Civil disobedience an overview sciencedirect topics. When is civil disobedience against abortion laws legitimate. Civil disobedience sansname san diego philosophy forum. Now the supreme court is being asked to clarify how to punish those who cross the. Uncivil obedience is a recurring feature of public and private law contestation. Anti abortion protests have become commonplace at clinics across the country. Since the 1970s, prolife or anti abortion groups have practiced civil disobedience against the u. Antiabortion clinic activism, civil inattention and the. Civil disobedience is a form of protest with a special standing with regards to the law that sets it apart from political violence. When it comes to abortion rights, civil disobedience could. Civil disobedience in abortion current laws pertaining to abortion are diverse. Civil disobedience has a history of overcoming oppression and unpopular policies where all other methods have failed. Types of civil disobedience are outlined below with examples of successful actions from the past, right up to current day actions.
Regarding civil disobedience, i see this more in response to anti discrimination legislation infringing my right to freedom of conscience, thought and religion. Read this miscellaneous research paper and over 89,000 other research documents. Interactive framing dynamics and ideological boundaries in. A narrative analysis of antiabortion testimony and legislative debate. The distinctive american tradition of civil disobedience stretches back to prerevolutionary war days and has served the purposes of determined protesters ever since. The liberal concept of civil disobedience is based on the idea that in cases of blatant injustices civil disobedience is a means to trump and correct democratic decisions in the name of justice. Civil disobedience and platos crito, the southern journal of. Civil disobedience has been a popular form of protest against the government in nations all over the world since decades. Its aim is to make that society more just, and justice is a stabilizing influence. The ruling stems from a 1986 case in which the national organization for women and others sued anti abortion groups operation rescue and the prolife action league for blocking access to. But then, as philosophers, we must ask, what exactly is civil disobedience. Thus, thoreaus ideas of civil disobedience about civil disobedience have less value today in american society because the individual is far more likely to bring about change by working within the system as the modern iraqi war protests, antiabortion protests, and the tea party have shown. Jul 15, 2016 taxpayers should consider civil disobedience if forced to pay for abortion, a prolife leader warned wednesday.
So, for example, if a consequence of some act of civil disobedience is to motivate lawmakers to enact greater protections and liberties for abortion providers. To answer this, we will next examine a modern civil disobedience case in aquinas court of conscience. This chapter examines the tension between the justification and the punishment of civil disobedience, and theorists common solutions to it. The broader american public has a long history of subverting unconstitutional governance, from the whiskey rebellion to the war on drugs. The techniques of civil disobedience and other nonviolence resistance were used by part of the south african antiapartheid movement, particularly from the 1970s through the early 1990s. Davis freedom of discussion, if it would fulfill its historic function in this nation, must embrace all issues about which information is needed or appropriate to enable the members of society to cope with the. Governments show thus how successfully men can be imposed on, even impose on themselves, for their own advantage. Religious, moral, and cultural feelings continue to influence abortion. Revolutionary actors, like civil disobedients, are moved by moral and political principles to break the law, and they, too, often seek to address the. However, anti abortion activism did not seem to affect how women felt about their abortions at a followup one week after the procedure. In this oped, erin matson, cofounder and codirector of reproaction, explains why civil disobedience should be on the table when it comes to preserving abortion rights. Both sides include among their ranks people almost fanatically. Douthat accurately points out that schaeffer advocated civil disobedience to protest abortion. To demonstrate the potential of this new mode of justification it is applied to the case of anti abortion activism in the u.
For example, operation rescue, a high profile anti abortion organization and a party in the current supreme court appeal, began as an organized anti abortion movement on november 28, 1987, in a rescue at cherry hill, new jersey. The following are examples of civil disobedience from around the world. He hoped that the open window would not shut and wrote of a first track approach that. If i were an american with a positive stigma towards civil disobedience due to our countries history of it, i would not be able to rationally choose, with those definitions, which side of the abortion argument was truly civil disobedience and which one was a protest of a justified practice or nonpractice. This stimulating book examines the causes that have inspired civil disobedience, the justifications used to defend it, disagreements among its practitioners, and the controversies. In march 2016 presidential candidate donald trump argued that women who had abortions should be punished if abortion were made illegal. However, the extent to which simple violation of sumptuary. Particularly in america, where we have thoreau, who refused to pay a poll tax, because the money supported the mexican war and the fugitive slave law. Civil disobedience, punishment, and injustice springerlink.
Protest as a disincentive crosssection data for the us are used to estimate the effects of antiabortion activity on. Does aquinas account of civil disobedience hold up when explaining a modern civil disobedience case. To demonstrate the potential of this new mode of justification it is applied to the case of antiabortion activism in the u. In response, abortion service providers have called. Many who practise civil disobedience do so out of religious faith, and clergy often participate in or.
Unlike civil disobedience, however, it is an obscure feature, a neglected category. A christian manifestos call to arms the new yorker. Civil disobedience stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Dec 04, 2002 anti abortion protests have become commonplace at clinics across the country. Those forced payments are a move some democrats are pushing, susan b. Rawls argues that civil disobedience, if it is engaged in only when justified, will be a stabilizing force on society. They then sat on the floor in an act of civil disobedience, requiring officers. Supreme court rules for protesters in civil disobedience case. Antiabortion activities and the market for abortion services. The morality of antiabortion civil disobedience jstor. More recently, in the 2000s, people have used civil disobedience to protest the war on iraq.
This thought informs his views about when civil disobedience is justified. Five anti abortion activists were arrested saturday. Civil disobedience is and has been crucial in social change. The shooting came at a time when abortionrights activists have reported new tac tics by. Should an antiabortion activist disobey the laws of the. Racketeering, antiabortion protesters, and the first. Civil disobedience, the refusal to obey certain laws, is a method of protest famously articulated by philosopher and writer henry david thoreau in his 1849 essay civil disobedience. History and types of civil disobedience compassionate.
For example, ghandis civil disobedience was instrumental in winning liberty for india, and martin luther kings tactics won basic rights for black people in america. It is because acts associated with civil disobedience are. The history of the prolife movement in america jennifer l. Civil disobedience the nonviolent breaking of bad law is a legitimate and necessary response to the tyranny of ealing councils politicallymotivated plans to silence all prolife speech outside the marie stopes abortion centre mattock lane. Civil disobedience and the lgbt community shadowproof. In a famous essay entitled civil disobedience, henry david thoreau claimed that the individual is a higher and independent power from which the state obtains its authority. Historical and recent examples of civil disobedience. Civil disobedience legal definition of civil disobedience. Now the supreme court is being asked to clarify how to punish those who cross the line into disruptive, even violent. More recent examples of civil disobedience campaigns include the refusal to pay the poll tax and the poll tax riots in the uk in 1990, and the activities of some animal rights and anti abortion activists. Thoreau believed that protest became a moral obligation when laws collided with conscience. As with the vietnam conflict, the abortion debate did not remain theoretical. Dec, 2009 read this miscellaneous research paper and over 89,000 other research documents.
After the jump, a look at our communitys history with civil disobedience, in case they skipped that in history class, for some of you kids. Session 1 rawls, the justification of civil disobedi what. What are some arguments that disagree with thoreaus thoughts in civil disobedience. Historyplex gives you some historical as well as recent examples of civil disobedience. Abortion protester held in doctors murder at clinic, supra note 2, at a9. The civil disobedient, finding legitimate avenues of change blocked or nonexistent, feels obligated by a higher, extralegal principle to break some specific law. In seeking an active form of civil disobedience, one may choose to deliberately break certain laws. As individuals, people must not wait for the government to recognize injustice and instigate reform, thoreau said, because the machinery of government moves too slowly. The issue of abortion is one of the most divisive facing american society today. Even after political conservatives dominated the movement in the 1980s, the successes and failures of the sixties provided a cultural lens through which grassroots anti abortion activists forged what was arguably the largest movement of civil disobedience in american history.
At this point in time there are medical practitioners in victoria who are engaging in civil disobedience in respect of the laws requirement that they must refer for an abortion. The ultimate impact of more recent acts of civil disobedience antiabortion trespass demonstrations or acts of disobedience taken as part of the environmental movement and animal rights movement remains to be seen. A command from government to disobey the word of god. Pdf antiabortion clinic activism, civil inattention and the problem. And 64 pinkclad womens health activists expressed their opposition to the proposed abortion restrictions by engaging in an act of civil disobedience, refusing to leave the legislative chamber. I will approach this issue from the point of view of those who approved of the cd practiced by the civil rights movement. Civil disobedience and platos crito civil disobedience and platos crito herrera, c. Request pdf antiabortion activities and the market for abortion services.
Thoreau says that if our conscience doesnt agree with the law, we should go against it by breaking the law. Civil disobedience, anti abortion activism, and splinters new and old. Daniel joseph berrigan sj may 9, 1921 april 30, 2016 was an american jesuit priest, anti war activist, christian pacifist, playwright, poet, and author berrigans active protest against. Civil disobedience is a symbolic or ritualistic violation of the law rather than a rejection of the system as a whole. Pdf in the uk, there is evidence of a recent increase in antiabortion activism outside clinics. In other words, while anti abortion activism can be distressing for women seeking abortion, these feelings of distress are separate from their feelings about the procedure itself. Such principled lawbreaking has been witnessed in recent years over climate change, economic strife, and the treatment of animals. What are some arguments that disagree with thoreaus. The abortion fight has long been a crucible of political tactics, with both sides employing strategies ranging from litigation to civil disobedience to outright. Civil disobedience and anti abortion protests i begin by borrowing rawls definition of civil disobedience, and asking which actions of various groups of anti abortion protestors fall under this definition.