Vol. 75/No. 25      July 11, 2011

Below is an excerpt from Abortion Is a Woman’s Right! The Spanish edition is one of Pathfinder’s Books of the Month for July. The booklet explains why defending women’s right to choose abortion is central to the fight for the full emancipation of women and to strengthen the unity and fighting capacity of the entire working class. Amid the waning of the struggle for women’s rights in the decades that followed the 1973 Supreme Court ruling legalizing abortion, Democratic and Republican party politicians have moved to limit access for the medical procedure. The number of abortion providers has declined, particularly in rural areas. Today, 87 percent of all counties lack an abortion provider; most states don’t allow patients to use Medicaid to pay for abortions; and a growing number of states impose other restrictions. Copyright © 1985 by Pathfinder Press. Reprinted by permission.

BY PAT GROGAN  
On January 22, 1973, women won their most important victory in decades.

The U.S. Supreme Court, in Roe vs. Wade, ruled that women had the constitutional right to have abortions. The ruling legalized abortion through the first twenty-four weeks of pregnancy and struck down all laws that restricted that right.

For the first time the right of women to decide whether or not to bear children—not the state, church, husband, father, or priest—was recognized.

The women’s liberation movement saw reproductive freedom as the most fundamental right of women, a precondition for full equality and liberation. Without the right to control her own body, a woman could not exercise effective control over her life.

Beginning in the 1960s, contraception was becoming more available and accepted, but it was not foolproof—and still isn’t. Advances in medical science had made abortion a safe, simple, medical procedure. But in most states, abortion was against the law. Women were forced to bear children against their will, or risk dangerous—and often deadly—illegal or self-induced abortions.

In 1969, the year before New York State adopted liberalized abortion laws—a step that laid the basis for the later Supreme Court victory—approximately 210,000 women entered city hospitals due to abortion complications.

The restrictions on abortion were powerful and barbaric chains on women. Black women and Latinas suffered the most from the illegal status of abortion.

And many Black women and Latinas were forced to submit to sterilization in order to obtain an abortion.

Prior to the emergence of the feminist movement in the late 1960s, many supporters of legal abortion presented their arguments in terms of population control—arguments that are used to bolster the racist practice of forced sterilization.

The feminist movement put the axis for the fight to legalize abortion where it belonged—on the right of women to control their own bodies. It was on this basis that majority support for legal abortion was won.

Because of the stakes involved in the fight for abortion rights, this right was never secure.

Several years ago, Democrats and Republicans alike began to step up their attacks on the right to abortion.

The Hyde Amendment, passed by Congress in 1976, was the most serious blow. It cut off Medicaid funding for abortions, except in cases of rape, incest, or when a woman’s life is in danger. In May 1981, Congress cut off funds even in cases of rape and incest.

In October 1984, Congress once again denied abortion funding for victims of rape and incest.

Since the Hyde Amendment was passed, thirty-six states have cut off state funding for abortions… .

The ruling class ideological offensive is aimed at undermining the powerful idea that women should have equal rights. It is aimed at convincing both men and women that a woman’s place is in the home, and that the family, not the government, should bear the cost of caring for children, the sick, and the elderly.

It is aimed at justifying lower pay for women who work and making unemployment of women more acceptable.

The fire is aimed particularly at abortion rights because the right of women to choose whether or not to bear children is an elementary precondition for women’s liberation… .

The right of women to control their own bodies—which is what is at stake in the fight over legal abortion—is an elementary precondition for the liberation of women from the oppression they suffer as a sex.

It is the women’s liberation movement, which championed the fight for abortion rights, that is kindred to the fight for civil rights and against Washington’s war.

Women’s liberation and civil rights fighters stand together against inequality, discrimination, and exploitation. Both immeasurably strengthen the capacity of the labor movement to resist the current employer-class offensive… .

Of course, legalized abortion cannot solve all the problems facing women. But the right to choose is the most fundamental step toward women being able to achieve full equality.

That’s why after women began pouring into the work force in the last three decades, the question of legalizing abortion became a burning issue for millions. When women can control their childbearing functions, it allows them to begin to participate more fully in all aspects of social life. The right to choose means qualitatively more freedom and mobility for women.

We’ve already seen this in the 12 years that abortion has been legal. Even though access to it is far from universal, it has meant significant changes in the lives of millions of women.

This change in the scope of women’s choices led to demands for even greater freedom and opportunity, to a fight for full control by women over their minds and lives as well as their bodies.
 
 
Related articles:
Women’s right to choose abortion: a matter of working-class solidarity
Letter from two readers  
 
 
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