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Jackie villa

Ms. Sanchez

World History/English 10

May 20 , 2017

Lives on the Line

The nation will always be divided amongst the population over controversial issues,

especially when dealing with questions concerning social rights. One of the ongoing debates on

social rights have been about how much the state should interfere with a woman’s decisions to

abort a child. There have been countless of cases involving abortion rights for decades now, and

have put the stakes of the future of millions of women on the line. The most notable of these

cases, Roe v. Wade, that was settled by the Supreme Court on January 22, 1973. In Roe v Wade,

the Supreme court ruled that a woman has a right to privacy under the 14th amendment’s “due

process” clause and gives them a chance to receive an abortion, however, because the state is in

charge of protecting a woman’s health and the potential of human life, the state is allowed to

restrict the time period in which the woman is allowed to have an abortion. This is where

scientific reasoning comes into play, scientists have proven that after the first trimester the

developing cells are now a living being developing in the womb, therefore, the court ruled that

the states are allowed to restrict abortion policies on women after the first trimester. Although

this case didn’t settle the questions on whether abortions should be legal and who decides its

legality, it did help spark a growing movement for abortion rights and political attention to this

serious debate. This issue about the legality of abortion arises from different individual’s morals,

religious beliefs, and scientific reasonings not meeting “eye to eye” For instance, one individual
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may believe that abortion is killing an unborn life and goes against Christian values under the

Ten Commandments that urges that an individual shall not kill another life. However, another

individual may believe it is an immoral act to restrict a woman from independently making her

own life decisions, free from the interference of the state laws, especially when dealing with her

body. While abortion rights were being fought over in the U.S., in Mexico, a second wave of a

feminist movement was underway between the years 1968-1990. This movement was concerned

with women’s rights including abortion rights and opportunities for equality. After the Mexican

Revolution of 1920, women weren’t able to obtain voting rights until 1953. However, many

women continued to struggle with the traditional role of a housewife and working underpaid

jobs. These difficulties sparked the second wave of feminist movement in Mexico after the

Revolution. Although cases like Roe v Wade and feminist movements like in Mexico during the

1970’s and 90’s have definitely helped with the development and furthering of women’s rights,

there continues to be an unequal balance between the privileges found between genders in

different aspects of life, which shouldn’t exist when there are people who identify as

genderqueer-- they don’t identify themselves as either sex-- and go against the existence of a

privileged gender. Therefore, it is important to understand the history of these events in order to

break down the existence of privileged genders.

The action to file this suit was prompted by a group of volunteers who were informing

women about birth control and other contraceptives to help prevent unwanted pregnancies during

the late 1960’s in Austin, Texas. These women were advocating these contraceptives after the

1965 Supreme Court case, Griswold v Connecticut, ruled that using contraceptives was legal

under federal law. Previous to this court case, Texas law stated that using contraceptives was a
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crime punishable under state laws. During their advocation for usage of contraceptives,

volunteers were met by pregnant women asking to be guided towards abortion facilities and

abortion policies. However, the volunteers were unsure if providing this information to the

pregnant women was legal and could possibly be prosecuted as accomplices in a crime. Norma

L. McCorvey then tried to get an illegal abortion, but the facility was closed down by the police

so her lawyers filed a suit in Dallas’s federal district court under the pseudonym, Jane Roe in

1970. The suit was against Wade, who worked under the state as an official that was in charge of

enforcing criminal laws including anti- abortion laws. The suit asked the Texas court to declare

Texas laws against abortion unconstitutional and asked for an order telling Wade to stop

prosecuting doctors who performed abortions. However, Wade said he’d continue to prosecute

doctors that provide abortion services so both sides decided to appeal and brought it to a higher

state court, and eventually the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. the district court ruled that

under the 9th amendment the people held rights the federal government does not, include a

woman’s right to choose abortion. However, the Supreme Court decided that under the 14th

amendment’s “due process” clause the women were allowed to abort within the first trimester.

While many advocates were fighting for abortion rights in the U.S. during the 1970’s,

feminists took part in a similar feminists movement in Mexico at the time. A key figure of this

movement is Esperanza Brito de Marti, a Mexican journalist that worked as a director for “Fem”

magazine and writer in multiple newspapers. This key feminist advocated rights to abortion and

contraceptives for the larger part of her life and helped create multiple organizations in Mexico,

like the National Women’s Movement (Movimiento Nacional de Mujeres) and the Female

Feminist Coalition (Coalición de Mujeres Feministas) to push for the progression of women
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rights. The Institutional Revolutionary Party, P.R.I., in Mexico was a factor in the feminists

movement’s difficulty they faced to advocate for women’s rights. The P.R.I. won every election

between 1929-1982 through electoral fraud because the Presidents would elect their successor,

because they gained so much power, so the people weren’t really able to vote for their new

president. This allowed for corruption to grow within the government because multiple

presidents used violence and voter restriction policies to control lawmaking. There was not one

figure who opposed the feminist movement instead it was a group of presidents during this time

period that slowed the legislation process with their corruption making it difficult and time

consuming to pass laws granting women’s rights.

Roe argued that these regulations become stricter as your pregnancy progresses and takes

more time so the supreme court rules that the states must allow an abortion any time during the

first trimester. Roe wanted an abortion done by a professional, but was unable to get a legal

abortion under Texas law because her life was not in danger throughout the pregnancy. She

argued that the Texas law was unconstitutional because it went against her right to privacy,

protected under the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendment. to Roe’s claim,

Wade argued that the state has the right to protect unborn potential life which he believed was at

the moment of fertilization. He believed these fertilized cells were unborn people and are

protected under the Constitution. Wade argued that the law gave rightful power to the states to

protect each citizen including the unborn. Therefore, Texas law was constitutional under these

conditions.The Supreme Court broadened the right of privacy to every citizen ,which is a right

not directly found in the Constitution. It also legalized abortions across the nation during the first

six months, creating the rule of viability. This decision was made almost forty years ago sparked
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a extensive crusade against abortion with calls for new anti-abortion amendments.The feminist

movement in any nation will never be resolved until gendered roles and the idea of a superior

gender stops circulating in our world’s society. Although new laws help women reach equal

opportunities and protection under the law just as men do, society continues to hold prejudice

thoughts toward distinctions between genders. This mindset slows down society’s ability to

protect the rights of an individual.

Roe v Wade is closely related to the Feminist Movement in Mexico as both strived to

advocate for the protection and application of the rights given to women in their respective

countries. Both events occurred because the women of the countries felt oppressed or restricted

by the government in one way or another. Roe v Wade was not only won by the pregnant

plaintiff and changed the Texas law, but it impacted similar state laws to change helping women

nation-wide to be protected by their legal right to an abortion. The Feminist Movement in

Mexico not only resulted in the women’s right to vote, but also gave them better paying and safe

jobs. It gave women encouragement to follow a career path that was typically only provided for

males.Both movements were successful in their direct goal they acted as an example for other

women worldwide, who may also feel oppressed, to show them that being vocal about unsolved

issues will create an impact. It encourages women and other oppressed people to fight for what

they believe should be their constitutional right.

As the research demonstrated Roe v Wade had a big impact for women and their rights.

They were given the right to abort their child if it was done within the first trimester. To sum up
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everything abortion became legal because either way women would do it illegally and put

women’s lives on the line.

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Works Cited

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<​https://www.thoughtco.com/facts-and-significance-roe-v-wade-104961​>.

Monk, Heather Dashner. "Mexican Women - Then and Now." ​Mexican Women - Then and

Now - International Viewpoint - Online Socialist Magazine​. International

Publications, 22 Sept. 2010. Web. 30 May 2017.

<​http://www.internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article1922​>.

Perez, Erika Cervantes. "Hacedoras De La Historia." ​Esperanza Brito De Martí | Cimac

Noticias​. Cimac Publications, 29 May 2012. Web. 30 May 2017.

<http://www.cimacnoticias.com.mx/node/60880>.

Skelton, Chris. "Roe v. Wade 410 U.S. 113 (1973)." ​Justia Law.​ Justia Inc., 25 Jan. 2013.

Web.

30 May 2017. ​https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/410/113/case.html

Anonymous. "FindLaw's United States Supreme Court Case and Opinions." ​Findlaw.​

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 13 Aug. 2010. Web. 02 June 2017.

<http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/410/113.html>.