Melissa Silla
ENC1102-0012
Ms. Ziona Kocher
22 October 2014 The Philosophy and Idealism of Feminism Dating back to the early nineteenth and twentieth century, the principle of feminism has made a huge impact that will forever change the course of history. The idea of feminism is to advocate gender equality and to strongly support the right for women in the areas of issue and debate, such as: politics, social issues, and economics. Feminists, defined in Webster’s Dictionary as “People who advocate or support the rights and equality of women”, have fought for many issues that contradicted the general concept of gender equality. Many individuals in today’s society have questioned the idealism
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Wade (1973)
Before the ruling of Roe v. Wade (1973), many states made the practice of abortion illegal. The case of Roe v. Wade (1973) is a contributing factor that transfigured government legislation pertaining to women rights and initiated the political debate over the principle and righteousness of abortion. Roe v. Wade (1973) tackled a Texas legislation that prohibited a woman from getting an abortion (an exception was made if the life of the pregnant woman was at risk).
Although the act of abortion was tested in the midst of the feminist movements that occurred in the 1960’s, the case of Roe v. Wade (1973) would be the ultimate deciding factor of this issue. Norma L. McCorvey (known under the pseudonym ‘Jane Doe’) decided to get an abortion in Texas but was unable to due to the enforced law restricting abortion in Texas. Norma felt at that time that this law violated her individual rights in the constitution and that women should make decisions when it comes to dealing with their bodies. Norma was then referred to two women attorneys, Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee, who were recent graduates of the University Of Texas Law School and decided to take the law-defying case into their own
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Henry Wade made the decision to take the lawsuit to the Supreme Court which reviewed the case for one year (1971-1972). In the Federal Court of Texas, it was ruled 7-2 court decision that the abortion law violated the constitution, pertaining to the right of privacy.
Anti-Feminism
Anti-feminism is the system of principle to have a particular opposition towards the feminist movement. Many individuals with a strong disbelief of the movement presume that the supposed ‘struggles’ endured by women in society are over-exaggerated or inaccurate. The justification of feminism to anti-feminists is to have a strong hostility or oppression towards the male species.
Anti-Feminism throughout History Nineteenth Century
The laws surrounding abortion, particularly the efforts to ban abortion and overturn Roe Vs. Wade, are one of the most significant social problems we are facing in 2017. Roe v. Wade is a landmark decision that was made by the United States Supreme Court on the issue of abortion back in 1973. Abortion has been a prevalent social problem throughout history and continues to be very much a part of the social and political debate today. In fact, abortion has been one of the biggest controversies of all time.
The court’s most controversial ruling was Roe V. Wade (1973) which the court struck down many state laws prohibiting abortions as a violation of a women’s right to
January 22, 1973, a monumental ordeal for all of the United States had come about, which was that abortion was legalized. It was the Supreme Court case of Roe v. Wade that made us take a turn into this political issue. In this case Jane Roe (Norma McCorvey) was an unmarried woman who wasn’t permitted to terminate her unborn child, for the Texas criminal abortion law made it impossible to perform an abortion unless it was putting the mother’s health in danger. Jane Roe was against doing it illegally so she fought to do it legally. In the court cases ruling they acknowledged that the lawful right to having privacy is extensive enough to cover a woman’s decision on whether or not she should be able to terminate her pregnancy.
The Roe v. Wade case originated in the state of Texas in 1970 at the suggestion of Sarah Weddington an Austin attorney. Norma McCorvey otherwise known as "Jane Roe" was an unmarried pregnant woman seeking to overturn the anti-abortion law in the state of Texas. The lawsuit claimed that the statue was unconstitutionally vague and abridged privacy rights of pregnant women guaranteed by the first, fourth, fifth, ninth, and fourteenth amendments to the constitution. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roe_v._Wade)
In 1971, Norma McCorvey or Jane Roe, filled a case against the district attorney of Dallas County, Henry Wade, because he enforced a Texas law that prohibited abortion unless the abortion was needed medically, to save the mother’s life. Being a single, pregnant woman , Roe did not have the choice to have an abortion because the pregnancy was not endangering her life. Plus, Roe could not afford to travel to have the operation done safely. As a result, Linda Coffee and Sarah Weddington, two lawyers that graduated from the University of Texas Law School, claimed a lawsuit against the abortion laws in Texas because they violated Roe’s constitutional rights. Besides Roe’s two laywers, Hallford, a licensed physician, and a childless married couple known as the Does supported Roe’s case. The lawsuit against Wade was filed in a Texas Federal Court. The Texas Federal Court heard the case on December 13th, 1971 and again, on October 11th, 1972. After the examination of Weddington and Coffee’s argument against Jay Floyd’s, the lawyer for Wade during the first argument, and Robert C. Flower’s, the lawyer for Texas in the second argument, the court ruled in Roe’s favor by claiming that the law did violate the Constitution. Consequently, Wade appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Roe v Wade is a famous trial that made abortion within the first trimester of pregnancy legal nationwide. The final jurisdiction of the trial took place in 1973, a time when women had to fight especially hard for their rights and freedoms. The Supreme Court looked at three different cases, all centered around abortion. The parties included plaintiffs Jane Roe (Norma Leah McCorvey), husband and wife John and Mary Doe (David and Marsha King), and Dr. James Hubert Hallford; the defendant was Texas in all three cases (Pan). At first all of the issues were heard in Texas courts, and eventually all taken to the Supreme Court. Roe went to court because she believed that the state of Texas was infringing upon her personal rights to get a safe clean
In the second part of the twentieth century, women’s rights once again gained a lot of momentum. The women’s liberation movement was born out of women civil right activists who were tired of waiting for legislative change for women’s rights. Even though women are being recognized more in society, they still face difficult issues. Sexism –especially in the workforce –is becoming a major issue, birth control pills are still not popular, and abortions are frowned upon in society. The case Roe v. Wade is about a woman with the fake name of Jane Roe who wanted an abortion but the state of Texas would not let her unless her life was in danger. She sued the district attorney of Dallas County saying that it violated the right to privacy under the 1st, 4th, 5th, 9th, and 14th Amendments. Usually, some arguments for being against abortions are because it is like killing a life, religious reasons, and less chance of future pregnancies. Some arguments that approve abortion are the rights of privacy and the mother to make her own decision. I decided to pick the landmark case Roe v. Wade because there are many ways to argue for and against abortions, so I wanted to give it an overarching view before I personally pick a side. Roe v. Wade is a significant case because it shows how rights in the Constitution do not have to be explicitly mentioned for it to implement and the change in abortion laws that affect women.
In many states including Texas, there was a law for anti-abortion. People were not allowed under any circumstances to abort, or better known as to kill their babies unless it was dangerous to the extent that it could take the life of the mother. Even then, it had to be an exception. At first in the 1800's, it was not regulated in any of the states so by the early 1900's, many states made anti-abortion a law. This law was severely debated by many individuals to the extent that it caused the states to split in different groups. During this time, Roe thought that the states were being unfair and overly strict. California and New York began to legitimize abortion because a huge number of women were aborting their babies by unlicensed physicians. By that time, more than 17 percent of abortions were done illegally. This was during the 1970s where the feminist movements were taking place. In this time, women wanted their rights and freedom. To be equal to men and also be able to decide for their own lives. Roe was a single woman who had been raped when she was out of state. When returning, she wanted to abort her baby because she was unmarried. Another reason for not wanting to be pregnant was because Roe believed it would make life hard on her. She couldn’t travel as much as she wanted to and cou...
The history of how abortion became legal was in the Supreme Court case of Roe v. Wade case in 1973. Before that the practice of abortion was illegal unless a women’s health was in danger and the doctor allowed an option of abortion to end her pregnancy. The doctor would then go ahead with the procedure without the law being violated. Jane Roe who was an unmarried woman from Texas initiated a federal action against the county’s district Attorney. She argued that her right to an abortion violated the provisions of the Ninth and Fourteenth Amendment and was therefore unconstitutional. She wanted to end her pregnancy with a professional and licensed practitioner under a safe environment. She was not able to get a legal abortion in Texas because her life was not in any danger from the pregnancy. The Supreme Court ruled in her favor and therefore legalized abortion, because “an individual’s right to privacy included a woman’s right to abort her fetus, if she desired or it was deemed medically necessary” (). Women were now allowed to have an abortion within the first six months of her pregnancy without any reason. The court also stated that “the right of privacy, whether it be founded in the Fourteenth amendment’s concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action, as we feel it is, or as the District Court determined, in the Ninth Amendments’ reservation of rights to the people, is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy. The detriment that the State would impose upon the pregnant woman by denying her choice altogether is apparent” (). The due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment banned a state from denying an abortion since the amendment states “no state shall make of en...
Before abortions became legal, women felt the need to turn to someone for an abortion that was not sanitary or performed the correct way, many either died or left extremely ill. One specific woman felt the need to bring to everyone’s attention, that she should have the right to abort her baby if she wanted to. She fought for her right and many stood behind her and supported her. The case Roe v. Wade legalized abortions in 1973. Norma McCorvey, known as Jane Roe, fought for women’s rights against the state of Texas on two different occasions. Roe v. Wade made a huge impact to women around the country, by legalizing safe and reliable abortions.
The most related terms when women’s right is brought up are feminism and feminist. A feminist, by definition, is someone the fights for feminism. The definition of feminism, one the other hand, is very complex. Throughout history, the word has continuously had bad images and connotations thrown its wa...
The Supreme Court in 1973, in the case of Roe v. Wade, declared most existing state abortion laws unconstitutional. This decision ruled out any legislative interference in the first trimester of pregnancy and put limits on what restrictions could be passed on abortions in later stages of pregnancy(Rand ).
Feminism is a perspective that views gender as one of the most important bases of the structure and organization of the social world. Feminists argue that in most known societies this structure has granted women lower status and value, more limited access to valuable resources, and less autonomy and opportunity to make choices over their lives than it has granted men. (Sapiro 441)
Throughout history, women have remained subordinate to men. Subjected to the patriarchal system that favored male perspectives, women struggled against having considerably less freedom, rights, and having the burdens society placed on them that had so ingrained the culture. This is the standpoint the feminists took, and for almost 160 years they have been challenging the “unjust distribution of power in all human relations” starting with the struggle for equality between men and women, and linking that to “struggles for social, racial, political, environmental, and economic justice”(Besel 530 and 531). Feminism, as a complex movement with many different branches, has and will continue to be incredibly influential in changing lives. Feminist political ideology focuses on understanding and changing political philosophies for the betterment of women.
Feminism is defined as the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes. It began as an organized activity on behalf of women?s rights and interests. This concept was developed to help women earn a place in a predominantly male society. Unfortunately over the years, the intentions of feminism have become distorted, not only by anti-feminists, but also by the feminists themselves. The principle of equality for women and men has turned into a fight in which feminists wish to be better than men. Feminism has been twisted and misunderstood so much that it has become a harmful idea.