Abortion Debate
Introduction: During Barack Obama’s tenure as president, states began implementing increasing restrictions on access to abortion. The 1992 Supreme Court ruling for Planned Parenthood vs. Casey set forth the “undue burden standard”, which stated that although states could not outlaw or completely restrict access to abortions, they could set forth restrictions that did not create an “undue burden” for those seeking abortion access (Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey, 1992). By leaving the definition of “undue burden” up to the states, the Supreme Court has created a space for subjective interpretation, with those in power defining what “undue burden” means. The state of Texas’s controversial H.B. No. 2, which required that that
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Indeed, it was not until the mid to late 19th and early 20th centuries that physicians began to push for the abolition of abortion as a medical practice (Solinger, 2015). Solinger writes that the American Medical Association (AMA) was a particularly strong advocate for the criminalization of abortion, with arguments that included “…the need to protect women from using poisonous abortifacients and from practitioners without medical credentials” (Solinger, 2015, pg. 5). While the need to protect women is what the AMA cited as their driving force, the reality had to do more with racism and emerging eugenics of the era. According to …show more content…
By allowing women to decide if and when they would be pregnant, abortion limited some of the control men had over women at the time. Thus, by 1910, abortion had been almost entirely criminalized in the U.S. and replaced by sterilization. Sterilization better served the purposes of organizations such as the AMA, by enacting control over women’s reproductive processes. Sterilization was broadly used against groups found to be “unfit” as parents: minorities, the poor, and those with disabilities (Solinger, 2015). Women who were sterilized were unable to have children, thus assuaging the fear of higher birthrates amongst Blacks and Latinos surpassing the birthrates amongst Whites (Solinger,
Indeed, it was not until the mid to late 19th and early 20th centuries that physicians began to push for the abolition of abortion as a medical practice (Solinger, 2015). Solinger writes that the American Medical Association (AMA) was a particularly strong advocate for the criminalization of abortion, with arguments that included “…the need to protect women from using poisonous abortifacients and from practitioners without medical credentials” (Solinger, 2015, pg. 5). While the need to protect women is what the AMA cited as their driving force, the reality had to do more with racism and emerging eugenics of the era. According to …show more content…
By allowing women to decide if and when they would be pregnant, abortion limited some of the control men had over women at the time. Thus, by 1910, abortion had been almost entirely criminalized in the U.S. and replaced by sterilization. Sterilization better served the purposes of organizations such as the AMA, by enacting control over women’s reproductive processes. Sterilization was broadly used against groups found to be “unfit” as parents: minorities, the poor, and those with disabilities (Solinger, 2015). Women who were sterilized were unable to have children, thus assuaging the fear of higher birthrates amongst Blacks and Latinos surpassing the birthrates amongst Whites (Solinger,