Historical Place of Abortion Right in America, Legal and Political Problems

A.Introduction

Clinics that do abortions in America are shut down one by one; moreover, they are bombed, doctors are trying to be killed. All rights recognized in international law begin with the birth of a person in a full and healthy way. Women's rights to protect their body and to use them freely are superior to potential (not yet established) rights. The right to abortion is also such a right, a right closely related to the fact that a woman can continue her life as she wishes. Right to abortion, by definition; ıt is the termination of unwanted pregnancy. Having a say over women's bodies and fertility is an integral part of their personality. However, when we look at the right and scope of abortion in the United States, we should be faced with a state understanding that wants women to have a say over their bodies.

In America, state laws are passed by state legislatures almost every day to restrict or narrow the scope of this right. Only a few states remain where there is hundred percent access to abortion. In the face of this situation, the feminist movement has been struggling with the legalization of abortion since the 1960s. With the Roe Wade decision as a constitutional right, a historic moment occurred and abortion was introduced into the constitution. However, throughout history, leaders continued to see women's bodies as objects. There are not only politicians but also so-called pro-life groups against feminists. These are an activist group that defends the rights of the unborn fetus.

Abortion rights and women's access to abortion have always changed and of course the victims have been women and their bodies. Millions of people died as a result of the illegal abortion. My article explores the following question; Should women or American leaders have a say in abortion practices and rights dealing with the female body? With restrictions, the constitutional right is rendered meaningless by interfering with the right. Access to abortion is a constitutional right and women's right that fall within the scope of human rights. Therefore, the state should have limited access to the essence of this right and the right should not be restricted. Like many feminists, I am in favor of regulating the right to abortion to be hundred percent accessible. I firmly believe that the patriarchal order and politics should be protected and preserved as a human right, not as a raw material. This article will first discuss the definition of the right to abortion, historical realities, and then why politicians try to restrict the right.

B. Part 1: Information about the Abortion Rights in America

a) The restrictions on abortion were always an infringement of the women's right to equality in society.

İrin Carmon (2017) says that access to abortion and birth control first came into existence around the 1300s. She states that it is as simple and as old as sex. She goes on to say that right after the emergence of the concept of abortion as history, there were abortion restrictions, and that we see women trying to access abortion through illegal, secret and unhealthy means. Abortion continued to be prevented and abortion clinics began to open and legalized one by one in the 1970s. However in clinics, black women could not get abortions, and white women could access abortion at high rates. The poor white woman and the rich or poor black woman could not access an abortion. This was a specific policy. Politicians were playing with society dynamics. Therefore, it was left to try rather unhealthy methods. (Women experimented with drugs, poisons, clothes hangers, or at best had non-doctor midwives have abortions under the stairs.)

What attracted the attention of doctors and health rooms was that midwives were able to give women abortions. As a result, competition began to arise between doctors and midwives, most of whom were men. Therefore, it was the medical chamber that first requested abortion-related restrictions from the state. According to Napikoski Linda (2020), the allegation that white women accessed abortion and killed their children as a result of the black population not being able to access abortion, and the family structure could not be preserved, was already annoying the politicians.

The medical association made a moral assessment for abortion; this meant the end of motherhood as a traditional white middle-class woman's duty, but abortion was not an issue for the medical association. İt was not an institution for moral assessment. The woman's body was the woman's problem.

b) The male-dominated mentality, which also dominates politics, aims to have a say on the female body with restrictions.

At the end of all these social dynamics, women were involved in employment at the end of the increasing independence of women. The female figure has now become separate from the concept of motherhood, and the feminist movement began to emerge when the 1980s began. However, politicians saw this as a danger. Restrictions started in the 1980s. The laws, which were so dense to direct American politics, began to take shape with the coming to power of conservative parties. There was a great conflict between the so-called feminists and the so-called life pioneer group outside. Lewis (2020) states that those who are called life pioneers believe that the cell in the mother's womb has a right to life, and they begin to attribute personality to it before it is even more alive.

This situation leads to conflict with feminists. And finally, feminists won, and with their help, the right to abortion was brought to the constitution. Mary Ziegler (2019) puts this better as a feminist who fought for abortion in the mid-1980s. She states that the Constitution is the law of society and he continues to think that abortion should be a constitutional right when women are considered as a part of society and a person who can take part in society together with his body and mind. (Mary Ziegler, 2019 June 24)

c) Racism also became an important phenomenon in the abortion movement over time.

While Lewis talks about the definition of the right to abortion in his article, she makes a serious determination about the numbers of the black and white population by opening the curtain to the past. (Lewis, Jone Johnson 2020) Blacks cannot have abortions in clinics opened in the 1970s, and this reveals a striking figure regarding the colors of children born within a year. Three times as many children as white children are born every year at 1970s.

Conservatives, concerned about the growing independence of white women and the increasing color diversity of the country, are beginning to demand closure of clinics. They say it is a racial suicide. As a result of the lack of a democratic attitude and attitude, as a result of a racist thought, clinics that were able to give abortions to white women started to be closed one by one.

C. Part 2: The conservative wing in politics was pro-life and strengthened the hand of opponents of abortion.

a) With conservatives' anti-abortion demonstrations and actions, politicians further restricted the laws.

A decision that could be the best decision for women's rights, gender equality and the democratic and modern American ideal won by the feminist movement was passed by the American Supreme Court in 1973. With the Roe Wade decision, abortion was now a constitutional right. This meant that politicians could not intervene with arbitrary restrictions. Any restriction would mean illegal and injustice. But politicians also did not respect the constitutional right to abortion, and the danger continued to escalate. The parties that came to power that did not follow a democratic and fair policy signed policies that did not adopt gender equality. There were two large activist groups out there against each other. Feminists advocated safe and effective birth control, and most abortion rights organizations today advocated safe and effective contraception, adequate sexual education, available healthcare, and sexually educating children.

The so-called "pro-life" and "voters" became hateful after Roe Wade, Christian wing completely opposed abortion. According to Lewis, society was increasingly divided into many parts, but it was not abortion that caused it, but the use of abortion as a material for politics and politics. In the early 2000s, the right to late abortion was under threat with the formulation of laws. (John Lewis, 2020)

b) Pioneers of life try to establish a link between the law and the unborn child. It is possible to find this impression in some laws in the states.

Politics is starting to become conservative with each passing day, and in this case, it is forcing the society to divide every day. Linda Napikoski (2020) notes that since the 60s many active feminist activists have continued to insist on unrestricted access to abortion and reproductive rights. Official contraceptive and planning clinics, and the ensuing criminal acts, have always pushed society into an even greater separation. The clinics were bombed and looted by many anti-abortion activists, life pioneers. Life pioneers argued that by attributing personality to the unborn child, the fetus, he was deprived of his right to be born and exist. But the supreme court and many jurists knew one thing very well: Legally, when a person is born, a person becomes a legal personality, so unless the fetus is born correctly and correctly a personality cannot be attributed. However, it is also understood from the main idea in Irin Carmon’s article that politically acting leaders, Christian and conservative voters materialize politics to fully caress the personality of the fetus, the hearts of the people of the country. (2017)

We are faced with an even more conservative situation after the 2000s. It was a well-known fact that Reagon, the leader of those years and the conservative, whose voice is most known for his sexist rhetoric in politics, was very interested in abortion and favored restrictions. Nowadays, republicans have imposed exorbitant abortion restrictions on states following Obama's health reform and withdrawal from politics. And finally, after Trump became president, he brought a judge to the supreme court that many predicted would upset the Roe decision. Mary Ziegler's point of view is not very positive at the moment. Since the 1973 Roe Wade ruling, the restrictions have been in effect on an unchanged basis. (2020)

D. Conclusion

While American democracy emerged as an institution that left its mark in the 1700s and challenged the whole of Europe, the political change and transformation that took place in recent years has drastically lost the people's faith in democratic institutions. Regarding my research question in my article, democracy and freedom are largely linked to the exercise of a right. Therefore, abortion and the right of birth are included in constitutions as one of the most fundamental rights of human beings, while access to abortion is provided by the law of the society, not by the practices of a certain political policy.

Implementations and restrictions that will affect women's lives, future and democracy cannot be so large that they cannot be associated with justice. The scope of the right must be fully protected so that millions of women can consider themselves as individuals outside of unequal circumstances. State policies should not take decisions about the female body that should not be in a very different position than democracy. The female body of tomorrow and today will always be the female body. When the right to abortion is a right in which politics and men can have a say, democracy cannot be a question there.

References:

Baker, N. C. (2020, September 14). The history of abortion law in the United States. Our Bodies Our Selves

https://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/book-excerpts/health-article/u-s-abortion-history/

Carmon, I. (2017, November 14). A brief history of abortion law in America. Moyers of Democracy

https://billmoyers.com/story/history-of-abortion-law-america/

Lewis, Jone Johnson. (2020, August 26). Abortion History in the U.S. Thoughtco https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-abortion-3528243

Napikoski, Linda. (2020, August 26). Abortion on Demand: A Second Wave Feminist Demand. Thoughtco

https://www.thoughtco.com/abortion-on-demand-3528233

Ziegler, M. (2019, June 24). A brief history of US abortion law, before and after Roe V Wade. Histrory Extra

https://www.historyextra.com/period/20th-century/history-abortion-law-america-us-debate-what-roe-v-wade/