Giving Birth As A Duty Essay

When a woman gives birth in a country she is not a legal citizen in, is it ethical to provide paperwork in a language she cannot read or write in knowing that it will take away her basic right as a human to have more children? During the lawsuit, the California government also argued, “that forced sterilization was “necessary” to keep “welfare” expenditures to a minimum”. (Counter Current News). The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) was made aware of the coerced sterilization and acknowledged the human rights abuse by making an important step to ending it. FIGO recognized the forced and coerced sterilization among marginalized women and now has strong new guidelines on “Female Contraceptive Sterilization”. (Open Society Foundations). Two of the updated guidelines state “Consent to sterilization should not be requested when women are vulnerable, such as when requesting termination of pregnancy, going into labor, or in the aftermath of delivery” and include, “Information should be provided in language women understand, through translation if necessary, in plain, non-technical terms, and in an accessible format, including sign language or Braille”. (Open Society Foundations). These two guidelines can help ensure that vulnerable women should not be asked to sign paperwork. The other guideline that will help prevent coerced sterilizations is providing women paperwork in their native

Most recently the “no taxpayer funding for abortion act”, has abortion advocates reeling (Maguire, A-14). Even though, abortion has been legal in every state in the United States since the monumental Supreme Court decision, “Roe v Wade”, on January 22, 1973, there are fewer physicians willing to perform abortions today than in 2008 (Kraft, 09). At the heart of the ethical dilemma for many in the medical profession is the viability of the fetus (USA TODAY). And just to make this whole dilemma more confusing, according to the United States Government, “The child in utero, at any stage of development in the womb”, is protected by the Unborn Victims Violence Act of 2004 (Unborn Victims of Violence Act, A-1). Medical professionals have the

One of the many women’s services that Planned Parenthood implements into their organization is safe, medically supervised, legal abortions. Most of the individuals who are not in favor of funding Planned Parenthood are solely against it because of the abortion services that this organization provides. Without safe and legal abortions, the increase of unsafe abortions would increase and some people may take drastic measures (Baptiste). In developing countries and counties where abortion is not legal there are many safe abortions performed that could be avoided if proper care was allowed (Baptiste). In this article Baptiste says, ”In El Salvador, a 1998 law went into effect that made abortion illegal with no exceptions—including rape, life of the mother, or incest. Women who are found guilty of having an abortion face two to eight year in prison.” This could promote unhealthy solutions to terminate an unwanted

The concept of human rights is a multifaceted one, thereby making it a frequent topic of debate on a global scale. Furthermore, defining human rights is a complex and volatile issue that brings up many crucial discussions such as, what it means to have ‘rights’, who deserves these suggested rights and to what extent can a person exercise these rights. These types of discussions can be controversial despite most of us, especially in a liberal democracy, where we tend to view human rights in a similar manner. When examining human rights even further, there are clear ties to equality, another issue that affects nearly everyone through means of privilege or prejudice. A crucial aspect of achieving equality between the sexes is giving women the right to control what happens to their own reproductive organs without the approval of men. Lynn M. Morgan, medical anthropologist scholar and author of “Reproductive Rights or Reproductive Justice? Lessons from Argentina” seeks to address the discrepancy between a human rights framework versus a social justice framework to tackle the issue of reproductive rights in Argentina. She initially addresses the fact that using the human rights framework, often used in Argentina by pro-choice activists, can be problematic. As explained earlier, the concept of human rights is convoluted by its very nature. Hence, Lynn Morgan argues that this issue should be addressed using a justice framework instead, a typically US centric approach. It is clear

In the United Nations Global review on Abortion policies in Spain in the year of 2001, abortion was permitted on almost all grounds. These grounds are inclusive of factors regarding health and preserving both physical and mental health. Women could rightfully receive an abortion if she was raped, or if the pregnancy caused severe mental or physical health issues to either mother or child. Consequently, abortion was not permitted for social or economic reasons and any women who pursued an abortion that was not performed in a health care establishment would be penalized and the individual who performed the illegal abortion was subjected to imprisonment if caught. In retrospect, contraception and sterilization was not legalized in Spain until

Our newly elected president reinstated “Global Gag Rule”, which forbids giving federal funding to any foreign organization that performs abortions or, in many cases, that even mentions them as an option to women. These types of restrictive abortion laws make it more difficult and costly for the modern women to obtain an abortion. The laws pose the idea that an increase in the cost of an abortion should in return cause the number of abortions to decrease. Yet, these antiabortion laws do not have a significant positive effect on unintended birth rates. According to Doctor Nancy Krieger in the peer reviewed American Journal of Public Health, US infant death rates declined most quickly in 1970 to 1973. In the 1960s, an average of more than 200 women every year died as a result of botched illegal abortions. In addition to those who died in the course of illegal abortions, many thousands more suffered serious illness or injury. Due to the humiliation associated with having an illegal abortion, many women who suffered complications were reluctant to visit a doctor for treatment. It is evident that these antiabortion laws to not affect the modern woman positively. Instead of women going out and getting an abortion that could ruin their bodies for the rest of their lives, an alternate solution the government could make could be to make

An acknowledged journalist and author, Erika Guevara- Rosas in her article for the New York Times paper, “El Salvador And ‘Las 17’”, justifies the intense and altering consequences women are put in jail for having miscarriages and abortions. Rosas’ main drive is to enlighten her readers on the prejudice that is occurring in El Salvador where all abortions are forbidden including “when the mother’s life or well-being is in danger, and in all incidents of rape” (Rosas). “Carmen Guadalupe Vásquez Aldana was just 18 when, in 2008, she was sentenced to 30 years in jail” (Rosas). Her crime was for having a miscarriage. February of 2015, Vasquez was finally released after being incarcerated for almost a decade. She

While Latin America’s lack of reproductive rights would seem to be common knowledge, many are unaware of how exactly women in Latin American countries are affected. In a fairly large number of countries, abortion is illegal. In regards to this, “in 2008, 12 percent of maternal deaths in Latin America and the Caribbean were due to unsafe abortions.” (Mane, 2013) 95% of the abortions

Many countries in Latin America already prohibit or severely restrict abortion. In addition, current pieces of legislation such as the Helms and Hyde Amendments prohibit US aid toward funding abortions abroad with few exceptions such as cases due to incest or rape. However, in light of the potential effects of the Zika virus, the US is rethinking its stance on abortion rights in Latin America, signaling to a possibility in a change in its stance.

I did not realize that giving birth was so costly until now, I gave birth with a C-section and I was not charged for anything and I had a different insurance. Normally in New York, when you go to your first visit to the hospital and you don't have insurance they make you apply for one and it cover all the costs depending on the insurance. I stayed in the hospital five days and receive a lot of care from the

“The 27-year-old Salvadoran garment worker and single mother had miscarried without ever knowing she was pregnant….hospital staff had suspected her of inducing an abortion and reported her to the police.. A judge sentenced her to the maximum punishment for murder: 40 years in prison” (Albaladejo, A Witch Hunt Against Poor Women,27). This tragic story is sadly not the only one that has happened in countries where abortion laws are not as free as those of the United States, which since the Roe vs. Wade has confirmed women’s rights to abortion. Domestically, the United States seems to be progressive compared to other countries such as Nicaragua, Chile, and Haiti who according to Albaladejo “Have complete bans on abortion” (A Witch Hunt Against

In Chile, women recently fought and earned the right to have access to emergency contraception in cases of unprotected sex, rape or contraceptive failure. Chilean women finally won this right after a court accepted scientific proof that a pregnancy does not take place until a week after fertilization. Once the emergency contraception could be considered legal, instead of a form of illegal abortion, women were given access to the pill.

This trend, which is occurring in developing and as well as developed countries, has continued to the present, as abortion laws have been relaxed in five more countries within the past four years- Greece, Portugal, Spain, Taiwan and Turkey. During the same period, women's access to legal abortion has been significantly reduced only in Romania (in 1984). That nation's population policy also restricts the availability of modern contraceptive methods and authorizes the investigation of all women who experience miscarriages. In addition, the Irish constitution was amended in 1985 to prevent any future liberalization of its highly restrictive abortion law.

Birth of a child can be such a happy time, especially when the little one is very healthy. We all have seen the movies when a new child is born, some of us are lucky to see it first hand. Some of us do get goose bumps, me being one of them. It is just so exciting to see that little life come out of what has been in that big belly for nine months. We sometimes refer to the birth of a child as labor. If only it was as easy as the name sounds. However, it is not. There are three main stages in birth. The first stage is the longest stage that can last 12 to 14 hours with the first birth, and later births are shorter. Dilation and effacement of the cervix take place here. That is when the uterine contractions gradually become more frequent and

There are several laws and policies regarding abortion. These laws are primarily for the sake of the country’s well being. Several countries offer abortions on demand, and some countries absolutely prohibit abortions. Most countries agree that a woman has the right to an abortion if it will endanger her health. Approximately 23 countries offer abortion on request upon the pregnant women. Fourteen countries allow abortions for social, and social-medical reasons. Forty-two countries offer abortions if it will endanger the women’s general health.