The battle for women’s reproductive rights is similar to the struggle for African Americans to have “the full liberty of speech in public and private” as Dread Scott found out in 1865 when he petitioned for his personal freedom from slavery and lost. Moreover women’s reproductive rights are akin to defending the rights of racial equality, civil rights, desegregation, same sex marriage, and universal human rights. Every individual should have the right to choose how to live his or her private life in today’s society without governmental interference or control.
Abortion had been illegal since 1880 in the United States, unless it was “crucial in saving the woman’s life.” According to the Boston Women's Health Book Collective, by the 1950s, “about one million illegal abortions were performed annually,” resulting in one out of 1,000 women dying in the process. Accordingly, this brought to the forefront the importance of having safe medical treatment for women who underwent these procedures. As a result, beginning in the 1960s, women’s movements began pushing for their rights, including reproductive privacy after being inspired by the civil rights movement a decade earlier.
Nevertheless, in the United States, the process of getting the word out to unify women nationwide was slow, but in 1970, the newly organized, National Organization of Women’s, voice was finally heard by legislators. Subsequently, the first state to allow the full right to abortion was New York. As a result, in 1973, abortion was legalized in the U.S. due to the persistence of the feminist’s and women’s movements.At the end of the day, the sole decision on what is best for individual women’s health rests in their own hands.
Abortion had been illegal since 1880 in the United States, unless it was “crucial in saving the woman’s life.” According to the Boston Women's Health Book Collective, by the 1950s, “about one million illegal abortions were performed annually,” resulting in one out of 1,000 women dying in the process. Accordingly, this brought to the forefront the importance of having safe medical treatment for women who underwent these procedures. As a result, beginning in the 1960s, women’s movements began pushing for their rights, including reproductive privacy after being inspired by the civil rights movement a decade earlier.
Nevertheless, in the United States, the process of getting the word out to unify women nationwide was slow, but in 1970, the newly organized, National Organization of Women’s, voice was finally heard by legislators. Subsequently, the first state to allow the full right to abortion was New York. As a result, in 1973, abortion was legalized in the U.S. due to the persistence of the feminist’s and women’s movements.At the end of the day, the sole decision on what is best for individual women’s health rests in their own hands.
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