In 1973, the court case of Roe versus Wade established that women had the constitutional right to decide to have an abortion or not. An anonymous woman sued the district attorney of Dallas, Texas, because she believed that her right to choose to have an abortion was being violated (Oyez 2018). Harry Blackmun, Supreme Court judge, announced that the woman was correct in believing that her rights were being violated and that is was unconstitutional to have a law that only allowed doctors to decide if the woman should have the child or not (Oyez 2018). Ever since this court case, the discussion of abortion has boomed. In early 2019, lawmakers in states across the United States stated that abortions would become illegal if they did not fall under certain circumstances. Hashtags were made to retaliate and allow people to spread their feelings. The hashtags #ProLife and #ProChoice have become a way for men and women around the world to discuss, advocate, and argue with others about their thoughts, opinions, and beliefs about abortion. The hashtag #ProLife has a 66.6% popularity ever since it was created (Hashtagify 2011). The hashtag #ProChoice has a 57.7% popularity ever since it was created (Hashtagify 2011). The conflict theory focuses on the conflict between social groups within society such as the bourgeoisie and the proletariat class. Conflict theorists believe that the struggle between these groups is to maintain inequality and help the wealthy men and women stay in their position and allow poor men and women to remain in poverty. The United States is stapled as “The Land of the Free”, but because of new laws regulating women from choosing what happens to their bodies, it seems as though this ‘free land’ is only for wealthy, white men in America.
Conflict Theory arose in the wake of Karl Marx’s work. Karl Marx was born in Trier, Germany in 1818. Marx used journalism to spread his beliefs of political and social issues of his time (Wolff 2017). Through his writings, he dispersed his communist ideology to his readers, making them think for themselves. Karl Marx became one of the most influential enlightenment thinkers of the 1800s and present time. Marx’s conflict theory states that “tensions and conflicts arise when resources, status, and power are unevenly distributed between groups in society” (Crossman 2019). This theory focuses on the bourgeoisie class and the proletariat class. The bourgeoisie class represents the wealthy middle class who can create businesses and obtain their wealth. The proletariat class represents the majority of the working class who are poor and cannot leave their state of poverty. When relating to the topic of abortion, the bourgeoisie community would be the men and women who hold high political positions whereas the proletariat class would be women in poverty, low-income households, teenagers, or people of color (Guttmacher 2019). All whom may have trouble with taking care of a newborn baby because they don’t have the resources or may not be ready for the responsibility of providing for another human being when they cannot provide for themselves, comfortably. Marx’s theory believes that the wealthy middle class would make systems and laws that benefit themselves, while at the same time it prevents the proletariat class from joining higher ranks and gaining enough money and assets to reach a level outside of the poverty line. This uneven distribution of power allows men and women of higher social class to decide what happens to a woman and her body without knowing her background or family life. This led to conflicts between the government versus the people of the United States, and the clash between #ProChoice and #ProLife people. The pro-choice people believe that women should have the choice to decide what happens to their body and other women's bodies, while pro-life people believe that abortion should be illegal in all states because the procedure kills a living human being. In the present day, we see hundreds of thousands of men and women arguing, being shunned from their families and friends because of their choice of being either pro-choice or pro-life. This is creating a separation of the middle class instead of bringing them together to fight against the bourgeoisie class and their system of oppression.
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The most popular hashtags used when the new laws regulating abortion were being made were #ProLife and #ProChoice. These hashtags were widely used by young adults, teenagers, and millennials after President Trump's inauguration, but dates back to many years ago. Many of President Trump's policies benefitted the white male in America while also limiting women’s choices, further instituting inequality between genders. People who are categorized as #ProLife, believe that the United States should allow any human being to live regardless of the mother’s health or the baby’s “quality of life” (Head 2019). Most people who are pro-life follow the word of God and the Bible, which states that “Thou shalt not kill” (ProCon 2019). Celebrities such as Donald Trump, singers Jordan Sparks, Celine Dion, Justin Bieber, Nicole Sherzinger, and actors Chuck Norris, and Ashton Kutcher have taken to social media or mass media outlets to voice their support for making abortions illegal in the United States (Reda 2019). People who believe in the #ProChoice propaganda believe that women should be able to control their fertility and what happens to their bodies, while also protecting themselves against health risks. Singers Billie Eilish, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, John Legend, Pink, and actors Chris Evans, Reese Witherspoon, Tiffany Haddish, and Ellen Degeneres have all voiced their belief that abortion should be accessible to all women, no matter the circumstance (Reda 2019). These celebrities on both sides have influenced their followers to choose their side of the debate, while also donating to causes that benefit their choice. #ProLife and #ProChoice have created such a mass uproar on social media and the internet, people have created blogs and websites to allow others to educate themselves about abortion and try to influence people to choose one side over the other. The Atlantic news source and the NARAL Pro-Choice America foundation have created news articles and information hubs which give the public an abundant amount of knowledge on the proposition of abortion, to spread to others.
The NARAL Pro-Choice America is an online community of people who believe that abortion should be legal across the country. In other words, this community aligns themselves with the #ProChoice beliefs. They believe that “the right to choose abortion is essential to ensuring a woman can decide for herself if, when and with whom to start or grow a family. We’ll never stop fighting to protect and expand this fundamental human right” (NARAL). This website is used to spread information about how to prevent pregnancies, how to deal with being pregnant, and why abortion should be accessible for all women with different backgrounds. The Supreme Court case of Roe versus Wade is used to describe the regression that the United States has seen ever since this case took place. NARAL states that women have been forced to defend their right to have equal opportunities and benefits as men, while also protecting their own mental and physical health. The government has put laws in place that restrict a woman’s access to clinics that provide abortion procedures in many forms. They have closed clinics, restricted people that live in a low-income household from being able to see a doctor, and they decided what procedures doctors can perform on patients (NARAL). NARAL also goes into detail about how pro-life followers have opened clinics that are used by anti-abortionists to try and prevent soon to be mothers from getting the procedure done (NARAL). Some anti-abortionists have also killed and shamed doctors who perform abortion procedures to make a statement (NARAL). This information that NARAL has provided leads the reader to understand their bias for abortion. They strongly believe that making this procedure illegal will degenerate what women have worked so hard for over the past years and keep women further away from gaining the same opportunities as men. The Atlantic article by Emma Green describes Ashley McGuire’s experience of finding out the sex of her unborn baby. With her first child, she found out the sex within 20 weeks, but with her third child, she was told the sex in only 10 weeks (Green 2018). McGuire then started to believe that technology is so advanced that it allows us to see the fetus’s movements at such a young age. Since we can see the fetus in a way that we couldn’t before, people should be more sympathetic to the baby because now we see that it is a human with emotions and it isn’t “discardable” (Green 2018). Scientists have studied and researched the fetus throughout its life course and make advancements in technology which allows non-scientists to see the small features and movements that the child makes to further their cause. The bias that is present in this article supports the beliefs of the #ProLife propaganda. I align myself more with the NARAL Pro-Choice America article because the article by Emma Green is used to attack people who are pro-choice instead of trying to convince others that their side is more justifiable. The Atlantic article’s only backing support was that technology can now show parents their baby’s in the womb at an earlier stage, but other than that information the only evidence that the article provides is of Green refuting the statements that pro-abortionists have made. However, the NARAL article and website provide laws that regulate abortions, how to prevent unintended pregnancies, why abortion should be legalized, and why anti-abortionists can be dangerous when showing support to their beliefs.
There are approximately 211,000,000 women that are pregnant per year across the globe (World Health Organization 2007). There were 862,320 abortions in the United States in 2017 (Abort73 2005-2017). In my mind, all 862,320 women had the right to choose for themselves if aborting their unborn child was the right thing for themselves and the baby. I am pro-choice because I believe that a woman should have a say in what happens to her body, especially since she did not get pregnant on her own. If a man does not have to be a part of the child’s life or have to take care of the child, then the mother should not have to take responsibility for the baby by herself if she is not prepared to do so. If this happens, then it allows men to have control over women and their bodies, which shouldn’t happen in the United States in 2019. I also believe that a woman should be able to decide if having the baby is in the best interest of the child. The child should not have to be born just to be put in the foster care system with 400,000 other kids, or have to be homeless with the parents because they couldn’t sustain a livable life while also taking care of their newborn, nor shall the baby have to live with unloving, uncaring parents because they didn’t want to have the child but religion and pressure forced them to have the boy or girl anyway. One of the biggest advancements of the United States is allowing women to have some opportunities that men have, one being the right to choose. While allowing these laws that restrict abortion procedures, it regresses the progress that women have made over the years. While religion is a big part of pro-lifers position, we live in a country that claims to separate church and state, but many politicians use their religion as a means of evidence to push against abortion. It is no one’s place to push their religion onto someone else and have the right to decide what someone can or cannot do with their own body. Having social media in this day and age is very beneficial. The use of #ProLife and #ProChoice allows everyone, kids, teenagers, adults, to understand different perspectives on abortion. You’re able to see why people have the procedure and you get to see that not everyone has the resources and privilege that others may possess. The industry of the mass media grants people with insight and knowledge of the political world that can be hard to see through news outlets who are extremely bias or unwilling to see the other side of the story.
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