Abortion Within the United States
Script error: No such module "AfC submission catcheck". Reproductive rights have very deep historical roots in United States history, and in recent years, the topic of abortion and reproductive rights has come back into the spotlight. Prior to the mid-1800’s abortions were a common practice, often using plants and herbal medicines, as well as through procedures. These were often performed by women who were midwives and nurses. While reproductive care was accessible back then, it wasn’t for women of color. Due to slavery, white men controlled enslaved women’s bodies and prohibited access to abortion. This racism is still able to be seen and felt today with in the health care system and society in general. Around the time of the civil war, white male doctors who were being supported by the Catholic Church, led the push for states to ban abortion access and reproductive care. By 1910, abortions were completely banned in the United States leading women to resort to to often fatal back ally procedures. In 1973 Row v Wade overturned this and legalized reproductive care and access to abortion. While it became legal, the racism from centuries of human enslavement was still evident, for example, the Hyde amendment (Abortion in U.S. History, n.d.). This prohibited federal Medicaid funding to be used for abortions and health care. With people of color being the main receivers of said funding due to the long history of slavery and racism, this amendment made it almost impossible for people of color to access the health care they needed but was eventually overturned. After nearly 50 years of precedent, Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022 in a 6-3 Supreme Court ruling, leaving reproductive healthcare up to the states (Liptack, 2022).
Opposing Sides: When looking into the opposing viewpoint within the reproductive healthcare debate, there are many layers to the two sides that each deserve their own paper, for this I will just be summarizing them. According to the Pew Research Center (2022), 57% of adults disapprove of the Supreme Court’s ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade, while 41% of adults approve of the decision. This data suggests that while there are two sides to this argument, the government is not accurately representing the sides equally. This can be seen when you take these statistics and compare them to the 6-3 vote. Looking into the pro-Roe side of the debate, the main beliefs are rooted in science and human rights. Pro-choice arguments often state that because the fetus is dependent on the mother for life, it is not a separate sentient being yet and therefore still part of the mother, which leads into the argument of ‘her body, her choice’. Another belief is that abortion is a safe medical procedure and removing access to it will not stop them from happening but cause them to be more dangerous and fatal. In the case of rape or incest, the pro-choice side believes that the survivor shouldn’t have to carry the fetus due to psychological harm and extenuating circumstances around sexual violence. In general, the pro-choice side looks to science to justify their reasoning and investigates the many layers involved with this topic including social justice and contextual understanding. The pro-Wade side of this debate is rooted deep in religion and control. The pro-choice arguments revolve around the idea that life starts at conception, and that once an egg is fertilized it is a life and a sentient being. To further this idea, it’s mainly believed that abortion is murder, and murder is the most heinous sin. This side believes that adoption is a viable option besides abortion, and if you didn’t want a child to begin with, abstinence is the best option. When looking at rape or incest from this view, it’s the belief that abortion is punishing the unborn fetus for a crime they did not commit. The pro-life viewpoint is deeply rooted in religion, relating abortion to murder and a sin against God. This is rooted back to the very beginning of the attempts to ban reproductive care for women. Alongside religion, control is a large part of the pro-life argument, starting with the control of black women’s bodies durring slavery, and through taking over the jobs of the women working in the reproductive field long before men. Reductionist Thought: Reductionism is the idea that any complex phenomenon within science, specifically biology, can be reduced to a single mechanism, changing the complex phenomenon into its simplest form. As stated by Dr. Reidy in durring lecture, biology can be reduced to physics and chemistry, while social sciences can be reduced to biology (Lecture slide 22). When taking a reductionist lens to the abortion conversation, it is most evident within the pro-life argument. While the pro-choice side also believes life begins at conception, due to the fetus not being viable without the mother it is considered still part of the mother and not murder. The pro-life side argues that since life starts at conception, any interferences after is murder. There is a myriad of technological fixes within this argument. Starting off with birth control, it has been around since ancient times through the development of early condoms. As the United States developed, condoms became more readily available, yet through the Comstock Act, it became illegal to mail any obscene item, contraceptives, and sex toys. By 1907, states were implementing the first laws around sterilization of “unwilling and unwitting” people (A Brief History of Birth Control - Our Bodies Ourselves Today, 2023). By 1929, 30 states had followed suit and had implemented sterilization laws. From 1920-1980’s there was a long fight, headed mostly by Margret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, around the legalization of birth control and the pill. Laws were put into place and overturned around who could use the pill, what race you had to be, coercive sterilization, and more. Birth control is the main technological fix within the science, political, and social institutions of society. Societies Influence on Science: Society is a complex facet of life with many moving parts. Looking at these parts individually can help deepen one’s understanding of a given aspect, but when you consider all parts at once, you can see a full comprehensive image. Concurrent events that worked to mold this issue consist of the feminist movement, specifically second wave movement in the 1960’s. This wave worked to liberalize women within the United States and to create equal opportunities, including health care. By the 1990’s third wave feminism started to gain traction around ideas of sex positivity and expanding second wave to people of color. Public opinion around reproductive rights have often influenced government to agree with the majority of constituents in the U.S. Recently with the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the government has failed to listen to the majority of the U.S. population who believe the constitution does protect women’s rights to reproductive health care. Sciences Influence on Society: Through the combination of social and scientific forces, the country and arguably the world has become divided on the topic of abortion and reproductive care. It has caused people to be marginalized by governmental laws and regulations, most prominently black and indigenous people of color, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community. This matter has caused extreme polarization of the U.S. population, creating rifts within religion, political affiliation, ideas of human rights, and even causing distress within a single household.
References[edit]
A brief history of birth control - our bodies ourselves today. (2023, September 1). Our Bodies Ourselves Today. https://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/health-info/a-brief-history-of-birth-control/ Abortion in U.S. history. (n.d.). Planned Parenthood Action Fund. https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/issues/abortion/abortion-central-history-reproductive-health-care-america Liptack, A. (2022, June). In 6-to-3 Ruling, Supreme Court Ends Nearly 50 Years of Abortion Rights. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/24/us/roe-wade-overturned-supreme-court.html Lowen, L. (2020, January 23). Key arguments from both sides of the abortion debate. ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/arguments-for-and-against-abortion-3534153 Pew Research Center. (2022, July 15). Key facts about abortion views in the U.S. | Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/07/15/key-facts-about-the-abortion-debate-in-america/
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