Women’s Rights
Hannah Stein
Sarah Cartwright
5th period
14th Amendment
Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the
United States, and subject to the jurisdiction
thereof, are citizens of the United States and of
the State wherein they reside. No State shall
make or enforce any law which shall abridge
the privileges or immunities of citizens of the
United States; nor shall any State deprive any
person of life, liberty, or property, without due
process of law; nor deny to any person within
its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
19th Amendment
The right of citizens of the United States to
vote shall not be denied or abridged by
the United States or by any State on
account of sex. Congress shall have
power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
Civil Rights Act of 1964 and
Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission
Title VII of the Act prohibits discrimination by
covered employers on the basis of race, color,
religion, sex or national origin. Title VII also
prohibits discrimination against an individual
because of his or her association with another
individual of a particular race, color, religion,
sex, or national origin. An employer cannot
discriminate against a person because of his
interracial association with another, such as by
an interracial marriage
Supreme Court Cases
 Reed v. Reed
 Background: The Idaho Probate Code
stated that “males must be preferred to
females” in appointing administrators of
estates. After the death of their adopted son,
both Sally and Cecil Reed sought to be
named the administrator of his estate, since
they were separated. According to the Code,
Cecil was appointed administrator and Sally
challenged the law in court.
 Reed v. Reed
 Conclusion: The Court made a unanimous
decision that the law was unconstitutional. It
argued that “[t]o give a mandatory
preference to members of either sex over
members of the other… is to make the very
kind of arbitrary legislative choice forbidden
by the Equal Protection Clause of the
Fourteenth Amendment...” The choice can
not be decided on the basis of sex.
 Decision: 7 votes for Reed, 0 votes against,
citing the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th
Amendment
 Reed v. Reed
 Effects on policy: Legislation can’t favor by
mandate one gender over the other, since
that would violate the Equal Protection
Clause.
 Craig v. Boren
 Background: An Oklahoma law banned the
sale of “non-intoxicating” 3.2% beer to men
under the age of 21 and women under the
age of 18. Curtis Craig was a licensed
vendor between the ages of 18 and 21 who
challenged the law as discriminatory since it
instituted different drinking ages for men and
women.
 Craig v. Boren
 Conclusion: The Court held that the law
made unconstitutional “gender
classifications.” The state of Oklahoma did
not have sufficient proof to show the
relationship between the law and traffic
safety. The Court also decided that the
Twenty-first Amendment didn’t change the
application of the Equal Protection Clause of
the Fourteenth Amendment.
 Decision: 7 votes for Reed, 2 votes against,
citing the Equal Protection Clause.
 Craig v. Boren
 Effects on policy: Unless specifically
proven by facts, no classifications can be
made favoring one gender over the other,
since that would be qualified as
discrimination.
 Griswold v. Connecticut
 Background: Griswold, the Executive
Director of Planned Parenthood League of
Connecticut, and the Medical Director of the
same institution were giving medical advice
on birth control to married couples. The two
were convicted under a Connecticut law
which prohibited counseling or other medical
treatment relating to pregnancy prevention
to married couples.
 Griswold v. Connecticut
 Conclusion: Although the Constitution
doesn’t expressly protect the right to privacy,
various provisions of the Bill of Rights such
as the First, Third, Fourth, and Ninth
Amendments ensure that right between
married couples. The Connecticut statute
that Griswold was charged under conflicts
with that right and therefore is void.
 Decision: 7 votes for Griswold, 2 votes
against, citing Due Process
 Griswold v. Connecticut
 Effects on policy: The ruling protects a
couple’s right to privacy when dealing with
advice and administration of contraceptives.
 Roe v. Wade
 Background: Roe was a pregnant woman
from Texas who wanted to receive an
abortion, which was illegal in Texas except
to save the mother’s life. The Court heard
the arguments twice. They decided whether
or not a woman had a right to end her
pregnancy by abortion during the early
months.
 Roe v. Wade
 Conclusion: The right to an abortion is part
of a woman’s right to privacy, which was
recognized in Griswold v. Connecticut and
protected by the Fourteenth Amendment.
The decision gave a woman control over her
pregnancy in the first trimester and upheld
limitations on abortion only if the woman’s
health is in danger. The case legalized
abortion in the United States.
 Decision: 7 votes for Roe, 2 votes against,
citing Due Process
 Roe v. Wade
 Effect on policy: Establishes an abortion as
part of the right to privacy established in
Griswold v. Connecticut, and also in effect
legalized abortion in the U.S.
 Gonzales v. Carhart
 Background: In 2003, Congress passed and the
President signed the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act.
Partial-birth abortions are those that occur when the
fetus is already partway outside the body of the
mother. The statute outlawed a surgical procedure
that doctors use to perform abortions after about 12
weeks of pregnancy. Two federal appeals courts
declared the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Act of
2003 unconstitutional. It was argued that this act
would place an unconstitutional burden on a
woman’s right to an abortion. Also, the plaintiffs
argued that the lack of exception in cases where the
mother’s health is in danger made the act
unconstitutional based on the Supreme Court’s
ruling in Stenberg v. Carhart.
 Gonzales v. Carhart
 Conclusion: The Supreme Court upheld the
federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, stating
that it was not unconstitutional and did not
impose an undue burden on the due process
of a woman’s right to an abortion.
 Decision: 5 votes for Attorney General
Gonzales, 4 votes against, citing 18 U.S.C.
1531
 Gonzales v. Carhart
 Effect on policy: This ruling did not reverse
previous rulings on similar subject matter.
However, it did show that the Supreme
Court has limits on the legislation it will pass
concerning controversial legislation such as
abortion rights.
 Stenberg v. Carhart
 Background: A Nebraska law prohibited
any "partial-birth abortion" unless it was
necessary to save the mother's life. Leroy
Carhart, a Nebraska physician who performs
abortions, claimed that the law violated U.S.
Constitution, and claimed the law was
“unconstitutionally vague” and “placed an
undue burden on himself and female
patients seeking abortions.”
 Stenberg v. Carhart
 Conclusion: The Supreme Court ruled that
the Nebraska Law did place an “undue
burden” on a woman's right to have an
abortion and didn’t make an exception even
in cases where the mother’s health was
threatened.
 Decision: 5 votes for Carhart, 4 votes
against, citing Due Process
 Stenberg v. Carhart
 Effect on policy: Further enforced women’s
right to have an abortion, strengthening
women’s right to privacy and control over
their bodies.
This cartoon illustrates the pro-choice stance on abortion by using irony to
contrast a woman’s perception of an abortion with the political aspect of
the debate which sometimes seems to disregard the woman’s perspective.
This cartoon
illustrates that
discrimination still
exists in the
corporate world.
Women still fight
against
discrimination while
trying to climb the
“corporate ladder.”
Evolution of Constitutional
Interpretation
 While the Constitution at one point did not even
recognize women, it grew to recognize them as equal
citizens. Through suffrage, women first gained the right
to vote. Over the next few decades, women fought to
gain equality and thus phrases in the Constitution such
as “all men are created equal” are now interpreted to
encompass all humans instead of all males. Despite
the Equal Rights Amendment failing to pass ever since
the 1920’s, the Supreme Court has upheld a woman’s
right to privacy especially in relation to her body, such
as the right to use contraceptives or have an abortion,
and also her right to be protected from legislation that
mandates preference of one sex over the other.
Legislation passed worked to gain more rights and
protections for women, such as safety regulations,
improved pay, and medical rights and benefits.
1850 - 1920
1890- National
American Woman
Suffrage Association
(NAWSA) is formed
1850- first nat’l
women’s rights
convention
1916- Margaret
Sanger opens the
first U.S. birthcontrol clinic in
Brooklyn, N.Y.
18931903- The National
colorado
Women's Trade
grants
Union League
women the
(WTUL) is
right to vote
established to
advocate for
improved wages
and working
conditions for
women.
1920- The
19th
Amendment,
granting
women the
right to vote,
is signed into
law
1920- The
Women's Bureau of
the Department of
Labor is formed to
collect information
about women in the
workforce and
safeguard good
working conditions
for women.
1921 - 1963
1935- Mary McLeod Bethune
organizes the National
1960- The Food and
Council of Negro Women, a
Drug Administration
coalition of black women's
approves birth control
groups that lobbies against
pills.
job discrimination, racism, and
sexism.
1921- Margaret Sanger
founds the American Birth
Control League, which
evolves into the Planned
Parenthood Federation of
America in 1942.
1963- Equal Pay Act
makes it illegal for
employers to pay a
woman less than
what a man would
receive for the same
job.
1961- President JFK establishes the
President's Commission on the
Status of Women and appoints his
wife as chairwoman. The reports it
issued documented substantial
discrimination against women in the
workplace and made
recommendations for improvement,
including fair hiring practices, paid
maternity leave, and affordable child
care.
1964 - 1973
1965- Griswold v.
Connecticut strikes down
the one remaining state
law prohibiting the use of
contraceptives by married
couples.
1964- Title VII of the Civil
Rights Act bars discrimination in
employment on the basis of
race and sex and establishes
the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission to
investigate complaints and
impose penalties.
1966- The
National
Organization
for Women is
founded
1972- The Equal Rights
Amendment is passed by
Congress and sent to the
states for ratification, but
fails to gain a majority of
states.
1972- Title IX of the
Education
Amendments bans
sex discrimination in
schools.
1973- Roe v.
Wade
establishes a
woman's right
to safe and
legal abortion
1974 - present
1976- The first
marital rape law is
enacted, making it
illegal for a husband
to rape his wife.
1986- Meritor
Savings Bank v.
Vinson finds that
sexual harassment
is a form of illegal
job discrimination.
1978- The
1974- The Equal
Pregnancy
Credit Opportunity
Discrimination
Act prohibits
Act bans
discrimination in
employment
consumer credit
discrimination
practices on the
against
basis of sex, race,
pregnant
marital status,
women.
religion, national
origin, or age.
1992Planned
Parenthood
v. Casey
reaffirms
Roe v. Wade
1994- The Violence
Against Women Act
tightens federal penalties
for sex offenders, funds
services for victims of rape
and domestic violence,
and provides for special
training of police officers.
2005- Jackson v.
2006- The
Birmingham Board
Supreme
of Education
Court upholds
prohibits disciplining the ban on the
someone for
"partial-birth"
complaining about
abortion
sex-based
procedure.
discrimination.
Video Clips
Video Clips