Women’s Rights
Sherry Sindle
Chamberlain School of Nursing
Women’s rights is a never ending controversy that continues to always be in the media.
One historical event that stands out is the Roe vs Wade which occurred in January 23, 1973. This event is significant for when the Supreme Court made the ruling for a woman to have the right to have an abortion. Since this ruling there continues to be healthcare changes and other issues that arise that effect the care and the rights for women.
Each and every day women are faced with the issues of their decisions for their own health, for the health of their unborn child, and for other health care needs. The Roe vs Wade case started an important event that continues to be an issue. This is an issue that brings on negative concerns and impacts the public in many ways. Women need to be kept up to date with current health information and be provided with their best opportunities. Each woman should be allowed to make their own choices. The states and government should not choose her choices.
Roe vs. Wade was a case that took place on January 22, 1973 in the Supreme Court. This decision according to a CNN article of Fast Facts, (2013) confirmed the right for a women to have an abortion under the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution. This case involved Norma McCorvey, which in the court system was known as, Jane Roe, and Henry Wade. Norma was a pregnant women who wanted an abortion and the according to Texas law was not able to obtain an abortion, therefore she turned to the adoption route. Henry Wade was the District Attorney that Norma McCorvey sued to have abortion rights, according to CNN article (2013) Wade passed away on March 1, 2001. The case started in 1971, in the state of Texas. CNN’s article produces a timeline of events that occurred from 1971 to September 14, 2004 where in New Orleans a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals attempted to overturn the case. There was a three judge panel who dismissed this due to no new information noted. According to article from U.S. History.org there are two groups of people, “opponents of abortion use the label “pro-life” to define their cause and supporters of Roe v. Wade identify themselves as “pro-choice.” This also has a lot to do with people’s faith, religious beliefs as well as personal beliefs.
Last year on January 22, 2014, this was the 41st anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. Kliff, (2014) writes in her article that there are fewer clinics that offer abortions and fewer actual providers that are actually providing abortions. Kliff also goes into discuss that there is a decline in the number of abortions and there is a steady concentration on abortions in the lower income population. Each year different states pass more restrictions on abortions and attempt to add more states to the list of legal abortions. According to Kliffs article in 2010 there was an increase in abortion restrictions due to the Republicans taking over some control of the state legislatures in the midterm elections. Due to the Republicans taking over this created whether the Affordable Care Act would help assist with the funding for abortions since the taxes are used for health insurance coverage. Another key point in the article by Kliff is that research has shown that the countries that have more liberal abortion laws tend to have a lower abortion rate. This also tends to allow these women greater access to contraceptives in these countries.
According to an article written by Marcotte in 2011, there were ten states that still have abortion listed as illegal. These states are listed as Idaho, Iowa, Utah, Louisiana, Kansas, Virginia, Mississippi, Indiana, Ohio, and South Dakota. Each of these states are putting women’s health in danger and at risk. The author goes into detail with each states guidelines and their choice of what their definitions are for the abortion guidelines based on weeks
