A social movement is essentially a challenge to authorities or power holders and their main purpose is to promote change. Often times a social movement is brought forward when a certain group has more power than another. We have spent much of this course discussing the many social movements that have occurred in Canada. Social movements change the nature of criminal law in more than one way. I have noticed social movements change the nature of criminal law where it has made amendments so certain actions such as abortion are no longer criminal but I have also noticed an attempt to amend the criminal code to make certain acts criminal such as student protests. I believe what distinguishes between the success and failure of different social movements …show more content…
The newspaper article titled Twenty-five years on: How we won abortion rights written by Carolyn Egan reflects on the anniversary of the Morgentaler Supreme Court decision. I believe this was an example of a successful social movement that changed the nature of criminal law. In 1988, the Supreme Court of Canada overturned the federal abortion law. The social movement was situated in the context of reproductive freedom. Prior to the law being struck down, there was access to abortion but it was a privileged access. The old legislation was uneven and many hospitals did not set-up the needed committees to perform abortions. The article goes on to discuss how the law was unjust and denied women “the right to make decisions over their reproductive health.” (Egan 2013:1) In 1982, The Coalition for Abortion Clinic was formed. The article states that their strategy was the combination of a doctor willing to challenge the law and a representative movement willing to fight for the necessary changes. It was as a result of their ongoing effort that the law against abortions was struck …show more content…
Social movements are positive in that they elect for change in society but they are negative in the the dynamics. More often than not, there is opposition to the collective behavior. Protest groups become irrational and develop a mob behavior. Protests will often become violent and cause chaos to society. There is a defined relationship between social movements and the violence it entails. Social movement organizations often resort to the use of strategic violence to draw attention to their demands. We learned about the Winnipeg General Strike which is a prime example of how negative strikes may become as it was one of the most violence social movements in Canada. The Winnipeg General Strike exploded in riots, violence and death. The workers gained nothing and lost much, it took years before their demands became laws. This strike resulted in the death of two strikers and over thirty people sustained injuries. There were numerous arrests as police rode on horseback and fired weapons. Therefore, this is a prime example of the downside to social movements as they gained absolutely nothing immediately but lost
This shift effectively illustrates a trend toward a more community-based approach to care, and with an aging population it is becoming increasingly clearer to reformers that an institutional approach to health care is not something we can afford. This shift has furthermore caused many hospitals to downsize, and between 1994 and 1996, 85 percent of Canadians hospitals reduced their workforce by 10 percent. Professor Armstrong argues that this tendential shift perpetuates conditions that limit a woman’s access to care. Using the case of Pembroke Civic Hospital and Lowe v. Health Services Restructuring Commission (1997), Professor Armstrong attempts to illustrate just that. Wherein, the closure of Pembroke Civic Hospital was argued to restrict access to health services pertaining to sexuality, reproduction, and abortion. The reason being that these services would be left to the Catholic Hospital, which by religious code would have an obvious bias towards the provision of said services. Ultimately, however the Court rejected the argument due to a physician’s testimony of never experiencing any interference in carrying out his medical responsibilities, and the fact that neither hospital provided abortion as a service in the last 14 years. Consequentially, the Court’s rejection of this claim does not serve to
Oddly, physicians brought abortion into the public’s eye. These physicians formed a pro-life movement arguing the moral knowledge that the public didn’t seem to have (12, Luker, Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood p. 000). According to the source, women didn’t understand that the embryo is a living being. With their lack of knowledge about things, they came “murderesses” and the only way this could be solved was to outlaw abortion. They kept the idea that abortion was murder, but, at the same time, they also said that only they could decide when an abortion should occur. With their accomplishment, in 1900, every state had a law that stated that abortion is illegal except for when the mother’s life is in danger. But the weakness of this was that the law didn’t specifically define the danger a mother should be in.
The Queen vs. Davis case concerns the murder trial of Arthur Paul Davis and Alice Davis that occurred in 1875. In it, they were tried and convicted of murder for conducting an abortion; the killing of a fetus and subsequently causing death of the victims, Catherine Laing and Jane Vaughn Gilmour. This essay will examine the historical context of the case, what the trial reveals about the nature of women’s lives in Toronto during the 1870s as subordinate women who are deemed as caretakers and how women managed to end unwanted pregnancies. During the late 19th century ending an unwanted pregnancy was an illegal offence because it was considered unethical to kill a fetus. Women were not able to access safer alternatives such as contraception, as it was an offence to sell or advertise them at that time. Women did not claim they wanted an abortion directly, but rather that they wanted to be fixed of their problem. They did not feel guilty as they thought it was acceptable to induce abortion before the 3rd month of pregnancy or quickening of it, which under the English common law, it was not wrongful to procure an abortion prior to the feeling any movement of the fetus. Doing an Abortion was a private matter but nonetheless a criminal offence. Beginning in the early 19th century, laws were passed to support the prohibition of abortions; these then continued on to the revision and creation of the 1892 criminal code for abortion.
January 22, 1973, a monumental ordeal for all of the United States had come about, which was that abortion was legalized. It was the Supreme Court case of Roe v. Wade that made us take a turn into this political issue. In this case Jane Roe (Norma McCorvey) was an unmarried woman who wasn’t permitted to terminate her unborn child, for the Texas criminal abortion law made it impossible to perform an abortion unless it was putting the mother’s health in danger. Jane Roe was against doing it illegally so she fought to do it legally. In the court cases ruling they acknowledged that the lawful right to having privacy is extensive enough to cover a woman’s decision on whether or not she should be able to terminate her pregnancy.
When we think of the word “Protest,” we may think of the events that have happened recently. Egypt, Turkey, Libya and other countries where citizens have come out to the streets protesting their government. Not all protesting approaches are like this. Many, throughout history, have been based around peaceful actions. This approach was used during one of the great line of protests in American history. The Civil Rights movement. Many leaders used peace to promote their cause and promoted the passing of laws such as the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The many leaders of this movement, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and others influenced others to join the strive for equality. One of these people that they influenced was John Lewis.
For many years in Canada and many other countries abortion has been a topic of debate. In Canada, there has been no legislation regarding abortions since 1988 as the previous laws were said to violate women’s Charter rights under Section 7 which states that Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice. Due to this, the Supreme Court of Canada considered abortion legislation to be a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Since then, no legislations regarding abortion has been changed. Joyce Arthur, executive director of the Abortion Rights Coalition
No other element of the Women’s Rights Movement has generated as much controversy as the debate over reproductive rights. As the movement gained momentum so did the demand for birth control, sex education, family planning and the repeal of all abortion laws. On January 22, 1973 the Supreme Court handed down the Roe v. Wade decision which declared abortion "fundamental right.” The ruling recognized the right of the individual “to be free from unwanted governmental intrusion into matters so fundamentally affecting a person as the right of a woman to decide whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.” (US Supreme Court, 1973) This federal-level ruling took effect, legalizing abortion for all women nationwide.
The debate of abortion continues to be a controversial problem in society and has been around for many decades. According to Jone Lewis, “In the United States, abortion laws began to appear in the 1820’s, forbidding abortion after the fourth month of pregnancy” (1). This indicates that the abortion controversy has been debated far back into American history. Beginning in the 1900’s, legalized abortion became a major controversy. In 1965, all fifty states in the United States banned abortion; however, that was only the beginning of the controversy that still rages today (Lewis 1). After abortion was officially banned in the United States, groups such as the National Abortion Rights Action League worked hard on a plan to once again legalize abortion in the United States (Lewis 1). It wasn’t until 1970 when the case of Roe (for abortion) v. Wade (against abortion) was brought...
In order to understanding how women have been discriminated against we must know the history behind the most controversial topic in women’s rights, abortion. For decade’s legal scholars, social movement activities, and historians, have agreed whether women actually had rights when it came to abortions and understanding the pro-life feminist reform. In Mary Zeigler, "Women's Rights on the Right: The History and Stakes of Modern Pro-Life Feminism.” Pro-life advocates have argued that “abortions cause more to the woman rather than help them.” (Zeigler233) One of the most popular known cases is Gonzales v. Carhart which attempted to justify abortion restrictions on the very basis of the physical or psychological harms that could or assumed to be caused or produced by the actual procedure.(Zeigler234) However, women protective claims, only one part of larger strategy that this Article calls prolife feminism. The article also identifies potential common ground among those proclaiming to be feminist with different positions on abortions. Both pro-choice and pro-life scholars have written extensively on how to their arguments as forwarding women
In the second part of the twentieth century, women’s rights once again gained a lot of momentum. The women’s liberation movement was born out of women civil right activists who were tired of waiting for legislative change for women’s rights. Even though women are being recognized more in society, they still face difficult issues. Sexism –especially in the workforce –is becoming a major issue, birth control pills are still not popular, and abortions are frowned upon in society. The case Roe v. Wade is about a woman with the fake name of Jane Roe who wanted an abortion but the state of Texas would not let her unless her life was in danger. She sued the district attorney of Dallas County saying that it violated the right to privacy under the 1st, 4th, 5th, 9th, and 14th Amendments. Usually, some arguments for being against abortions are because it is like killing a life, religious reasons, and less chance of future pregnancies. Some arguments that approve abortion are the rights of privacy and the mother to make her own decision. I decided to pick the landmark case Roe v. Wade because there are many ways to argue for and against abortions, so I wanted to give it an overarching view before I personally pick a side. Roe v. Wade is a significant case because it shows how rights in the Constitution do not have to be explicitly mentioned for it to implement and the change in abortion laws that affect women.
(Turner and Killian 1987) cited in (Diani 1992, p. 4) define social movements as a “collectivity acting with some continuity to promote or resist a change in the society or organisation of which it is part. As a collectivity a movement is a group with indefinite and shifting membership and with leadership whose position is determined more by informal response of adherents than by formal procedures for legitimizing authority”. Turner and Killian regard a social movement as a peculiar kind of collective behavior that is contrasted to regularity and institutional behavior. Additionally, Turner believes that social movements do not necessarily coincide with movement organisations, although these organisations can carry out a large part of the movement tasks and it is often help to control and speak for movements (Diani 1992).
In the case of Sarah Grosvenor and Amasa Sessions it is evident the roles that society and gender played in the decision of abortion. Sarah lost her life because in that era you could not openly discuss the issue of abortion, and Sessions was praised because he pushed for the abortion and would not bring a bastard child in the world. Abortion still remains today a very controversial topic, and one that many people are not accepted no matter what their view is on the subject. There still remains pressure from many people in society and today’s culture to persuade one’s opinion and decision on abortion. Although it is not talked about, other than people protesting against, or for their rights, it is a legal act, and ultimately the decision of the woman.
In the year March 1970, a woman dubbed Jane Roe took federal action against Texas abortion laws. These laws prevented Roe from terminating her pregnancy because abortions were only allowed in the scenario that the fetus was harming the life of the mother (Rosenbaum 63). Because Roe wasn’t in any way harmed by her pregnancy, she could not get an abortion. “Roe believed that TX statutes were unconstitutionally vague and that they abridged her right of personal privacy, protected by the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments” (Rosenbaum 64). She wanted an abortion done professionally in a clean and safe environment (Rosenbaum 63). Women before the legalization of abortion would resort to unsafe methods to terminate their baby (Tribe 113).
As the movement evolved from a mob mentality with picketing and random activism, collectivism began to catch on as more formal groups organized and gained recognition in the political arena. Individuals began to realize that there was more power for change in groups that were deeply committed to uniting together under the umbrella of a common cause. In this manner, the first collective bargaining units were formed and expanded. Labor movements have been an ongoing topic of inte...
Millions of illegal abortions were done by the 1950s, and over a thousand women died each year as result. Moreover, millions of women who had illegal abortions were rushed to the emergency ward; some died of abdominal infection, and other, found themselves sterile and chronically ill. In 1969, 75% of the women who died from these abortions were either poor or of color. In the landmark case of Roe v. Wade (1973) the Supreme Court ruled that woman had the right of privacy under the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment to obtain an abortion, yet, keeping in mind that, protecting the health of the woman and the potential life of the fetus is the main interest. As result of this decision, safe and unpainful abortion services were offered to many women. In addition, some health care centers provided counseling, women’s group offered free referral services, and, non-profit abortion facilities were created. Nevertheless, legalization was not enough to ensure that abortions will be available to all women, women of low income and of color still found themselves without safe and inexpensive abortions. Between the early 1980s, feminist health centers provided low-cost abortions, however, by the early 1990s, only 20% of these centers survived the harassment by the IRS and the competition of other