bridgewater’s methodology was to
Of all the legal, ethical, and moral issues we Americans continuously fight for or against, abortion may very well be the issue that Americans are most passionate about. The abortion issue is in the forefront of political races. Many people in society today choose to be pro-choice because they want to support women of their choice and right to have an abortion and that sex education that promotes abstinence is not effective. According to “Abortions: every Woman’s Right” by Smith S., the article discusses about how women couldn’t be equal to men because they don’t have the same rights to reproductive rights of their own even if though they are advanced in the job market or have a higher education. Even socialist argue that women deserve to have rights over their body without interference. Part of NARAL’s impact to
Today women have more rights than they have ever had, but it came at a price. Over 40 years ago a case brought before the U.S. Supreme Court laid the foundation for women who wanted to have a choice, this choice was abortion. The famous case Roe v. Wade paved the path for women all over the United States to make their choice in the matter of pregnancy. However, there have been several activist groups that feel no matter what this is wrong, these groups result to violence that have been said to be a form a domestic terrorism. In 2003, Norma McCorvy, know has Jane Roe in the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, changed her
Women’s reproductive rights are a global issue in today’s world. Women have to fight to have the right to regulate their own bodies and reproductive choices, although in some countries their voices are ignored. Abortion, sterilization, contraceptives, and family planning services all encompass this global issue of women’s reproductive rights.