1970s Individual and Civil Rights Topic 3 Flashcards
(35 cards)
Roe V Wade 1973?
The case of an impoverished texas women who didn’t want to bear a child into poverty.
RVW verdict
Women could abort within the first 13 weeks of pregnancy
Opposition to rvw
National Right to Life Committee (Catholic)
Anti Abortion Activists - used mass mailings, 1978 - “stop the baby killers”
Phyllis Schlafly
Henry Hyde led the passage of a law that banned fed funds for abortion 1977
Who was Phyllis Schlafly?
Catholic lawyer, “Sweetheart of Silent Majority”, campaigned for women’s skirts to be 2 inches below the knee, associated with Republicans
Political significance of rvw
> Fuelled the New Right - those voters helped elect Reagan
>After 1973, both Republican and Democratic presidents used RVW as limits tests
Social significance of rvw
> Accelerated new attitudes towards sexuality
Enhanced second wave feminism which focussed on sexuality, family and the reproductive rights
Very decisive, NRTL committee formed in 1973 with explicit goal to reverse the verdict
Political insignificance of rvw
> Many states didn’t repeal their pre 1973 legislation
States used obstructed abortion access - no funding, barely any clinics
Clarence Thomas - SC judge appointed by Reagan as he doubted abortion
Brown V Kendrick 1988 denied funding for pro abortion programmes
Social insignificance of rvw
> Second wave feminism petered out as a political force in 80s
Increase in violence by pro life groups, discouraged abortions
Didn’t produce massive increase in abortion
What had women achieved since the 60s?
> Right to abortion, greater sexual freedom
>Attitudes towards women and work changed: 2/3 female college students didn’t believe women belonged at home
What % of professional men’s salaries did professional women recieve in?
73%
66% of US adults classified as poor were
women
Feminists failed to obtain the ERA which
protected women’s rights
They failed to obtain the ERA due to
the belief that it would lead to gay marriages, women in combat, unisex toilets and the end of the nuclear family.
Phyllis Schlafly led ‘STOP ERA’ org in 1972 that attracted 50,000 members, conservative states agreed and the ERA
never obtained the assent of 75% of states
Opposition to women’s rights
> 70% of NRTLC voted in congressinal elections in 1978 (double)
1979 Concerned Women for America (CWA)
Who were the CWA?
Established by Beverly LaHaye to fight against the ERA and abortion, 500,000 members by mid 80s
Gay rights in the 1970s?
> Homosexuality considered a mental illness
>Police harrassed bars and restaurants that served homosexual customers
What impact had stonewall riots had?
Generated growth in gay pride and political militancy in 70s -e.g New York Gay Liberation Front encouraged gays to come out
Progress in public attitudes towards homosexuality
> employment discrimination banned on sexual orientation in 1972 (SANFRAN) 1979 (NYC)
1973 NOW endorsed Gay Rights
1974 No longer a mental illness
1978 proposition 6 defeated
1980 Democratic party supported equality for all
What was proposition 6?
A repeal for a 1975 law that protected homosexual teachers from discrimination and took away authority to schools to fire gay teachers
Conservative backlash, religious right, to Gay Rights
> 1977 Tim LaHaye and Jerry Falwell got national attention for successful battle against Miami pro gay rights ordinance
What problems did NAs face in early 1970s?
Lived on reservations which had high unemployment, poverty and alcoholism
Aim of Red Power
> To monitor police racism
To stress positive imagery of NAs
Organise marches liek 1972 Trail of Broken Treaties
To establish survival schools - Heart of Earth School 1972 - NA language and culture
Red Power meant
‘the political and economic power to run our lives in our on way’ they didn’t want to be forced into mainstream life
