For women, the entirety of their history in the United States revolves around one thing: their fight for freedom in multiple avenues such as their body and their intellect. When women were presented the supreme court case of Roe v. Wade, which is a landmark case that established a women’s right to abortion, their entire future changed. What did this change look like? Women across the country found not only a newfound liberty over their own body, but they also discovered new feminist ideals within themselves that created a beautiful connection between their inner and outer freedom. When the case was finalized and they were given the right to choose, women proclaimed their new freedom through more political participation, reevaluating the cultural and social context of the decision, and identifying how the decision changed their access to hospital resources post Roe v. Wade.
When the United States decided to make the decision to make abortion legal, women channeled their inner feminism and let it be seen through new political participation, especially as, even to this day, there will always be backlash from parts of the community. In a journal from Greenhouse and Siegel they examine how, during the beginning of the feminist movement in the 1960s, women didn’t originally understand that during their fight for equal education and pay, abortion actually fit into the puzzle. However, as time went on and the 1960s came to an end, women began to realize that child bearing is something that they too should have freedom over. When women discovered this, they began their fight for abortion freedom until they won with Roe v. Wade decision of 1973. When Roe v. Wade was first being discussed, there was a party realignment that occurred due to the Democrats siding with women’s rights and the Republicans trying to get the attention of those who were “pro-life” such as the catholic population [2]. With this and the party polarization, many women found themselves sticking to their beliefs and thus becoming more politically active as a whole. The inclusion of women in politics would be forever changed and the memory of the impactful court case decision did not go unnoticed. Looking forward to today, women are more active than ever, especially in women’s rights related issues such as abortion and equal pay in marches and rallies as a result. Roe v. Wade was a decision that gave women a new confidence in their political participation, and it had an effect that made women realize that their entire body is their own, and it is not up to the government to control that for them.
There is an incredibly intricate relationship between freedom and feminism and what it looks like when evaluating the cultural and social context of Roe v. Wade. When the case first concluded, women were ecstatic to finally have the right to have an abortion, but they failed to realize the other implications that came with this newfound freedom. While yes, abortion was now legal, accessibility became an issue. In “Reconceiving Abortion: Medical Practice, Women’s Access, and Feminist Politics before and after ‘Roe v. Wade” by Schoen, it is explained following Roe v. Wade, the narrative changed from being about abortion itself and instead access. During this time, it was mostly those in more metropolitan areas and available to the middle and high class individuals that populated them [3]. With this and the narrative shift, women continued their feminist fight, but in a different light. In evaluating the social and cultural context, women not only looked at where their place was in society, and where they could make a difference. There was a clear race and class divide in access, and the community of women who fought for Roe v. Wade in the first place began their fight for access.
Similar to the last point regarding accessibility, the ways in which hospitals functioned around abortion changed following the decision which, in turn, gave women more freedom. In a study done by Bond and Johnson, they found that “almost half of the hospitals (47 percent) changed their abortion policies after 1973. A small number (5 percent) restricted their services, but a much larger number (42 percent) expanded their services” [1]. For most hospitals, this change evolved from providing only therapeutic abortions to elective, which means that hospitals were allowing women to choose abortions if they wanted, not only if they had to. This change sparked a whole new life for women in America. Because of these changes, a woman could walk into a hospital, requesting an abortion, and receive one without any backlash. This change in history, whether women of today think of it or not, changed society’s cultural memory revolving around the decision. In today’s society, before the current court case, women can walk into an office or abortion clinic and feel no discomfort from the staff. Freedom was something that was hard for many women to completely feel in a hospital setting back then, but with policy change came feministic freedom that would forever change their experience.
The intricate relationship between feminism and freedom after Roe V. Wade is one that requires multiple outlooks and understandings as with more freedom comes more difficulties. While political participation changed, and has continued to evolve, setbacks such as accessibility kept full freedom from occurring for some time. Women in the 1970’s and the women of today share a lot in common: they embody their feminism with a drive for full freedom as they fight for abortion rights, equal pay, and accessibility to resources despite class or race. The ways in which women’s rights will be remembered in memory started with this monumental case, and will likely never end. Roe v. Wade was a life-altering case for women across not only America but the world, and its implications continue to drive women to work for a better tomorrow for freedom.
– Courtland Bartosik
Works Cited
[1]Bond, Jon R., and Charles A. Johnson. “Implementing a Permissive Policy: Hospital Abortion Services after Roe v. Wade.” American Journal of Political Science, vol. 26, no. 1, 1982, pp. 1–24. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2110836. Accessed 11 Apr. 2023.
[2]Greenhouse, Linda, and Reva B. Siegel. “Before (and After) Roe v. Wade: New Questions About Backlash.” The Yale Law Journal, vol. 120, no. 8, 2011, pp. 2028–87. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41149586. Accessed 11 Apr. 2023.
[3]Schoen, Johanna. “Reconceiving Abortion: Medical Practice, Women’s Access, and Feminist Politics before and after ‘Roe v. Wade.’” Feminist Studies, vol. 26, no. 2, 2000, pp. 349–76. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3178538. Accessed 11 Apr. 2023.