Women's Rights
During both the Ford and Carter administrations, the women's liberation movement surged forward. During the late 1960s, abortion became the topic of debate in the political arena. “Pro-choice” advocates believed that only a woman and her doctor should decide whether to end a pregnancy. They argued that life begins when the fetus can survive on its own outside the mother's womb. “Pro-life” advocates argued that life begins at conception and that states should prohibit the procedure. Many women had illegal abortions, risking their health and their lives. In 1973, however, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case of
Gloria Steinem, a writer and political activist, founded the magazine Ms. in 1971 when women's magazines began covering crucial topics such as health and sexuality, law, work, and the arts. Women everywhere began insisting on the title Ms. as opposed to Miss or Mrs., asserting that the courtesy title of their male counterparts (Mr.) did not reveal their marital status.
Religious and conservative groups led the outcry against the Supreme Court's decision. They also categorized women who supported the proposed Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) as immoral and antifamily. They sent an underlying message that played on hidden fears that if the ERA passed, America would see same-sex marriages and unisex bathrooms. Yet women who felt they could rise only so far (to the “glass ceiling”) in a male-dominated corporate world argued for equal pay for equal work. Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, Bella Abzug, and Shirley Chisholm, among others, argued for agendas including child care centers and equal opportunities in employment, education, and in the military, as well as abortion rights.
By August 1974, the Equal Rights Amendment had been ratified by thirty-three of the required thirty-eight states. A congressional mandate had set March 1979 as the deadline for ratification, and by June 1978, only three additional states had approved the ERA. Even when given an extension for approval, the amendment failed to be ratified. Yet many states do now guarantee equality of the sexes in their state constitutions.
