Throughout history, there have been a plethora of different perspectives on abortion rights that pro-choice groups were using as their main cause. The analysis of how pro-choice groups chose to advocate for abortion rights is telling of history and what was prioritized at the moment within what feminists were seeking to achieve. Roe v Wade was a landmark decision in U.S. history in which the supreme court issued a decision protecting women’s rights in choosing to have an abortion. This decision was fought for through years of feminists advocating for abortion rights and using strategic protests, strikes, and through many other public demonstrations to gain support. The long road to Roe v. Wade is evidence that abortion was a topic of discussion prior to the case decision in January 1973. Recently abortion rights have once again become a topic of discussion because the case was overturned in June 2022. Modern feminists are now required to fight to regain these rights, but how do their strategies differ or remain the same from pro-choice groups throughout history?
In the 1960s abortion rights were not initially part of what feminists believed in and advocated for until their perspective of abortion changed. Feminists started to see abortion as an essential part of women’s equality in society and began advocating for the decriminalization of abortion from that point onward. The founder of the National Organization for Women (NOW), Betty Friedan, was one of the first leaders to state explicitly her support for the decriminalization of abortion and invited other feminists to accept this cause as part of their fight for equality between genders in society. [2] Friedan traveled to Chicago to attend and speak at the First National Conference on Abortion Laws where she went on to say:
“My only claim to be here, is to our belated recognition, if you will, that there is no freedom, no equality, no full human dignity and personhood possible for women until we assert and demand the control over our own bodies, over our own reproductive process…
…
…Women are denigrated in this country, because women are not deciding the conditions of their own society and their own lives. Women are not taken seriously as people. So this is the new name of the game on the question of abortion: that women’s voices are heard.” [2]
This powerful speech had a lasting impact as it states that women do not have full human rights until they have the power to govern their own reproductive system and are capable of making decisions about when they choose to bear a child. The major argument they used to advocate for abortion rights at that time was to make people aware of how society was set up in a manner that prevented women from entering an environment and being met with the same opportunities because they were a caregiver.
After Roe v Wade was passed, women had their rights to safe abortions protected, however, women of color still had inadequate access to safe abortions. This led to the development of movements and groups like the National Black Women’s Health Project (1984) and Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice to develop. In 1984, the National Black Women’s Health Project successfully redefined the right to have a child, the right not to have a child, and the right to parent one’s existing child by putting these rights on an equal pedestal. [1] The Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice later added to the definition of reproductive justice that it is necessary to allow abortions based on the physical, mental, spiritual, political, social, and economic well-being of women in efforts to completely achieve the protection of women’s human rights. [1]
Although these aforementioned beliefs are not lacking in the slightest in modern feminism as they attempt to regain abortion rights after Roe v Wade was overturned, there has been an evolution in how access to safe abortions is vital to women’s success. Now feminists focus on viewing an immense set of circumstances and empathizing with the need for a person to have access to an abortion. [4] There is no longer a need to see abortion through one lens, instead, feminists voice the many stories of women who either needed a medical abortion or an abortion based on the circumstances they found themselves to be in. Many women who seek abortion do so because of varying reasons–they may not be able to financially, emotionally, safely, or realistically support a child’s needs. Without access to safe abortions, many women may find themselves in a predicament they would not be able to handle as best they could at a later time in their life.
With that being said, many women also choose to undergo an abortion for selective reasoning. Many women have undergone an abortion after finding out the fetus may be born with a disability. Although some women may see this as an attempt to “improve the overall quality of life”, other women choose to abort a fetus with a disability because they would be unable to provide for the needs associated with the disability. [3] Although it is up to discussion whether some of these motives may be ableist, does that give society the ability to strip women of their access to safe abortions?
Overall, there is a noticeable evolution in feminists’ belief that safe abortions are vital to women’s human rights. Before Roe v. Wade was passed many feminists viewed abortion rights to be equal to human rights since it is reflective of a woman’s control over her own reproductive system. While after Roe v. Wade was overturned the feminist view on abortion evolved to take a more empathetic and understanding approach to a woman’s financial, mental, and physical state when seeking an abortion.
Hector Valadez-Garcia
Works Cited
[1] Fried, Marlene Gerber. “Reproductive Rights Activism in the Post-Roe Era.” Reproductive Rights Activism in the Post-Roe Era, American Journal of Public Health, 2013, ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2012.301125.
[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 19 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 19 Apr. 2023.
[4] Swift, Jayne. “Feminist Futures: Reimagining Arguments for Abortion.” The Gender Policy Report, 5 July 2022, genderpolicyreport.umn.edu/feminist-futures-reimagining-arguments-for-abortion/.