Introduction
The civil rights movement usually aim to bring about equality in social freedom and political divides (Cook, 2012). Women have fought for civil rights among the races and even those regarding them. Various women have contributed significantly to the struggle for civil rights. One of them is Dorothy Height (Crewe, 2009). She was one of the pioneer women who fought for civil rights together with women’s right especially focusing on those who were significantly affected by poverty. The women fought alongside while at the same time championing for their rights. Various. The different women who fought for the civil rights that women enjoy at present passed through much opposition but did not give up. Such women included Carrie Chapman, Emily Blair, and Lucy Stone to name a few. They voted for equality in the workplace together with voting rights for women and the clear interpretation of the declaration of independence in the American society especially on equality among men and women. The national organization for women is such a group that continues to advocate for women’s right in all sectors of employment and society. Pauli Murray and Betty Friedan set up the organization in 1966.
National Organization for women
The group has many accomplishments some of them being equality in the education system and sports. Advertisements that segregated the sexes were banned after the group went through various campaigns and litigation. In 2002, the amendment concerning especially equal rights between the sexes was passed after the lobbying of the group. In 2004, the group carried out massive campaigns that included the registration of women voters in particular which summed to seven million women voters being registered. It further set up one of the largest marches regarding lives of women in 2004.
The National Organization for Women (NOW) has been fighting for more rights that have not yet been achieved primarily including various senior posts globally like a woman secretary general at the United Nations. Other issues that the organization is involved in are the ownership of firearms by men who domestically abuse their wives (Wolbrecht, 2010). Abortion is another agenda that the organization is looking though there are various laws that legalize abortion in some states the organization seeks to ensure that abortion is legalized in all states.
The women’s civil rights group has attained many forms the 1800s to the 1920s in fighting for the rights of women. Women were greatly discriminated against in the workplace and were not treated equally to their male counterparts (Ford, 2010). More women stood up to fight for the rights of women and eventually won though it took some time before the male-dominated economy accepted the various changes to be made in Congress and all the states. One example is the Federal women suffrage amendment, which aimed to balance work conditions and pay for women in all countries (Smith et al., 2015). The department of labor has the women’s bureau, which seeks to improve working conditions for women, and analyzes how they are treated at their places of work.
Accomplishments
The group still works to accomplish equality in various sectors of the economy both nationally and to some extent globally. The goals that the organization wants to meet include more equality in the workplace, abortion legalization, ending discrimination related to the sexes and fighting for women’s rights throughout the world. Other issues that the group seeks to fight for are economic justice in various companies like Walmart, discrimination issues related to sexual orientation, violence propagated against women, racial justice, and constitutional equality (Reilly, 2009).
Public perceptions and consensus
Religious groups and conservatives have opposed some of the issues like the legalization of abortion and sexual orientation. Religious groups are against abortion since together with the Pro-life organization, which advocates for more safe procedures to protect the life of the woman should it be in danger. There are many unsafe abortions carried out by young people especially teenagers who may be in danger of dying since they do them secretly without involving the parents. There is a consensus on the races, and more companies are adopting appropriate measures to treat the diverse workforce equally. The public is thus divided on the issues of abortion and sexual orientation especially in accordance to their religious affiliations. The federal courts passed laws that allowed for abortion especially in the case of Roe vs. Wade. The Supreme Court in made abortion a constitutional right regarding the viability of the fetus outside the womb in 1973.
Oppositions to various efforts
Mostly the Congress is the one to pass the laws but most of the senators and in the way especially Republicans who introduced anti-abortion bills to prevent abortion, especially those after 21 weeks. Furthermore, the antiabortion laws seek to prevent the abortion from taking place in hospitals and other health establishments together with blocking any funding to Planned Parenthood, which has been doing various abortions throughout the country (Williams, 2011). Mitch McConnell, the leader of the majority in the senate, is pushing for an anti-abortion bill on the floor of the house, which will further lessen abortion to two to four weeks earlier than the 21-week timeframe. Therefore, the national organization for women has to deal with the various barriers to abortion that include the various Republicans who are setting forth anti-abortion laws. Issues such as lesbianism and gay marriage are opposed by Catholic and even from the statement of the Pope who said that marriage is under threat (McBride & Parry, 2014).
Conclusion
Women have had a long struggle in achieving the rights they now enjoy. Their efforts have lasted for more than a century, and they are still ongoing. The top agenda is for equality among men and women as the declaration of independence states. More women now enjoy rights that they would not have had like the right to vote, equal pay for work, equal rights in marriage and to some extent legalization of abortion (Ford, 2010). Women are still fighting for various rights like discrimination due to sexual orientation and legalization of abortion, which are still in Congress and under deliberation. Women have achieved a lot in their struggles and at present, they are better off than five decades ago.
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