The Struggle for Women’s Right was Long and Hard

 Since the day Elizabeth Cady Stanton drafted the Declaration of Sentiments, which outlines the rights that women should be entitled to the same rights as men as citizens of the United States during the first women’s rights convention held in Seneca Falls New York in July 1848, multiple laws were passed that protect women’s rights that broaden women’s participation in all aspects of American society, economy, and politics. Women have made important gains in various fronts and are becoming more numerous in certain offices such as corporate managerial offices and political offices.

Two Supreme Court cases that helped protect women’s right in the United States are Reed v. Reed (1971) which tackles women’s right to equal protection, and Roe v. Wade (1973) which tackles women’s right to privacy.

Reed v. Reed was a landmark case concerning the preference for male as the administrator of estates in the state of Idaho. The case was between separated couple Sally Reed and Cecil Reed who were in conflict on who should be named the administrator of their deceased son’s estate. According to Idaho’s Probate Code of that time, males must be preferred to females in appointing administrator of estates. Hence, Idaho court appointed Cecil which Sally challenged in the Supreme Court. Sally argued that Idaho Probate Code violated her Fourteenth Amendment right of Equal Protection which states that mandatory preference for specific sex over the other is forbidden.

A unanimous decision favored Sally Reed which ruled that law’s dissimilar treatment of men and women was unconstitutional. Sally Reed victory made Idaho change its statues to eliminate the mandatory preference for male effective the following year of July 1, 1972. Reed v. Reed case was also the first major Supreme Court case that addressed the discrimination based on gender was unconstitutional. This case opened the door to other women and men to challenge discriminatory laws under the Equal Protection Clause.

Roe v. Wade was another landmark case concerning abortion rights for pregnant women. The case was between Jane Roe, fictional name used in order to protect Norma McCorvey identity, and the law of Texas, which prohibit abortions at any stage of pregnancy unless it is required to do so in order to save the pregnant woman’s life or cases that involves rape or incest. According to the law of Texas at that time, any person who would procure an abortion for a pregnant woman or any person who attempts to procure an abortion for a pregnant woman is punishable by law from two to five years in prison to $100 to $1000 fine.

Jane Roe was pregnant with her third child and wanted to terminate her pregnancy, however, law of Texas prohibited her to do so. Roe challenged the law of Texas in Supreme Court and came out victorious. Supreme Court ruled that a woman’s right to an abortion fell within the right to privacy protected by the Fourteenth Amendment and the law of Texas cannot interfere with a woman’s decision to have an abortion without a compelling interest. Supreme Court stated that the life of a fetus can be a compelling interest only once it becomes “viable” which is usually at the beginning of the third trimester. This decision gave the pregnant woman total autonomy over the pregnancy during the first trimester. Jane Roe victory made abortion legal procedure across the United States.

Women’s movement might have come a long way to helped push for civil rights protections for women but there are still a lot of areas that need to improve. Not as much progress has been made in breaking the “glass ceiling”, an intangible barrier within a hierarchy that prevents women or minorities from obtaining upper-level positions, in the corporate and financial worlds or in reaching equality in holding elective offices. Wage gap still exists between men and women, and the poverty rate for women is considerably higher than men according to the United States Census Bureau.

The battle for reproductive choice is still ongoing today and further threatened by Trump administration’s new proposed rule that ban any healthcare facility that advertises or provides abortion from receiving federal funding. Women’s movement to eliminate sexual harassment at work is still a long way to go. President Trump rolled back the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order in 2017. This executive order by former President Obama stop companies with government contracts from using forced arbitration clause, also known as “cover-up clauses”, to keep sex discrimination claims out of courts and off the public record. Rolling back this executive order can make sexual harassment offenders have an easier time of getting away from it.

According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), more than 11,000 complaint were filed for sexual harassment in 2011. Only 16 percent of them were from men. 84 percent came from women. That is a staggering difference. Aside from these areas that need improvement, we cannot deny that women are doing very well in the United States compared to the other women in the rest of the world. Women saw an improvement in areas such as median income, representation in medicine, law, higher education and journalism, and improved legal protections. And today, women rights advocates are fighting every day to eliminate discrimination against women and achieve full equality in all areas of our society. 

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