HISTORY
ABORTION
Civil Rights Act is Signed Into Law
(1964 AD)
The Civil Rights movement truly began at America’s founding since religious freedom is a civil right that motivated early settlers. Historians, however, say the movement started on May 17, 1954, with Brown v. Board of Education. In that ruling, the Supreme Court struck down segregated schooling. This case set a course for overturning Jim Crow policies, launching the Civil Rights Movement. It gained steam heading into the 1960's, with its biggest win being the Civil Rights Act. Signed into law by Lyndon Baynes Johnson (LBJ) on July 2, 1964, this landmark law banned institutional discrimination over race, color, religion, or sex. ( 1 ) It was a natural extension of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. But Jim Crow laws had crept in, along with the “separate but equal” doctrine, undercutting those gains. So, the Civil Rights Act was still needed to close those loopholes. While the Civil Rights Act helped secure equal standing for black people, it also addressed sexism and religious discrimination. Regarding abortion, the Civil Rights Act showed how discrimination and inequality were live issues people could rally around. So, not surprisingly, advocates promoted abortion as “reproductive justice,” claiming it meant greater equality for women, and economic support for disadvantaged and minority populations who need family-planning to escape poverty. The Civil Rights Act set the stage for much of the abortion debate today.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 would offer a touch point for Republicans and Democrats alike to rally around. Overt racism was not the rallying point it once was. The Democrat record on racism was mired in age-old ties to southern slavery and the Klu Klux Klan (the KKK started in 1865 as a voter-intimidation arm of the Democrat party). Dozens of Democrat congressman, judges, and possibly a few presidents (Harry Truman and LBJ) were active Klansmen. Republicans, meanwhile, were established as the anti-slavery party (1854), even passing the first Civil Rights Act, back in the Restoration Era in 1875. Almost 90 years later, Republican president Dwight D. Eisenhower and a Republican congress passed the first Civil Rights Act of the 20th century, in 1957. Despite republican support, the Civil Rights Act of 1957 stalled out in congress thanks to senate majority leader Lyndon Johnson, with help from, then Democrat, Strom Thurmond and his record-breaking filibuster. By the time the final draft was approved, Democrats had weakened the Act, so that the same LBJ, now president, could sign it into law, making it look like a Democrat win even after weakening the bill. A later amendment to the Act, in 1968, addressed Native Americans. It too passed as a “Democrat win” though Republicans were the majority support for that act too. All four versions of the Civil Rights Act (1875, 1957, 1964, 1968) had a Republican majority. Nevertheless, Republicans still had a mixed record on race issues. And that’s despite performing better than Democrats up till that point.
Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964
https://www.historylink.org/Content/Media/Photos/Large/lyndon-johnson-signing-civil-rights-act-july-2-1964.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/LBJ_Civil_Rights_Act_crowd.jpg/2096px-LBJ_Civil_Rights_Act_crowd.jpg
California in the Family Law Act Becomes the First State to Introduce No-Fault Divorce (1969 AD)
Sept. 5, 1969 California governor Ronald Reagan signs the Family Law Act into law creating the first no-fault divorce state. Before that time, married couples couldn’t divorce unless one or both spouses were deemed “at fault” (ex., adultery, abuse, or abandonment). Over the next ten years, virtually every state adopted no-fault divorce. ( 2 ) It has been argued that no-fault divorce allows battered women to escape abusive husbands, Opponents argue that no-fault divorce law weakened marriages in general, generating fractured homes, and more divorce thus hurting more women than it helps. It is also argued no-fault divorce laws prioritize the “happiness” of adults at the expense of children. And, generally speaking, weaker marriages and broken families correspond with more demand for abortion.
When the social structures have changed such that we all live in fear and suspicion that those we most love and who claim to most love us may abandon us or even destroy us, we are all damaged. This is true of a society where abortion is permissible and encouraged for women in desperate or inconvenient situations for bearing a child. It is also true of a society where no-fault divorce is a readily available path for troubled couples.
- Stephen J. Heaney from the Public Discourse, source below. ( 3 )
Griswold v. Connecticut Introduces the Right to Privacy (1965 AD)
Advertising or distributing contraceptives was illegal in Connecticut due to the Comstock laws (1873) which banned obscene materials like pornography, sexually-charged ads, and even birth control instructions and devices. ( 5 ) So, birth control was very restricted. Margaret Sanger and other birth control activists, however, paved the way for Estelle Griswold to challenge this 19th century law. In 1954, she joined the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut and began ferrying patients to the state border for contraceptive counsel and services. Dr. Lee Buxton joined Mrs. Griswold’s crusade in opening a birth control clinic. They were arrested days later in 1961. When the case reached the Supreme Court, attorneys for Griswold and Buxton argued the Comstock law invaded the right of privacy. Married couples should be able to decide how to plan their family. ( 4 ) SCOTUS ruled in favor of Griswold and Buxton. While the court did not strike down the Comstock Laws, it did declare a Constitutional right to privacy, including the right to access and distribute contraceptives. This “right to privacy” would later be used in Roe v. Wade to establish a nationwide right to abortion.
The Republican Platform Evolves from Oblivious, to Ambiguous, to Distinctly Pro-life (1972-1984 AD)
In 1970 the Republican party was holding on for dear life. Rock music, the sexual revolution, hippies, LSD, Vietnam, Woodstock, all signaled a liberal shift in culture. Both the House and Senate held a strong Democrat majority. The Republican president, at the time, Richard Nixon, was sullied by Watergate in 1972 and driven from office in 1974. A few states had legalized abortion-on-demand, but that was still seen as a “blue-state” problem. Republicans had no sense of urgency or clarity about abortion. And while Democrats were warming to the idea of abortion-on-demand, it was not yet seen as a “winnable” issue on the national stage. When the 1972 presidential election came around, abortion was not even mentioned in the Republican Party Platform. ( 6 ) Even the Democrat Party platform mentioned only “family planning services,” carefully avoiding the term “abortion.” After Roe v. Wade in 1973, however, abortion was forced into the spotlight. Republicans were split on abortion in 1976 and 1980, but by 1984 the Republican platform expressed a unified pro-life position, as it remains to this day.
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The Republican party underwent a substantial evolution from 1972 to about 1984. In 1972 the party was largely mute and neutral on the abortion issue. It wasn’t even mentioned in the Republican party platform.
With Roe v. Wade in 1973, the abortion issue had captured the American conscience by the next presidential election in 1976. At that point the republican stance is still a bit ambiguous, effectively saying: “We’re profamily, but this issue is complicated.” ( 7 )
[1976] Women: ...The question of abortion is one of the most difficult and controversial of our time. It is undoubtedly a moral and personal issue but it also involves complex questions relating to medical science and criminal justice. There are those in our Party who favor complete support for the Supreme Court decision which permits abortion on demand. There are others who share sincere convictions that the Supreme Court's decision must be changed by a constitutional amendment prohibiting all abortions. Others have yet to take a position, or they have assumed a stance somewhere in between polar positions. We protest the Supreme Court's intrusion into the family structure through its denial of the parents' obligation and right to guide their minor children. The Republican Party favors a continuance of the public dialogue on abortion and supports the efforts of those who seek enactment of a constitutional amendment to restore protection of the right to life for unborn children.”
Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton Legalize Abortion Nationwide (1973 AD)
The landmark abortion case, Roe v. Wade, ( 10 ) and it’s lesser-known sister case Doe v. Bolton, ( 11 ) legalized abortion-on-demand in 1973. In these two Supreme Court cases, Norma McCorvey (“Jane Roe”) and Sandra Cano (“Mary Doe”) brought charges against Texas and Georgia, respectively, for denying them access to elective abortions. The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in both cases, in favor of Roe and Doe. These rulings installed abortion as a federally protected right. The court interpreted abortion into the 14th amendment under an implied “right to privacy.” Elective abortion, they said, was a private decision between a woman and her doctor. The Roe court also invented the “trimester” framework to regulate abortion, and - more importantly - declared the fetus a “potential human” (non-person). The ruling was widely criticized, even by many pro-choice legal scholars. The ramifications for the unborn were catastrophic, with roughly 66 million abortions since then. Despite the ruling, McCorvey and Cano both refused to get abortions. Both worked to get their cases overturned. And both became pro-life activists.
Bill Clinton Says Abortion Should be “Safe, Legal, and Rare” (1992 AD)
Setting the tone for abortion-choice discussion at the time, Democrat President Bill Clinton described a vision for abortion practice where it is “safe, legal, and rare.” The phrase, especially the “rare” part, has since been downplayed and discarded by Democrats for implying abortion should be avoided where possible. Additionally, using the term “safe” to describe abortion is no less problematic. While there are varying degrees of danger and safety for women seeking abortion. It is inherently dangerous, and by-definition “unsafe” for every child-in-utero threatened by abortion. Killing isn’t healing, healthy, or safe. Furthermore, many congressional, judicial, and state-level efforts to make abortion clinics safer for women have been voted-down for fear they might discourage abortions. Nevertheless, “safe, legal, and rare” was the Clinton-era slogan. In a clip from January 22, 1993 Clinton says:
As a nation, our goal should be to protect individual freedom, while fostering responsible decision making, an approach that seeks to protect the right to choose, while reducing the number of abortions. Our vision should be of an America where abortion is safe and legal, but rare.
- Bill Clinton ( 12 )
Planned Parenthood v. Casey Installs the “Undue Burden” Standard for Abortion Policy (1992 AD)
Planned Parenthood v. Casey (29 June 1992), ( 13 ) might be the biggest abortion-decision since Roe v. Wade. In this case, the leading abortion provider in America, Planned Parenthood, sued Pennsylvania, over a series of abortion-restrictions including informed consent, a 24-hour waiting period, parental consent for pregnant minors, and husband/partner notification.
In a divided 5-4 decision the Supreme Court ruled for Planned Parenthood, striking down the restrictions. This ruling discarded the Roe-era trimester system, making it easier to get abortions after 12 weeks. It also re-asserted that abortion is constitutionally protected by the 14th amendment. And it installed the “undue burden” standard, threatening any abortion restrictions that place an “undue burden” to women. “Undue burden” thus became the legal standard for abortion law, as this case was cited in dozens of cases thereafter. Casey was later overturned in the Dobbs Decision.
Source:https://www.oyez.org/cases/1991/91-744
Image: https://i0.wp.com/www.nationalreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/planned-parenthood-v-casey-1992-pro-life-incremental-approach-decline-abortion.jpg?fit=2057%2C1200&ssl=1
Freedom of Access to Clinics Entrance (FACE) Act Signed into Law (1994 AD)
On May 26, 1994 President Bill Clinton signed into law the “Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act” (F.A.C.E.) ( 14 ) making it illegal to obstruct access to elective abortion services. This legislation was a response to anti-abortion groups making a nuisance of themselves by physically obstructing access to abortion clinics. They were known to bar the doors, stage sit-ins, crowd out waiting rooms, use passive resistance, and sometimes chain themselves to facilities. ( 15 ) Ironically, the title of the law specifies entrances but not exits. For everyone who enters the clinic and gets an abortion, about half them never leave - not in one piece at least. The FACE act was upheld 3 years later by the Supreme Court in Shenck v. Pro-Choice Network of Western New York (1997).
Source: https://prochoice.org/wp-content/uploads/face_act.pdf, https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/248
Image: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5bd9eaecc258b457d2847b06/1626367654165-EFG3GSRCWHM1UEWC9TBK/Header+Image+%2814%29.png?format=1500w
Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act (HR1833) Passes (1995 AD)
On December 7, 1995 Congress passed the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act (HR1833). In partial-birth abortion, the birthing-child is positioned feet-first (breach) and delivered except for the head. Then the physician performs the abortion in-utero on the child’s head by snipping the spinal cord or piercing the skull and then crushing the head. This is strictly a late-term abortion method, after the child is viable. It’s also quite dangerous because breach birth and late-term abortions pose more health risks for mothers.
With HR1833, partial birth abortions were banned across the United States. President Bill Clinton vetoed it soon after. ( 16 ) But the ban was reinstated under George W. Bush on November 5, 2003. ( 17 ) Despite the ban, some partial-birth abortions, have been documented, for example in the Kermit Gosnell case (2013). And hundreds of thousands of legal late-term abortions happen yearly despite their elevated risks for mothers.
Source: https://www.congress.gov/bill/104th-congress/house-bill/1833 ; https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/11/20031105-1.htm
Image: https://www.nydailynews.com/wp-content/uploads/migration/2023/01/22/HSSOELMFKBHDRBEQB36BKB3WVY.jpg
Page Citations & Notes
1. United States. Civil Rights Act of 1964. July 2, 1964. Quoted/reference point: the page summarizes the Act as banning institutional discrimination based on “race, color, religion, or sex.”
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2. California. Family Law Act of 1969. Referenced for: the page’s claim that California became the first no-fault divorce state in 1969 and that other states followed over the next decade.
3. Heaney, Stephen J. “How No-Fault Divorce Changed America.” Public Discourse, October 24, 2011. Public Discourse. Quoted/reference point: “When the social structures have changed such that we all live in fear and suspicion that those we most love … may abandon us or even destroy us, we are all damaged.”
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4. Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965). Oyez case page. Referenced for: the page’s claim that the Court recognized a constitutional right to privacy protecting married couples’ access to contraception.
5. United States. Comstock Act of 1873. Referenced for: the page’s statement that Connecticut’s contraception restrictions grew out of the broader Comstock-law tradition.
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6. Republican Party. Republican Party Platform of 1972. The American Presidency Project. Referenced for: the page’s claim that abortion was not mentioned in the 1972 Republican platform.
7. Republican Party. Republican Party Platform of 1976. The American Presidency Project. Quoted/reference point: the page quotes the 1976 platform’s statement that abortion was “one of the most difficult and controversial” issues and that the party supported efforts to restore protection for unborn life.
8. Republican Party. Republican Party Platform of 1980. The American Presidency Project. Quoted/reference point: the page quotes the 1980 platform’s statement supporting “a constitutional amendment to restore protection of the right to life for unborn children.”
9. Republican Party. Republican Party Platform of 1984. The American Presidency Project. Quoted/reference point: the page quotes the 1984 platform’s statement that “The unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed.”
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10. Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973). Oyez case page. Referenced for: the page’s discussion of Roe, the right-to-privacy rationale, and the trimester framework.
11. Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179 (1973). Oyez case page. Referenced for: the page’s statement that Roe and Doe together legalized abortion nationwide in 1973.
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12. Clinton, Bill. Remarks on January 22, 1993. C-SPAN clip. Quoted/reference point: “Our vision should be of an America where abortion is safe and legal, but rare.” The page itself explicitly links to this source.
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​13. Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992). Oyez case page. Quoted/reference point: the page cites Casey for replacing Roe’s trimester framework and establishing the “undue burden” standard. The page itself explicitly links to this source.
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14. United States. Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act of 1994, 18 U.S.C. § 248. Cornell Legal Information Institute. Quoted/reference point: the page cites the Act for making it illegal to obstruct access to abortion clinics.
15. National Abortion Federation. The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. PDF. Referenced for: the page’s explanatory summary of the FACE Act and the protest tactics that prompted it. The page itself explicitly links to this source.
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16. United States Congress. H.R. 1833, Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 1995. Congress.gov bill page. Referenced for: the page’s claim that Congress passed H.R. 1833 in December 1995 before President Clinton vetoed it.
17. George W. Bush White House Archives. “President Signs Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003.” November 5, 2003. White House archived release. Referenced for: the page’s statement that the ban was later enacted under President George W. Bush in 2003.
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