6.2

Women and Equal Rights

The political and legal efforts to secure civil rights for Black citizens were accompanied by efforts to expand rights for women. There was an important difference between the two movements, however: whereas Black Americans were protesting legal restrictions designed to violate their rights, women had to argue against a tradition that claimed to be protecting them.

Legal Context and Early Legal Cases

  • The Supreme Court's ruling in 1908 upheld an Oregon law limiting female laundry workers to a ten-hour workday.

    • Argument: It was justified by claiming women differ from men in physical capacities, justifying legislation to compensate for women's unique burdens.

    • Quoted justification: "The two sexes differ in structure of body, in the functions to be performed by each, in the amount of physical strength, in the capacity for long-continued labor, particularly when done standing … the self-reliance which enables one to assert full rights, and in the capacity to maintain the struggle for subsistence."

Key Historical Events

Seneca Falls Convention

  • Date: July 19–20, 1848.

  • Location: Seneca Falls, New York.

  • Organizer: Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

    • Drafted the Declaration of Sentiments, modeled after the Declaration of Independence.

    • Identified injustices against women, including prohibitions on voting and property rights.

    • Called for social, civil, and religious rights for women, especially the right to vote.

  • Voting rights for women emerged slowly from various states, particularly in the West.

  • Nineteenth Amendment was ratified in 1920, establishing that no state may deny the right to vote based on sex.

    • Notably, many Black and Native American women still faced voting barriers until the civil rights laws of the 1960s.

World War II Impact

  • The war increased the labor demand, leading to the employment of millions of women, famously represented by "Rosie the Riveter."

  • Increased visibility for the feminist movement in the 1960s, marked by Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique (1963).

Legislative Changes

  • Equal Pay and anti-discrimination laws responded to feminism:

    • Equal pay for equal work.

    • Prohibition of discrimination based on sex in employment and educational institutions receiving federal funding.

    • Ban on discrimination against pregnant women in the workplace.

  • The Supreme Court began altering constitutional interpretations, especially regarding the Fourteenth Amendment, which prohibits state-level discrimination.

    • Amendments shifted from protective paternalism to evaluating whether distinctions based on sex are justified.

Standards of Judicial Review in Discrimination Cases

The Supreme Court employs three standards to judge discrimination cases:

  1. Rational Basis:

    • Policy must use reasonable means to achieve a legitimate government goal.

    • Example: Age restrictions for drinking.

  2. Intermediate Scrutiny:

    • Must serve an important government interest and be substantially related to that interest.

  3. Strict Scrutiny:

    • Applicable when discrimination is based on race or sex; must serve a compelling government interest, be narrowly tailored to achieve that interest, and use the least restrictive means.

Key Discrimination Cases

  • Reed v. Reed (1971): Gender discrimination violates the equal protection clause.

  • Craig v. Boren (1976): Gender discrimination justified only by an important government objective and a substantial relation to that objective.

  • Rostker v. Goldberg (1981): Congress's discretion in drafting men without drafting women.

  • United States v. Virginia (1996): Invalidated male-only military school funding.

Legislation Addressing Sex Discrimination

  • Civil Rights Act of 1964: Prohibits sex discrimination in employment.

  • Title IX (1972): Prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded educational programs.

  • Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (2009): Extends timeframe for filing pay discrimination lawsuits.

  • Discussion of Title IX regarding transgender protections.

    • The Obama administration aligned Title IX protections based on gender identity.

    • Controversies and legal challenges arose concerning state laws affecting transgender students' rights.

Proposed Constitutional Amendments

  • Equal Rights Amendment (ERA): Proposed in 1972, affirming equal rights under the law regardless of sex.

  • Received ratification from 35 states, failing to reach the necessary threshold by the 1982 deadline.

  • Recently debated as additional states (Nevada, Illinois, Virginia) ratified; issues of potential new deadlines raised.

Landmark Supreme Court Cases Regarding Women's Rights

  • Case Examples of Illegal Sexual Discrimination:

    • Different legal ages for men and women to become adults or purchase beer are unconstitutional.

    • Mandatory pregnancy leaves and arbitrary health standards for women in employment are prohibited.

    • Equal pay for women in high school coaching roles.

  • Permissible Sexual Distinctions:

    • Laws that punish men but not women for statutory rape are acceptable; men and women are deemed not “similarly situated.”

    • All-male and all-female schools are allowed under certain conditions.

Sexual Harassment

  • Two forms defined by the Supreme Court:

    1. Quid Pro Quo: Illegal to request sexual favors for employment or promotion; employers are strictly liable.

    2. Hostile Work Environment: Must be reported for liability; employers are liable only if they failed to address the situation.

  • The Supreme Court's rulings in 1998: Varied outcomes based on environments and reporting, establishing definitions of liability.

Privacy and Sex

  • Regulation of sexual matters traditionally managed by states, asserting police power over morals and safety.

  • Supreme Court decisions shifted towards recognizing a right to privacy over time, notably through the case of Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), where contraceptive sales were protected under this inferred right.

Roe v. Wade and Subsequent Cases

  • Roe v. Wade (1973): Established a constitutional right to abortion under the right to privacy.

    • Defined trimesters for abortion legality:

      • First trimester: unfettered rights.

      • Second trimester: state regulation permitted for the mother’s health.

      • Third trimester: states may ban abortions.

  • Over time, laws and restrictions developed, including the Hyde Amendment, limiting federal funding for abortions.

  • Following several rulings supporting and upholding Roe, the Court changed course with the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022) ruling, overturning Roe and allowing states to prohibit abortion.

    • Justice Alito's majority opinion emphasized the lack of constitutional reference to abortion.

    • Dissent expressed concerns about the ruling's impact on women's rights.

Summary of Legal Developments in Abortion

  • Significant variations in state laws regarding abortion access post-Dobbs decision.

  • States either moved to expand rights or impose strict bans with varying exceptions (life of mother, rape, incest).

  • Recent rulings have addressed also religious exemptions to contraceptive mandates in employment.

Conclusion

Ongoing debates, developments, and legal battles indicate the complex landscape of women's rights, emphasizing the importance of understanding historical context and the evolving nature of legislation and court interpretations.