Women’s Reproductive Rights Presentation

Access to birth control and the legalisation of abortions have always been controversial issues. Feminists have fought for full autonomy and access to safe methods of birth control and abortions. There is still a lack of access to birth control for women living in poverty in America, mostly women from minority backgrounds.

History of Abortion

Abortion was overall considered illegal and heavily criminalised in 20th century America. But, at the start of the 19th century abortions were basically legal with little punishment being issued.[i] Legal restrictions on abortions in the US were first created between 1821-1841.[ii]To begin with women were not punished, but the administrator of the abortion, however, later women would be punished severely. In 1934 punishments varied from a fine to jail that ranged from 30 days to 10 years.[iii] Unofficial “back-alley” abortions were common and extremely dangerous and became the main cause of death linked with pregnancy.

The creation of the pill had intended to decrease abortions by preventing pregnancy, however, the release of the pill overlapped with an increase in abortion figures. Strain suggested this was due to women believing they had a “right to not be pregnant.”[iv] Many states still oppose abortion, in 2019, Alabama passed the Human Life Protection Act which banned virtually all abortions. The ban is temporarily being blocked and despite receiving major opposition may still take effect.[v]

The latest point in pregnancy you can get an abortion in all 50 states

https://www.businessinsider.com/latest-point-in-pregnancy-you-can-get-abortion-in-50-states-2019-5?r=US&IR=T

Birth Control

A huge milestone in the women’s rights movement was the availability of the new contraceptive pill. Which was distributed for commercial use in the 1960s. However, many did not have access and in some states, all forms of contraception were banned. A law in Massachusetts made the distribution of information on contraceptives illegal. Despite voters being given the choice to relax this law in 1944 majority decided to keep the ban. There were similar laws in other states, and it wasn’t until the 1970s that such laws were revoked.[vi] Married couples also relied on the pill to limit the number of children they had. Halfway through the 1960s the pill had become the main type of contraception used in America.

Legislation and Anti-Abortion Groups

The legalisation of abortion has prompted many anti-abortion groups to form. Anti-abortion groups were usually made up of members from the medical community, religious groups and outspoken feminists. Before the hugely divisive case of Roe v Wade (1973), abortion was hugely criminalised. Prior to Roe v Wade, 30 states made abortions completely illegal, 16 states made it illegal with some exceptions and only 4 made abortions obtainable.

The legalisation of abortion through Roe v Wade helped decriminalise abortions, make them safer and easier to acquire, but it did not guarantee that all women would have access. However, soon after, huge amounts of complicated legislation were put in place to disrupt and slow down facilities offering abortions. These included: Waiting periods, parental involvement, facilities requirements, bans of use of public funds or facilities, reporting mandates[vii]. Restrictions have continually gotten more intense, resulting in a decline in abortion rates in the US.[viii]

Pro-Abortion Rally with Anti-Sterilisation Banner

https://www.vox.com/2018/3/20/16955588/feminism-waves-explained-first-second-third-fourth

Even feminists were still split on the issue, many thinking that Roe did not go far enough in giving women full autonomy, “Roe balanced women’s reproductive rights against the interests of physicians, the State and the unborn foetus, thereby limiting their control over their own bodies”[ix]. In contemporary America feminist groups such as Feminists For Life of America follow the lead of Susan B. Anthony as pro-life. They believe that with proper support, education and financial help women wouldn’t need abortions.[x]

Current president, Donald Trump, has claimed to have a pro-life stance with the exceptions of rape, incest or potential harm to the mother, however, he has attended pro-life rallies[xi] and legislation has been passed in recent years that reverses progress made in legalising abortions. Having a pro-life president can heavily influence legislation as he can appoint Supreme Court judges.

Class, Poverty and Race 

Class and race were influential factors that hindered women getting an abortion. Minorities found it difficult when seeking an abortion as women’s rights were disregarded due to their ethnicity and wealth.

African American woman had to deal with the ‘dual burden’ which meant they had tackle gender equality or the equal rights of African Americans at the same time .Abortion was illegal in many states in America, this meant many minority women resorted to illegal methods of abortion and dangerous back alley procedures[xii] due to a lack of money to get an abortion safely. These unprofessional procedures lead to a major rise in pregnancy related deaths amongst African Americans.

‘Roe v Wade case,1973’[xiii].Jane Roe was an unmarried and pregnant woman unable to get an abortion as she did not meet the requirements that her life or the health of the unborn baby was in danger. The source states that Roe could not afford to travel to another state in order to receive a legal and safe abortion. This therefore means that if you were a wealthy middle-class woman it would be much more accessible to receive a safe abortion than those woman in a lower paid job.

‘An Abortion Testimonial[xiv]’, by Susan, Barbara states that If you did go through with the procedure, you were left with huge medical bills that would take years to pay back. Women faced shame from family and employers when they found out about the pregnancy.

If you did not have health care insurance through your job it was increasingly difficult to get a safe abortion.

Culture and Media Representation 

Americans are deeply misinformed about abortion with 70% of Americans not knowing that abortion was safer than childbirth.[xv]  This misinformation helps those who oppose abortion,[xvi] meaning abortion in America today is still stigmatised by the past.[xvii] This can be traced back to cinema in 1910s and 20s which depicted and even helped legitimise birth control. [xviii] Cinema, like contemporary media was used as a battleground by those who supported and opposed birth control and despite a pushback in the 1930s with the Production Code Administration, those that supported birth control gained two successes.[xix]

The first was in 1918, when the law changed to allow prescribed contraception for disease management, thus opening the way up to further progress.[xx]

The second was how birth control was brought further into the public discourse, were even positive depictions were appearing.[xxi] This suggests that old attitudes still remain strong and that there is a need for accurate portrayals in their culture.

Indiana in 1907 was the first to legalise Involuntary sterilisation.[xxii] This is connected to America`s gender power disparities, as women had less power and status. This is shown in how they targeted marginalised groups due to race, disability or class.[xxiii] Sterilisation is a popular and permeant form of birth control meaning its denial is an attack on women`s fundamental reproductive rights.[xxiv]  There were tough restrictions on sterilisation before 1969 when it changed to allow sterilisation with the doctor approval.[xxv] However, women are still denied for a variety of reasons.[xxvi] Which ignores patient autonomy and woman`s rights.[xxvii] Being refused control denies women of their agency and adulthood, made worse by the long history of oppression and control.[xxviii]

Conclusions 

Contemporary America is still facing the issues and controversy’s that surround abortion and birth control. Although birth control is no longer as controversial as it used to be there is still an important discussion to be had about access. Although many support accesses to birth control for women there are huge problems still affecting how easy it is for women to get it, involving healthcare insurance and the lack of centres around America that can provide them. Although the media throughout the years has helped normalise birth control through films it has still allowed a false information relating abortion and birth control. Abortion and birth control are still hotly debated issues and there are still many obstacles to be overcome in contemporary America surrounding these issues, and opinions may always be split.

 

[i] Jeanne Flavin, Our Bodies, Our Crimes: The Policing Of Women’s Reproductive Rights In America (New York: NYU Press, 2008), p. 12.

[ii] James C. Mohr, Abortion in America the Origins and Evolution of National Policy, 1800-1900 (Oxford [Oxfordshire] ; New York: Oxford University Press, 1979).

[iii] Jeanne Flavin, Our Bodies, Our Crimes: The Policing Of Women’s Reproductive Rights In America (New York: NYU Press, 2008), p. 14.

[iv] Christopher B. Strain, The Long Sixties: America, 1955 – 1973 (Chichester, West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2017), p. 102.

[v] Rick Rojas and Alan Blinder, “Alabama Abortion Ban Is Temporarily Blocked By A Federal Judge”, Nytimes.Com, 2019 <https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/29/us/alabama-abortion-ban.html> [Accessed 21 March 2020].

[vi] Elizabeth B Connell, “Contraception In The Prepill Era”, Contraception, 59.1 (1999), 7S-10S <https://doi.org/10.1016/s0010-7824(98)00130-9>.

[vii] C.E. Joffe, T.A. Weitz and C.L. Stacey, “Uneasy Allies: Pro-Choice Physicians, Feminist Health Activists And The Struggle For Abortion Rights”, Sociology Of Health And Illness, 26.6 (2004), 775-796 <https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0141-9889.2004.00418.x>.

[viii] Michael J. New, “Analyzing The Effect Of Anti-Abortion U.S. State Legislation In The Post-Casey Era”, State Politics & Policy Quarterly, 11.1 (2011), 28-47 <https://doi.org/10.1177/1532440010387397>.

[ix] Rosemary Nossiff, “Gendered Citizenship: Women, Equality, And Abortion Policy”, New Political Science, 29.1 (2007), 61-76 <https://doi.org/10.1080/07393140601170818>.

[x] “Pro-Woman Answers To Pro-Choice Questions”, Feminists For Life, 2020 <https://www.feministsforlife.org/pwapcq/> [Accessed 27 March 2020].

[xi] David Smith, “Trump Tells Anti-Abortion Activists At March For Life: ‘I Am Fighting For You'”, The Guardian, 2020 <https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/24/trump-march-for-life-washington-anti-abortion> [Accessed 27 March 2020].

[xii] Christopher. B Strain, The long sixties: American, 1955-1973 (Chichester: John Wiley&Sons, Ltd, 2017), p.106.

[xiii] Robert Griffith & Paula Baker, Major problems in American history since 1945: Documents and essays, 3rd Edn (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2007), p. 293.

[xiv] Alexander Bloom & Wini Breines, Takin it to the streets: A sixties reader, 4th Edn (New York: Oxford University Press, 2015), p.444.

[xv] Gretchen Sisson; Brenly Rowland, `“I was close to death!”: abortion and medical risk on American television, 2005–2016`, Contraception, 96(1), (2017), 25-29, <https://www.contraceptionjournal.org/action/showPdf?pii=S0010-7824%2817%2930098-7>, [Accessed 17 March 2020], p.25.

[xvi] Gretchen Sisson; Katrina Kimport, `Telling stories about abortion: abortion-related plots in American film and television, 1916-2013`, Contraception, 89(5), (2014), 413-8, <https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S0010782414000067?token=8EC554CAF861DA841B8B3085D67BF7E77E3B7F7AF93ACA9750AD5CB43718C44FFDE50AF43AC55AB470AA86D183411942>, [Accessed 17 March 2020], p.417.

[xvii]Gretchen Sisson; Brenly Rowland, `“I was close to death!”: abortion and medical risk on American television, 2005–2016`, Contraception, 96(1), (2017), 25-29, <https://www.contraceptionjournal.org/action/showPdf?pii=S0010-7824%2817%2930098-7>, [Accessed 17 March 2020], pp.25-6.

[xviii] Manon Parry, `”Pictures with a purpose”: the birth control debate on the big screen`, Journal of women’s history, 23(4), (2011), 108-30, <https://muse.jhu.edu/article/459346/pdf>, [Accessed 18 March 2020], p.108.

[xix] Manon Parry, `”Pictures with a purpose”: the birth control debate on the big screen`, Journal of women’s history, 23(4), (2011), 108-30, <https://muse.jhu.edu/article/459346/pdf>, [Accessed 18 March 2020], p.109.

[xx]Manon Parry, `”Pictures with a purpose”: the birth control debate on the big screen`, Journal of women’s history, 23(4), (2011), 108-30, <https://muse.jhu.edu/article/459346/pdf>, [Accessed 18 March 2020], p.119.

[xxi]Manon Parry, `”Pictures with a purpose”: the birth control debate on the big screen`, Journal of women’s history, 23(4), (2011), 108-30, <https://muse.jhu.edu/article/459346/pdf>, [Accessed 18 March 2020], pp.112-3.

[xxii]Phillip R. Reilly, `Eugenics and Involuntary Sterilization: 1907-2015`, Annual review of genomics and human genetics, 16, (2015), 351-68, <https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev-genom-090314-024930>, [Accessed 18 March 2020], p.355.

[xxiii] Priti Patel, `Forced sterilization of women as discrimination`, Public health reviews, 38, (2017), 15, <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5809857/pdf/40985_2017_Article_60.pdf>, [Accessed 17 March 2020], pp.1-2.

[xxiv]R. J. Cook; B. M. Dickens, `Voluntary and involuntary sterilization: denials and abuses of rights`, International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, 68(1), (2000), 61-67, <https://obgyn-onlinelibrary-wiley-com.libezproxy.dundee.ac.uk/doi/epdf/10.1016/S0020-7292%2899%2900193-9>, [Accessed 17 March 2020], p.64.

[xxv]Heidi Moseson; Diana Greene Foster; Ushma D Upadhyay; Eric Vittinghoff; Corinne H Rocca, ` Contraceptive Use over Five Years After Receipt Or Denial of Abortion Services`, Perspectives on sexual and reproductive health, 50(1), (2018), 7-14, <https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.libezproxy.dundee.ac.uk/doi/epdf/10.1111/bioe.12431>, [Accessed 17 March 2020], p.281.

[xxvi] Heidi Moseson; Diana Greene Foster; Ushma D Upadhyay; Eric Vittinghoff; Corinne H Rocca, ` Contraceptive Use over Five Years After Receipt Or Denial of Abortion Services`, Perspectives on sexual and reproductive health, 50(1), (2018), 7-14, <https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.libezproxy.dundee.ac.uk/doi/epdf/10.1111/bioe.12431>, [Accessed 17 March 2020], p.281.

[xxvii]Paddy McQueen, `The Role of Regret in Medical Decision-making`, Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, 20(5), (2017), 1051-1065, <https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10677-017-9844-8.pdf>, [Accessed 20 March 2020], p.1055.

[xxviii] Paddy McQueen, `The Role of Regret in Medical Decision-making`, Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, 20(5), (2017), 1051-1065, <https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10677-017-9844-8.pdf>, [Accessed 20 March 2020], p.1062.

 

 

Bibliography:

  • Bloom, Alexander, and Wini Breines, Takin it to the streets: A sixties reader, 4th Edn (New York: Oxford University Press, 2015)
  • Connell, Elizabeth B, “Contraception In The Prepill Era”, Contraception, 59 (1999), 7S-10S <https://doi.org/10.1016/s0010-7824(98)00130-9>
  • Cook, R. J.; B. M. Dickens, `Voluntary and involuntary sterilization: denials and abuses of rights`, International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, 68(1), (2000), 61-67
  • Flavin, Jeanne, Our Bodies, Our Crimes: The Policing Of Women’s Reproductive Rights In America (New York: NYU Press, 2008)
  • Griffith, Robert and Paula Baker, Major Problems in American History Since 1945: Documents and Essays, 3rd Edn (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2007)
  • Joffe, C.E., T.A. Weitz, and C.L. Stacey, “Uneasy Allies: Pro-Choice Physicians, Feminist Health Activists And The Struggle For Abortion Rights”, Sociology Of Health And Illness, 26 (2004), 775-796 <https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0141-9889.2004.00418.x>
  • New, Michael J., “Analyzing The Effect Of Anti-Abortion U.S. State Legislation In The Post-Casey Era”, State Politics & Policy Quarterly, 11 (2011), 28-47 <https://doi.org/10.1177/1532440010387397>
  • Nossiff, Rosemary, “Gendered Citizenship: Women, Equality, And Abortion Policy”, New Political Science, 29 (2007), 61-76 <https://doi.org/10.1080/07393140601170818>
  • McQueen, Paddy, `The Role of Regret in Medical Decision-making`, Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, 20(5), (2017), 1051-1065, <https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10677-017-9844-8.pdf>, [Accessed 20 March 2020], p.1062
  • Mohr, James C., Abortion in America the Origins and Evolution of National Policy, 1800-1900 (Oxford [Oxfordshire] ; New York: Oxford University Press, 1979)
  • Moseson, Heidi; Diana Greene Foster; Ushma D Upadhyay; Eric Vittinghoff; Corinne H Rocca, ` Contraceptive Use over Five Years After Receipt Or Denial of Abortion Services`, Perspectives on sexual and reproductive health, 50(1), (2018), 7-14, <https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.libezproxy.dundee.ac.uk/doi/epdf/10.1111/bioe.12431>, [Accessed 17 March 2020], p.281
  • Parry, Manon, `”Pictures with a purpose”: the birth control debate on the big screen`, Journal of women’s history, 23(4), (2011), 108-119
  • Patel, Priti, `Forced sterilization of women as discrimination`, Public health reviews, 38, (2017), 15, pp.1-2.
  • “Pro-Woman Answers To Pro-Choice Questions”, Feminists For Life, 2020 <https://www.feministsforlife.org/pwapcq/> [Accessed 27 March 2020]
  • Reilly, Phillip R., `Eugenics and Involuntary Sterilization: 1907-2015`, Annual review of genomics and human genetics, 16, (2015), 351-68
  • Rojas, Rick, and Alan Blinder, “Alabama Abortion Ban Is Temporarily Blocked By A Federal Judge”, Nytimes.Com, 2019 <https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/29/us/alabama-abortion-ban.html> [Accessed 21 March 2020]
  • Sisson, Gretchen; Brenly Rowland, `“I was close to death!”: abortion and medical risk on American television, 2005–2016`, Contraception, 96(1), (2017), 25-417
  • Smith, David, “Trump Tells Anti-Abortion Activists At March For Life: ‘I Am Fighting For You'”, The Guardian, 2020 <https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/24/trump-march-for-life-washington-anti-abortion> [Accessed 27 March 2020]
  • Strain, Christopher B., The Long Sixties: America, 1955 – 1973 (Chichester, West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2017)
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