various forms of violence, including bombs, arson,
physically violent acts, threatening violence, and im-
peding access to clinics.
Impact During the 1990’s, the North American
abortion arena became increasingly politicized, with
many legal cases making their way to the U.S. Su-
preme Court. This resulted in increasing awareness
of the importance of the Supreme Court justices and
the justice nomination process. This decade was also
characterized by greater levels of violence from
antiabortion protesters, resulting in a number of
U.S. murders and several attempts to kill Canadian
doctors. People’s views on abortion also played a role
in debates over birth control methods, abstinence-
only health education, and research using fetal tis-
sue or stem cells.
Further Reading
Cook, Rebecca J., Bernard M. Dickens, and Laura E.
Bliss. “International Developments in Abortion
Law from 1988 to 1998.”American Journal of Public
Health89, no. 4 (1999): 579-586. A summary state-
ment on the laws covering abortion around the
world, including Canada, with supporting refer-
ences.
Feldt, Gloria.The War on Choice: The Right-Wing Attack
on Women’s Rights and How to Fight Back.New York:
Random House, 2004. A well-referenced publi-
cation covering the history of women’s repro-
ductive health in the United States, including a
comprehensive time line focusing on legal and
political developments.
Hadley, Janet.Abortion: Between Freedom and Necessity.
Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1996. A
well-referenced examination of abortion politics
around the world.
Hyde, Elisabeth.The Abortionist’s Daughter.New York:
Alfred A. Knopf, 2006. An insightful novel about
the death of an abortion provider in small-town
America.
Knapp, Lynette, ed.The Abortion Controversy.San
Diego, Calif.: Greenhaven Press, 2001. Twenty-
five previously published chapters are included in
this collection, structured to contrast proabor-
tion positions with antiabortion ones.
McLaren, Angus, and Arlene Tigar McLaren.The
Bedroom and the State: The Changing Practices and
Politics of Contraception and Abortion in Canada,
1880-1997.2d ed. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1997. A summary of Canadian abortion
politics by a well-respected medical historian and
a sociologist.
Piehl, Norah, ed.Abortion.Farmington Hill, Mich.:
Greenhaven Press, 2007. A short collection of
eleven previously published pieces presenting
both sides of the abortion debate.
Sanger, Alexander.Beyond Choice: Reproductive Free-
dom in the Twenty-first Centur y.New York: Public-
Affairs, 2004. A comprehensive view of abortion
incorporated within a consideration of individual
responsibility and family well-being, with exten-
sive scholarly references.
Susan J. WurtzburgSee also Depo-Provera; Medicine;Planned Parent-
hood v. Casey;Rust v. Sullivan; Stem cell research;
Supreme Court decisions;Vagina Monologues, The;
Women’s rights. Academy Awards
The Event The annual presentation of awards by
the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy Awards reflected the state of commercial
filmmaking in the United States during the 1990’s. Be-
cause the annual televised ceremony has become a popular
international spectacle, the event itself sheds light on atti-
tudes and fashions.
Since the ceremony’s inception in 1929, the Acad-
emy Awards (or Oscars) show has not only cele-
brated and encouraged artistic excellence but also
promoted the products of the major American
movie studios. By the 1990’s, those studios had been
absorbed by conglomerates for which filmmaking
was a minor profit center. However, the Oscars con-
tinued to provide publicity and prestige for their re-
leases. In 1987, nominations for each category were
announced on live television for the first time, inten-
sifying excitement during the weeks leading up to
the award show. From February through March
each year, the media buzzed with reports on the fi-
nalists and speculation about the odds of their win-
ning, while producers campaigned for votes. The
lavish Oscar show—hosted six times during the
1990’s by Billy Crystal, three times by Whoopi
Goldberg, and once by David Letterman—typically
drew more viewers than any broadcast other than
the Super Bowl. In 1998, multiple nominations for2 Academy Awards The Nineties in America