The Rise And Continuation Of The Pro-Choice Movement Essays

The Rise And Continuation Of The Pro-Choice Movement On January 22, 1973, the movement to legalize abortion achieved its greatest victory with the Roe v. Wade ruling. This paper will analyze the rise and continuation of this movement over the course of the past forty years. Unlike other social movements, the Pro-Choice movement as maintained its power even after apparent victory was achieved. Due to this, the abortion argument continues today and will probably continue into this century and beyond. The emergence of the Pro-Choice movement did not occur via the usual social movement routes. Most social movements emerge from within established institutions, with support from elites, or with origins that involved professional movement organizers. The early Pro-Choice movement, however, emerged as a collection of concerned physicians and professionals who wanted to help legalize abortion and keep it safe. In the 1950s and 1960s several published articles appeared that suggested needed reforms to the abortion laws and this began public attention on this issue. Two events occurred during the 1960s that also brought media attention to this emerging movement. The first was the highly publicized case of Sherri Finkbine, a woman who attempted to get a legal abortion in the United States after learning that a drug she had taken, thalidomide, could cause fetal defects. This incident caused nationwide concern about the drug as well as sparking a nationwide debate over abortion. The second event was the epidemic of rubella measles that occurred in the United States. This disease can cause fetal defects when contracted by a pregnant woman. Both of these events gave a rise to the movement by influencing public opinion toward the reform of abortion law. These events forced doctors to confront the differences within their profession over abortion. This caused some liberal doctors to support the reform of the abortion laws. The Association for the Study of Abortion (ASA) was formed as a result of the professional interest in this issue. This association was formed in 1964 by Dr. Alan Guttmacher of Planned Parenthood as an educational association. Only twenty active members, consisting of doctors, lawyers and other professionals, were actively involved in this group. However; the ASA was important in lending credibility and authority to the abortion movement in the early years when this support was badly needed. It should be noted that in the early years the ASA was not in the forefront of the movement as it refused to support aggressive measures to change the abortion laws. The ASA was crucial in bringing together activists who disagreed with the ASAs cautious approach. These activists later worked together to found the National Association for Repeal of Abortion Laws (NARAL). Lawrence Lader, NARAL founder, had become a ASA boardmember as a result of his research on abortion. Ruth Smith, another NARAL founder, had served as executive director of the ASA. Also, Dr. Lonny Myers was crucial to the founding of NARAL and Lader contacted her through his ASA contacts. Early organizers used their connections to recruit professionals who would lend this movement prestige and influential power. The early Pro-Choice movement also benefited from other social movements of the era. Women, college students and other young people who were activated by earlier movements of the 1960s became the grass-roots constituents of the movement to legalize abortion. These constituents were available and also felt very strongly about the issues at hand. The population organizations of the time also aided the early Pro-Choice movement. The Association for Voluntary Sterilization (AVS) and Zero Population Growth(ZPG) shared members with NARAL. ZPG, especially, had local chapters that were heavily student influenced. These local chapters became deeply involved in the mobilization of the movement. The womens movement was emerging as the abortion movement was getting off the ground. The National Organization for Women (NOW) endorsed abortion appeal, although narrowly, at the second national convention in 1967. NOW participation in the abortion movement was minimal in the early years, but was there nonetheless. NOW was loosely organized in the beginning and was unable to promote grass-roots participation on the issue. The organization did form a national committee to deal with abortion but lacked an ample supply of resources. Other womens groups were also emerging at this time. The ones that had memberships almost solely comprised of younger women, especially those in college, had the most to offer the abortion movement. Many of these young women became key players in the mobilization in these early years. Not only did the emerging abortion reform movement have the advantage of the preexisting organizational bases and concerned