Anti-Abortion and Pro-Abortion Groups: The Social Movements

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of abortion is Roe versus Wade, which is where a lot of the controversy surrounding abortion began, in my opinion. This Supreme Court case, which was held in 1973, made the argument which lead to abortion being legal in the United States (Head, 2008). Way before Roe v. Wade was brought to court, it was believed that the laws against abortion were partially in place to discourage people from partaking in "illicit sexual conduct". Another concern was for the medical health of the mother, since medical procedures were not as safe as they are today (Head, 2008). It was actually mainly the doing of doctors, the American Medical Association, and legislators who put the laws into effect that outlawed abortion back in the 1900's (Lewis, 1999).

One of the groups of people that I think of when talking about abortion are the feminists. People like Susan B. Anthony strictly opposed abortion based upon the fact that it was a dangerous procedure that could endanger the mother's life (Lewis, 1999). Because feminists were working toward the equality and freedom of women, they believed that once they achieved this goal, the need for abortion would case (Lewis, 1999). The efforts of the feminists, amongst other groups, led to all fifty states having a ban on abortion by 1965 (Lewis, 1999). Even today, people who think that banning abortion again will rid it for good are most likely incorrect. Abortion is illegal in El Salvador but women can still get a "cheap black market abortificients to induce abortion", even though there is a 30-year prison sentence as a consequence (Head, 2007).

I know that the topic of abortion has always been controversial, which obviously results in the two groups (anti / pro) engaging in different social movements to prove their cause. What surprised me was that abortion laws began showing up back in the 1820's (Lewis, 1999)! Because the debate has been ongoing for so many years, it only stands to say that these movements would have changed many times over the years. When you have groups of people fighting to make their voices heard on a topic such as abortion, the tactics and goals must change with the times in order to make their efforts seen and/or heard. I don't personally think that this debate will ever be resolved because of the controversial content of it all. Even now, some of the focus has gone off of abortion as a whole and focused in on partial-birth abortions. There will always be someone there to take the next dig and keep the controversy alive.

Head, Tom (2008). Excerpts from Roe v. Wade . Retrieved March 9, 2008, from Civil Liberty Web site: http://civilliberty.about.com/od/abortion/a/roevwade_maj.htm

Head, Tom (2007). Top 10 Anti-Abortion Myths. Retrieved March 9, 2008, from Civil Liberty Web site: http://civilliberty.about.com/od/abortion/tp/abortionmyths.htm

Lewis, Jone (1999). A brief history of the abortion controversy in the United States. Retrieved March 9, 2008, from Women's History Web site: http://womenshistory.about.com/od/abortionuslegal/a/abortion.htm