Betty Friedan, Eleanor Roosevelt, NOW, women’s liberation movement and abortion

Betty Friedan, Eleanor Roosevelt, NOW, women’s liberation movement and abortion.

1. Betty Friedan wrote "The Feminine Mystique" in 1963, which criticised the isolation of women in the household and revealed that many American women were dissatisfied.  
2. Friedan co-founded the National Organisation for Women (NOW), founded in 1966, and campaigned for women's legal, educational and professional equality. The organisation pressured Congress to pass the Equal Rights Amendment (1972) but failed to achieve ratification by the necessary 3/4 of states. 
3. Feminists during this time were fighting against the objectification of women. For example, they protested against the Miss America beauty pageant in 1968, crowning a sheep as their own "Miss America", comparing women's treatment in the US to livestock.
4. Abortion was and still is a very controversial issue. Feminists argued that all women had the right to choose abortion, and the Supreme Court ruled in the case Roe v Wade (1973) that states banning abortion were unconstitutional. However, pressure from religious groups meant that Congress ended up passing the Hyde Amendment in 1976, which stopped Medicaid (medical assistance programme for the poor) from funding abortions.