Reproductive Rights as a Historical and Feminist Issue

Women have the right to choose what they want to do with their body. Women have a constitutional right to obtain birth control if they choose to. The reproductive rights allow individuals to have say so over their bodies. “Reproductive rights are the rights of individuals to decide whether to reproduce and have reproductive health. This may include an individual's right to plan a family, terminate a pregnancy, use contraceptives, learn about sex education in public schools, and gain access to reproductive health services.” (“What are Reproductive Rights?”). However some may argue that women

sterilization was forced among black and other lower-class women population control. The problem is the white race has oppressing lower class women. Telling lower class women when they can and not have children, the dominant race only looks after themselves and their future, not the further of other races. For example, when President Roosevelt realized that white women were choosing to abort, he was mourning this and considered this race suicide. Although, at this time the United States was expanding, spreading out to the Philippines, white women adjusted themselves and did something for their own benefit. As an obligation to this country, white women began introducing birth control to the poor and black women. The reason behind a white women’s duty to introduce birth control to other women not of their race, was because they did not want to dishonor or disgrace this nation with the lower class becoming more of something or overpopulating the white race. It is insane how, the lower-class women were criticized for reproducing more, but could not get access to birth control because it cost too much. Therefore, they would have to get sterilized, cutting down the number of those that were poor, and having women never to reproduce again. Reproductive rights and birth control, became inaccurate, and it was fitting and suitable only to a certain race, the white

Women across the U.S. were fighting for reproductive rights. The fight was intense due to women not being able to do decisions for themselves. Since the beginning of civilization, women were expected to produce children from marriage to menopause, in a constant battle to birth more children than died in utero, in infancy, or of childhood disease. The birth and mortality rates were so high that women had to have a stop to it. American white women were considered to be the ones having the most children. In 1800 American women were bearing an average of 7.04 children; 5.21 in 1860; and 3.56 in 1900. During this time the rates were so high because the typical women of the household was supposed to be the one at home cleaning, cooking, taking

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

These medical necessities aside, women should not only have the right to decide when they can get pregnant, but they should have the ability to do so. The decision shouldn’t be left up to politicians and prelates. This choice should be a necessary right in these progressive times. Recently the Affordable Care Act has been under attack by certain groups of people who feel that contraception is not the responsibility of government insurance providers.

Of all the legal, ethical, and moral issues we Americans continuously fight for or against, abortion may very well be the issue that Americans are most passionate about. The abortion issue is in the forefront of political races. Many people in society today choose to be pro-choice because they want to support women of their choice and right to have an abortion and that sex education that promotes abstinence is not effective. According to “Abortions: every Woman’s Right” by Smith S., the article discusses about how women couldn’t be equal to men because they don’t have the same rights to reproductive rights of their own even if though they are advanced in the job market or have a higher education. Even socialist argue that women deserve to have rights over their body without interference. Part of NARAL’s impact to

In today’s society, women and people with different sexualities are negatively portrayed as objects and at times, unfit to make their own reproductive choices. Women all around the country are finally taking a stand towards reproductive justice. This topic of concern has been seen recently across the world, in Presidential debates, academic articles and in Cross-Cultural news. These mediums all depict how women all over the world are being deprived of their rights and reproductive choices. On the other hand, they also depict how women are reclaiming their reproductive justice and advocating for socially positive changes in the community. This case study of Reproductive Justice, will analyze these current events and articles, in order to apply

Forced sterilization is seen at a tool of repression by some even though official records indicate that the most of the women had requested the procedure, there is no way to tell how many of these had been coerced by their family or their social workers into making that decision, or if the record was falsified (Kaelber, 2014). Later it was discovered that it was not uncommon for African American women to be sterilized during other medical procedures without their consent or knowledge (Kevels, 1995). In reality, most people subjected to these sterilizations had little to no choice, and because the program was run by the government, they had little chance of escaping the procedure. Herein lies the largest controversy regarding eugenics – coercion. “The right to reproduce without interference from third parties is one of the fundamental freedoms recognized by international law and moral theories from a host of ethical traditions” (Caplan, McGee, & Magnus, 1999). During its brief history, the practice of eugenics had sought to limit the bodily self-determination of American citizens and to increase the power inequities present at the

Since its beginning, women’s reproduction has been a controversial and debated topic in the United States. Views on sexuality and gender, civil rights movements, and religious views have all had an effect on the control of women’s reproduction. While historical events have had some effect on current debates, some events have been overlooked or ignored by those involved in disputes involving reproductive rights.

Women’s rights have always been, and will most likely continue to be, an extremely controversial issue. There are many individuals that, still to this day, do not believe that men and women are equal and therefore, shouldn’t be treated as such. However, despite the constant opposition, women’s rights have come a long way over the last several decades. During the 20th century alone, women gained some of their most monumental rights, in my opinion. Some of these rights include, but are not limited to having the right to; vote, be payed the same amount as men for equal work, and not be discriminated against due to their sex, religion, race, etc. Also during the 20th century, women were granted reproductive rights, which I will be focusing on for the duration of this paper.

Faye Wattleton, world renowned author of women’s reproductive rights once said, “Reproductive freedom is critical to a whole range of issues. If we can’t take charge of this most personal aspect of our lives, we can’t take care of anything. It should not be seen as a privilege or as a benefit, but a fundamental human right.” In many traditional societies around the world, women’s rights regarding their own reproductive choices may seem as limited as their opportunities for them. Cultures in which that deny women 's rights and lessen the degree of equality of their gender compared to men, often present reproductive options as a "taboo" to discuss. This can lead to misperceptions and ignorance about healthy reproductive choices such as birth control and prevention of disease which should be universally acknowledged by women. As expressed by Perez (2015) class notes, "every culture defines and understands health differently...we tend to see the world through the prism of or expectations." This is true in the sense that more conservative Middle Eastern cultures may be taught to view health issues differently than most Americans would. Healthcare between cultures is significant to understand; Iran 's healthcare market is continuing to expand and assists in the awareness of women 's health. This paper will explore the comparisons and contrasts of the Iranian women 's reproductive choices and how different aspects of health in the general population affect health in Iran and in the

Women’s rights has been a topic debated for many years. Unfortunately, it is still a struggle today. It is discussed in many other topics such as, ethics, religions, history, law, medicine, and politics. The government has also had an immense part in this controversy and subtopics. This topic also includes the subtopic of reproductive rights.

When it comes to contraception and the right to an abortion, one would think these are women’s private issues because pregnancy takes place in a woman’s body. It is an intensive process of holding another living creature in her system for nine months, which would mean that the woman would have to stop her other duties in order to take care of herself and this being. Her schooling, her job, and anything else in her life. As such, it is her choice whether she wants to, or even has the means to, become pregnant, terminate it, or make sure conception does not happen in the first place. The reasoning belongs solely to the woman and it depends on every individual circumstance. However, throughout history, these rights have been regulated. Not by women, whom it privately concerns, but by men and religious beliefs making their way through legislatures and organizations.

Sterilization was a racialized procedure because the procedure targeted minorities, more specifically women of color. Female sterilization is “an irreversible and controversial form of fertility control that most often involves the surgical cutting or tubal ligation of a woman’s fallopian tubes” (Ruiz & Korrol, 2006). Sterilization was important for the eugenics movement and sterilization of females helped eugenics move forward. Eugenics was intended to stop individuals deemed unfit from reproducing in hopes of keeping the human population pure. “Eugenics, like birth control was a program for making working-class families healthy, for improving the condition of the country and it stood in contrast to the racialism of tropical medicine” (Briggs,

    In general, reproductive rights are important to the individual as well as to our society. Reproductive rights are important because they promote a sense of equality and personal freedom. They provide individuals with right to a safe, responsible, and satisfying sex life. A key aspect of reproductive rights is that they allow a person to choose if and when they are going to have children. They also provide access to education, abortions, STD