My Perspective on the 14th Amendment: Liberty in the U.S.

How would American’s lives be without complete liberty in this decade? Due to the injustice, unfairness and inequality among Americans in the past, the constitution established amendments to grant equal rights to different groups and minorities.

These rights were granted aside from gender, religion, marital status, sexual orientation, immigration status, race, age, and other statuses. Although these amendments took a long duration to become authorized by higher officials since these modified laws entering the constitution needed to meet a criteria and the total of amendments proposed surpassed the total number of amendments that were authorized, individuals today possess the rights found under the Fourteenth Amendment in the right to owning one’s body, same-sex marriage, public education, and equality for women.

Difficulties arose when integrating amendments into the constitution. The long duration behind the constitution consisted of a complex criterion. There were many amendments that were proposed, yet relatively only a few were chosen due to the “House and Senates” decisions along by “the people of the states” (Campbell 65). The main reasons why amending the constitution has been a prolonged process is due to dealing with simple public laws. Such official and state associated laws were chosen for superior law, as successful amendments.

Derived in these alterations of text, there are words written by superior figures from the government in the older ages protecting the rights of Americans and other individuals who live in the United States. The Fourteenth Amendment proclaims equal protection and promises to protect any person of 'life, liberty or property, without due process of law.' Presently, this amendment protects any individual the right of choosing whether to keep or abort, marrying the person you want to marry no matter the gender, learn and have an education to grow an individual mentally and physically, and for women to have equal rights in voting.

Moreover, the Roe v. Wade case introduced in 1973 established a woman’s right to seek abortion and prohibited states from making abortion a crime. (Campbell 148). This law gave women the free will to choose whether or not to have an abortion without having the government decide for them or any third party. This impacting change has revolutionized our historical rights for women. It is their body and they have a right to choose whether they want to continue with their pregnancies or not. Before these laws were constituted, there were many illegal abortions and some unfortunate women died before, during, or after labor.

This is the reason a significant change was formed in the constitution, to provide liberty and protection on one's own body. The other group that has benefited from the 14th amendment is the LBGT group. It protected gay, lesbian right, such as same sex marriage. In the case of Obergefell v. Hodges, the court ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment requires states to license and recognize same-sex marriage (Campbell, 193). Any individual shouldn’t be deprived of marrying someone of the same gender or orientation as them. Currently in this day and age, many young people such as teenagers and young adults are exploring their own sexual orientations or revealing their true self to friends and families.

Although, there has been much injustice to immigrants who flee to this country for a better life, the U.S constitution states that it does not matter if the person is not a U.S. citizen, they are still protected under the 14th amendment, because it states that it will protect any individual regardless of their legal status. In another public case, an immigrant family in Texas was involved in the 1982 Plyler vs Doe. Texas prohibited illegal immigrants the right to a public education, Texas passed a law requiring parents to prove their kids are here legally or pay $1000 for each child that attended a public school. The family couldn’t afford to pay an extreme amount and sued the school board of education in Texas but ran the risk of being deported for taking the case public (Created Equal: Constitution USA). If the case was lost, immigrant children would have a disadvantage to a fulfilled education along with a potential deported family.

Fortunately, the family was not deported and their children were protected under the Fourteenth Amendment of having a right to attend a public school and not be denied an education. Education for any individual is a valuable asset. Without it, everything surrounding a person would be very complicated to understand. Such as knowing simple ways to communicate and hold decent conversations. These everyday skills are learned and expand in branches of knowledge. In the present, any student no matter the gender, race, age, ethnicity, and background have the right to attend public schools or institutions.

In addition, women in the past had to exert actions into their own matter to fight for the right to vote. The Statue of Liberty was unveiled in 1886, which depicted of the liberty as a women. During this time, women's rights advocates called the statue “the greatest hypocrisy of the nineteenth century” (Campbell, 165). This figure was displayed for all Americans to see. To reveal that the people live in the land of the free, however, for women at the time this was false reality. These women had absolutely zero rights when voting season was imminent.

These independent women gathered each other, forming groups. Women's suffrage organizations in the late 1800s fought and acted accordingly to change the mindsets of others for the balance of equality. Reflecting now, us women have the right to vote and sustain a liberated lifestyle. Regarding women's rights in general, no female (yet) possess the duty of a president. Due to low numbers of female candidates, there is a higher “expected” rate of a male candidate running to be elected first.

In my perspective and understanding after learning how the 14th amendment historically changed in the past century, I have learned that it has brought many positive changes to American citizens. These changes have helped various groups and minorities. These amendments may have taken long periods of time to become official by the government,

But tremendous changes have transformed how society runs today. We the people of this nation retain the rights developed under the Fourteenth Amendment in the right to owning one’s body, same-sex marriage, public education, and equality for women. Possessing these rights enhance a fitter society for future generations to learn from.