thesis statement about reproductive rights

10 Essential Essays About Women’s Reproductive Rights

“Reproductive rights” let a person decide whether they want to have children, use contraception, or terminate a pregnancy. Reproductive rights also include access to sex education and reproductive health services. Throughout history, the reproductive rights of women in particular have been restricted. Girls and women today still face significant challenges. In places that have seen reproductive rights expand, protections are rolling back. Here are ten essential essays about reproductive rights:

“Our Bodies, Ourselves: Reproductive Rights”

bell hooks Published in Feminism Is For Everyone (2014)

This essay opens strong: when the modern feminism movement started, the most important issues were the ones linked to highly-educated and privileged white women. The sexual revolution led the way, with “free love” as shorthand for having as much sex as someone wanted with whoever they wanted. This naturally led to the issue of unwanted pregnancies. Birth control and abortions were needed.

Sexual freedom isn’t possible without access to safe, effective birth control and the right to safe, legal abortion. However, other reproductive rights like prenatal care and sex education were not as promoted due to class bias. Including these other rights more prominently might have, in hooks’ words, “galvanized the masses.” The right to abortion in particular drew the focus of mass media. Including other reproductive issues would mean a full reckoning about gender and women’s bodies. The media wasn’t (and arguably still isn’t) ready for that.

“Racism, Birth Control, and Reproductive Rights”

Angela Davis Published in Women, Race, & Class (1981)

Davis’ essay covers the birth control movement in detail, including its race-based history. Davis argues that birth control always included racism due to the belief that poor women (specifically poor Black and immigrant women) had a “moral obligation” to birth fewer children. Race was also part of the movement from the beginning because only wealthy white women could achieve the goals (like more economic and political freedom) driving access to birth control.

In light of this history, Davis emphasizes that the fight for reproductive freedom hasn’t led to equal victories. In fact, the movements driving the gains women achieved actively neglected racial inequality. One clear example is how reproductive rights groups ignored forced sterilization within communities of color. Davis ends her essay with a call to end sterilization abuse.

“Reproductive Justice, Not Just Rights”

Dorothy Roberts Published in Dissent Magazine (2015)

Dorothy Roberts, author of Killing the Black Body and Fatal Invention , describes attending the March for Women’s Lives. She was especially happy to be there because co-sponsor SisterSong (a collective founded by 16 organizations led by women of color) shifted the focus from “choice” to “social justice.” Why does this matter? Roberts argues that the rhetoric of “choice” favors women who have options that aren’t available to low-income women, especially women of color. Conservatives face criticism for their stance on reproductive rights, but liberals also cause harm when they frame birth control as the solution to global “overpopulation” or lean on fetal anomalies as an argument for abortion choice.

Instead of “the right to choose,” a reproductive justice framework is necessary. This requires a living wage, universal healthcare, and prison abolition. Reproductive justice goes beyond the current pro-choice/anti-choice rhetoric that still favors the privileged.

“The Color of Choice: White Supremacy and Reproductive Justice”

Loretta J. Ross, SisterSong Published in Color of Violence: The INCITE! Anthology (2016)

White supremacy in the United States has always created different outcomes for its ethnic populations. The method? Population control. Ross points out that even a glance at reproductive politics in the headlines makes it clear that some women are encouraged to have more children while others are discouraged. Ross defines “reproductive justice,” which goes beyond the concept of “rights.” Reproductive justice is when reproductive rights are “embedded in a human rights and social justice framework.”

In the essay, Ross explores topics like white supremacy and population control on both the right and left sides of politics. She acknowledges that while the right is often blunter in restricting women of color and their fertility, white supremacy is embedded in both political aisles. The essay closes with a section on mobilizing for reproductive justice, describing SisterSong (where Ross is a founding member) and the March for Women’s Lives in 2004.

“Abortion Care Is Not Just For Cis Women”

Sachiko Ragosta Published in Ms. Magazine (2021)

Cisgender women are the focus of abortion and reproductive health services even though nonbinary and trans people access these services all the time. In their essay, Ragosta describes the criticism Ibis Reproductive Health received when it used the term “pregnant people.” The term alienates women, the critics said, but acting as if only cis women need reproductive care is simply inaccurate. As Ragosta writes, no one is denying that cis women experience pregnancy. The reaction to more inclusive language around pregnancy and abortion reveals a clear bias against trans people.

Normalizing terms like “pregnant people” help spaces become more inclusive, whether it’s in research, medical offices, or in day-to-day life. Inclusiveness leads to better health outcomes, which is essential considering the barriers nonbinary and gender-expansive people face in general and sexual/reproductive care.

“We Cannot Leave Black Women, Trans People, and Gender Expansive People Behind: Why We Need Reproductive Justice”

Karla Mendez Published in Black Women Radicals

Mendez, a freelance writer and (and the time of the essay’s publication) a student studying Interdisciplinary Studies, Political Science, and Women’s and Gender Studies, responds to the Texas abortion ban. Terms like “reproductive rights” and “abortion rights” are part of the mainstream white feminist movement, but the benefits of birth control and abortions are not equal. Also, as the Texas ban shows, these benefits are not secure. In the face of this reality, it’s essential to center Black people of all genders.

In her essay, Mendez describes recent restrictive legislation and the failure of the reproductive rights movement to address anti-Blackness, transphobia, food insecurity, and more. Groups like SisterSong have led the way on reproductive justice. As reproductive rights are eroded in the United States, the reproductive rights movement needs to focus on justice.

“Gee’s Bend: A Reproductive Justice Quilt Story From the South”

Mary Lee Bendolph Published in Radical Reproductive Justice (2017)

One of Mary Lee Bendolph’s quilt designs appears as the cover of Radical Reproductive Justice. She was one of the most important strip quilters associated with Gee’s Bend, Alabama. During the Civil Rights era, the 700 residents of Gee’s Bend were isolated and found it hard to vote or gain educational and economic power outside the village. Bendolph’s work didn’t become well-known outside her town until the mid-1990s.

Through an interview by the Souls Grown Foundation, we learn that Bendolph didn’t receive any sex education as a girl. When she became pregnant in sixth grade, she had to stop attending school. “They say it was against the law for a lady to go to school and be pregnant,” she said, because it would influence the other kids. “Soon as you have a baby, you couldn’t never go to school again.”

“Underground Activists in Brazil Fight for Women’s Reproductive Rights”

Alejandra Marks Published in The North American Congress on Latin America (2021)

While short, this essay provides a good introduction to abortion activism in Brazil, where abortion is legal only in the case of rape, fetal anencephaly, or when a woman’s life is at risk. The reader meets “Taís,” a single mother faced with an unwanted pregnancy. With no legal options, she researched methods online, including teas and pills. She eventually connected with a lawyer and activist who walked her through using Cytotec, a medication she got online. The activist stayed on the phone while Taís completed her abortion at home.

For decades, Latin American activists have helped pregnant people get abortion medications while wealthy Brazilians enter private clinics or travel to other countries. Government intimidation makes activism risky, but the stakes are high. Hundreds of Brazilians die each year from dangerous abortion methods. In the past decade, religious conservatives in Congress have blocked even mild reform. Even if a new president is elected, Brazil’s abortion rights movement will fight an uphill battle.

“The Ambivalent Activist”

Lauren Groff Published in Fight of the Century: Writers Reflect on 100 years of Landmark ACLU Cases (2020)

Before Roe v. Wade, abortion regulation around the country was spotty. 37 states still had near-bans on the procedure while only four states had repealed anti-abortion laws completely. In her essay, Groff summarizes the case in accessible, engaging prose. The “Jane Roe” of the case was Norma McCorvey. When she got pregnant, she’d already had two children, one of whom she’d given up for adoption. McCorvey couldn’t access an abortion provider because the pregnancy didn’t endanger her life. She eventually connected with two attorneys: Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee. In 1973 on January 2, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that abortion was a fundamental right.

Norma McCorvey was a complicated woman. She later became an anti-choice activist (in an interview released after her death, she said Evangelical anti-choice groups paid her to switch her position), but as Groff writes, McCorvey had once been proud that it was her case that gave women bodily autonomy.

“The Abortion I Didn’t Want”

Caitlin McDonnell Published in Salon (2015) and Choice Words: Writers on Abortion (2020)

While talking about abortion is less demonized than in the past, it’s still fairly unusual to hear directly from people who’ve experienced it. It’s certainly unusual to hear more complicated stories. Caitlin McDonnell, a poet and teacher from Brooklyn, shares her experience. In clear, raw prose, this piece brings home what can be an abstract “issue” for people who haven’t experienced it or been close to someone who has.

In debates about abortion rights, those who carry the physical and emotional effects are often neglected. Their complicated feelings are weaponized to serve agendas or make judgments about others. It’s important to read essays like McDonnell’s and hear stories as nuanced and multi-faceted as humans themselves.

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About the author, emmaline soken-huberty.

Emmaline Soken-Huberty is a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon. She started to become interested in human rights while attending college, eventually getting a concentration in human rights and humanitarianism. LGBTQ+ rights, women’s rights, and climate change are of special concern to her. In her spare time, she can be found reading or enjoying Oregon’s natural beauty with her husband and dog.

Statement: Reproductive rights are women’s rights and human rights

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Reproductive rights are integral to women’s rights, a fact that is upheld by international agreements and reflected in law in different parts of the world.

To be able to exercise their human rights and make essential decisions, women need to be able to decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of their children and to have access to information, education, and services.

When safe and legal access to abortion is restricted, women are forced to resort to less-safe methods, too often with damaging or disastrous results—especially for women who are affected by poverty or marginalization, including minority women.

The ability of women to control what happens to their own bodies is also associated with the roles women are able to play in society, whether as a member of the family, the workforce, or government.

UN Women remains steadfast in our determination to ensure that the rights of women and girls are fully observed and enjoyed worldwide, and we look forward to continued evidence-based engagement with our partners everywhere in support of rapid progress towards universal enjoyment of universal rights.

• Sexual and reproductive health and rights
• Women’s rights
• Human rights

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Thesis Statement for Abortion

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Published: Mar 20, 2024

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The pro-choice perspective, the pro-life perspective, ethical considerations, legal implications.

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Reproductive Rights, Reproductive Justice: Redefining Challenges to Create Optimal Health for All Women

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines reproductive health as the state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, in all matters relating to the reproductive system and to its functions and processes. Reproductive Justice is the complete physical, mental, spiritual, political, social, and economic wellbeing of women and girls, based on the full achievement and protection of women’s human rights. While these concepts are similar, the latter was an approach that grew out of the need to better articulate the language and realities of women of color as it related to sexual and reproductive health issues. The current U.S. reproductive health agenda is polarized to a choice or abortion issue without any alignment to other issues that predominantly impact women of color within the reproductive health framework. This article acknowledges the history and challenges of reproductive health and rights, while offering a non-polarized, more inclusive ethical course of action, using an optimal health approach with new alliances for the reproductive justice movement today.

Introduction

The 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (lCPD) in Cairo and the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing (FWCW) debated and redefined focus within the reproductive health arena. The Platform for Action and the Beijing Declaration (documents) from the conferences created an enabling national and international political environment for reproductive health. They altered the language about population and family planning issues to include human rights and intensified the interest and participation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), governments and institutions worldwide in reproductive health issues ( The First World Conference on Women, 1995 ).

Including NGOs made certain that strategies were derived from consistently “listening to the voices of those closest to the ground and most importantly ensuring that programming was relevant and sensitive to community conditions and cultural norms” ( Seibert, Stridh-Igo, & Zimmerman, 2002 ).

Before attending the ICPD, a group of black women in Chicago coined the term reproductive justice, defined as the complete physical, mental, spiritual, political, social and economic wellbeing of women and girls, based on the full achievement and protection of women’s human rights ( Ross, 2007 ). This was done out of the need to better articulate the language and realities of women of color as it related to sexual and reproductive health issues and rights. Following this, in the late 90s, the Ford Foundation funded a collective of women of color –led NGOs, called SisterSong, the cornerstone for reproductive justice programming. Twenty years later, this concept or broad lens is still limited in its use to guide programming and advocacy efforts within the reproductive health arena.

Today, the U.S. reproductive health agenda is polarized around choice on abortion issue without any alignment to other issues within the reproductive health framework. This paper highlights a brief history of reproductive rights and the challenges faced as these rights evolved into the reproductive justice movement. It goes on to encourage the reproductive justice movement to adopt an even broader framework of optimal health steeped in theories that advocate for women to embrace their feminine power, a more inclusive and ethical fit for women’s health. This new framework will generate a new movement that will create fresh language, identify new allies, foster nontraditional partnerships and strengthen the capacity of the reproductive justice/optimal health movement so it fully reflects the voices of all women.

Reproductive Justice Context and History

During the 1950s and 60s, philanthropic and international development organizations focused mainly on population and reproduction. Efforts were made to better understand the causes, characteristics and consequences of the population growth trends facing developing countries. Demography was developed as an independent discipline (establishing centers for graduate study) and research was supported in reproductive and contraceptive development. Broad discussions on population policies and assistance were held to better define the design and delivery of family planning programs overseas.

The 1980s involved funding model projects to provide education and facilitate safe, affordable and effective contraceptive use and abortion services if necessary. The focus was on disadvantaged women who chose to have children safely and ensure the safe and healthy development of all children (maternal and child health programs). There was also an increased emphasis on factors influencing the demand for family planning with regard to women’s development, cultural references in developing effective population policies and increased efforts on migration/refugee issues.

The 1990s saw a conceptual shift from family planning to reproductive health and a women-centered, rights-based focus. Within this decade organizations helped emphasize the cultural and economic factors affecting reproductive health (high fertility, poor maternal health and STD/AIDS spread). They also paid special attention to disadvantaged women in developing countries through their reproductive life cycle, supported efforts against STDs/AIDS, and addressed the special needs of adolescents. The main feature of this new focus was to strengthen social science research and training to expand knowledge about the socioeconomic factors affecting reproductive health.

Funding was provided for projects that helped women articulate and act on their reproductive health needs both within the family and at the community and policy levels. This support also promoted public discussion aimed at developing ethical and legal frameworks for reproductive health appropriate to the culture and traditions of different societies. The late 1990s saw the inclusion of sexuality as integral to reproductive health.

The 1994 ICPD in Cairo shifted the emphasis from governmental aims to limit population growth to individual decision-making in reproductive health. The narrow definitions and scope of family planning programming (pregnancy and contraceptives) were expanded holistically to include an individual’s comprehensive needs (reproductive intent, contraceptive availability, client choice and satisfaction). Along these lines the inherent holistic concept of choice was reaffirmed to include freedom to decide when and whether to have children. A woman’s reproductive health was now placed within the structure of reproductive rights and empowerment i.e. accounting for power imbalances and the degree to which women’s choices are constrained. Women played a vital role in national development and had the right to control their fertility. They had the right to participate in providing direction in the formulation of policies that impacted the political, social and economic realms of their health and therefore their existence ( United Nations Population Fund (UNPF), 1994 ).

This conference and the FWCW the following year, expounded on principles that redefined sexual and reproductive health and rights programming for all women around the globe. New principles of thought, along with altering the language around population and family planning issues to include rights, helped to intensify the interest and participation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), governments and institutions worldwide in reproductive health issues ( The First World Conference on Women, 1995 ).

Unfortunately, in the United States the globally endorsed action plan did not frame sexual and reproductive health and rights programming. Instead, efforts remained fragmented and unidirectional, i.e. pro-choice.

The subsequent meetings, ICPD (1999) and Beijing Plus Five (2000) discussed progress and obstacles to implementation of the initial action plans. Both conferences highlighted that action was still needed to guarantee women their human rights. Steps were required to implement much of what was written. There was still limited demonstration of the understanding of a women’s reproductive health and its link to other issues that affected her health, rights and empowerment.

The important advances resulting from the Plus Five experiences included more female activists as members of government delegations than ever before. Another was the agreement that all forms of violence against women would be treated as a criminal offense, including marital rape. Governments re-affirmed the indicators and time-bound targets on sexual and reproductive health and stated that adolescents especially girls should also have access to sexual and reproductive health services including sexuality and life skills education.

In 1997 the Ford Foundation funded an initiative on reproductive health. Sixteen (four African American, four Asian American/Pacific Islander, four Latina and four Native American) U.S. community based organizations (CBOs) led by women of color were supported in an attempt to promote research and advocacy on reproductive tract infections (RTIs) faced by women of color ( SisterSong, 1997 ).

RTIs were chosen because of their contribution to the major health problems of women. Often undiagnosed until more severe complications arise, these preventable and treatable infections are responsible for the mortality of thousands of women each year through their association with cervical cancer, unsafe deliveries and septic abortions. The high rates of RTIs are also associated with interrelated socio-cultural, biological, and economic factors including poverty, low social status, low levels of education, racism, rapid urbanization, etc. The synergistic effects of these factors are known to reduce women’s decision-making power over their own sexuality and constrain their ability to seek quality reproductive care, thus contributing to poor reproductive health.

The initiative called The Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective or SisterSong (Loretta Ross, Dazon Dixon Diallo leading grantees) was a three-year effort to support these organizations to identify common concerns and needs and develop a plan of action for prevention and early treatment of RTIs within their communities. It also focused on identity and ethnicity and its intersections/linkages as to how women approach health and reproductive issues. The 16 organizations represented the different facets of reproductive health programming (prevention, HIV/AIDS services, midwifery, substance abuse, human/health rights advocacy, self-help care, and reproductive rights). The Collective through shared learning served as an enhanced voice to bring awareness and action to improve the reproductive health of women of color.

The Collective highlighted the need to recognize health and reproductive health as human rights issues impacted by social, political, cultural and economic factors. This broad definition of reproductive rights was revealed at the ICPD and FWCW and had been repeatedly voiced by women of color in the U.S and globally.

This broader concept now called reproductive justice was not an opposing one to the present day pro-choice/reproductive rights movement. In fact, it was inclusive. This renewed definition served to repeatedly highlight that the health and rights of women could never be analyzed without taking into consideration the «holistic» reality of a woman’s existence.

Reproductive justice is defined as the complete physical, mental, spiritual, political, social and economic wellbeing of women and girls, based on the full achievement and protection of women’s human rights ( Ross, 2007 ; Ross, Solinger, 2017 ).

The Women of African Descent for Reproductive Justice in Chicago coined this definition in June of 1994, before the ICPD in Cairo (Loretta Ross and Toni M. Bond organizers). Recognizing that the current reproductive rights movement led by middle class white women was not inclusive of minority, low income, and other marginalized women, this group of African American women started the movement of Reproductive Justice. Reproductive Justice began when the group published a statement with over 800 signatures in the Washington Post and Roll Call. Thus, acting as a catalysis for Sister Song ( SisterSong, 1997 ).

To date, SisterSong is the only national coalition in the U.S. consisting of women of color organizations working to ensure reproductive justice for communities of color” ( SisterSong, 1997 ). SisterSong believes that they have the right and responsibility to represent themselves and their communities, and the equally compelling need to advance the perspectives of women of color. They know that they can do more collectively than they can do individually. Headquartered in Atlanta, they are a blend of both young and experienced activists, academic and community scholars, grassroots and national organizations ( SisterSong, 1997 ).

Recently, two additional movements that have brought attention to women’s reproductive issues are the #MeToo movement, and the Women’s March. The #MeToo movement was founded in 2006 by Tarana Burke to help survivors of sexual violence find healing, particularly black women and girls and other young women of color from low economic communities. What began as a hashtag to spread awareness became popularized when several celebrities began to use the hashtag and spread word about the movement via their social media pages. An important turning point of the #MeToo movement came when men, and members of the LGBTQ+ communities shared their experiences. The goal of the #MeToo movement is to reframe and expand the global conversation around sexual violence to speak to the needs of a broader spectrum of survivors ( MeToo, 2006 ).

The Women’s March began on social media. Teresa Shook stated that a pro-woman march was necessary in reaction to Trump’s presidential win. In 2017, the first full day of President Donald Trump’s presidency hundreds of thousands of people gathered in the nation’s capital for the Women’s March on Washington. On the same day, many other women and supporters of the march gathered in other cities and states. The Women’s March centered around eight principles–ending violence, ensuring reproductive rights, LGBTQIA rights, workers’ rights, civil rights, disability rights, immigrant rights, and environmental justice ( Women’s March, 2017 ).

While these movements have brought awareness to those who identify as women and those effected by women’s issues, they do not address that comprehensive reproductive health care and sexual and reproductive rights are «vital human and social assets within a broader developmental agenda to reduce poverty and injustice» ( Ford Foundation, 2001 ). The agenda, defined by SisterSong highlighting the importance of the reproductive justice movement, is often overlooked in the mainstream media. Unfortunately, the agenda and access to these assets still are impacted by the inter-relationship of race, culture, gender, class and political factors thus the continuous neglect of women of color and others from low socioeconomic backgrounds.

Reproductive health and rights have become a well-established field both domestically and internationally. Key national and international organizations (i.e., International Planned Parenthood Association, NARAL-Pro Choice America, Center for Reproductive Rights, National Abortion Federation) help to form a widespread network of activism that has contributed to the visibility and progress of women’s health by engaging in political advocacy, advocating for funding appropriations and demanding increased and improved reproductive health programming. Despite these well-established networks and programming efforts there are still challenges to overcome.

Leading reproductive health organizations in the U.S. have minimally or not at all incorporated reproductive justice into their programming. They have continued to not effectively engage women of color in representation, leadership development or promotion, programmatic design, implementation or evaluation. Many of these organizations believed and argued that women of color were complacent on issues related to their reproductive health and rights. These fail to recognize that although organizing around reproductive health issues have been difficult for these women there has been long standing activism in communities of color on these issues even within the abortion rights movement. Even when women of color become involved with these organizations, they invariably fail to have a significant influence on the organizations’ agenda because it speaks to mainstream needs ( Bond, 2001 ).

There remains institutional limitations within well-established reproductive health organizations around cultural or racial/ethnic diversity. While many of these organizations have been funded over the years to diversify and have women of color in leadership roles, there has been limited success in this effort. Many have placed their focus on board representation. This does not guarantee the adequate level of diversity on the professional staff level where programmatic focus, strategic planning, evaluation and networks are concentrated.

In order to counter the adversity of the challenges, strategies need to be derived from consistently “listening to the voices of those closest to the ground, enabling self-defined needs to guide decisions, and most importantly ensuring that programming is relevant and sensitive to community conditions and cultural norms” ( Seibert, Stridh-Igo, & Zimmerman, 2002 ). The reasons are obvious. Those closest to the issues have the solutions and must advocate for those solutions thus creating social change. However social change can only occur through strong ethical leadership supported by strong organizations with visions, missions, capacity, strategic partnerships and alliances that reflect all members of the community.

In 2013 GuideStar (the largest source of up-to-date information on nonprofits) presented an article entitled “New Rankings Announced: Top 25 National Reproductive Health, Rights and Justice Nonprofits.” These were organizations identified as having an impact on multiple levels. Of the 25, four were using a reproductive justice lens to influence their work and four were led by a woman of color (SisterSong, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, National Network of Abortion Funds, and Forward Together) ( Morrow, 2013 ).

This report also offers insights from experts on issues within the nonprofits (i.e. impact, other organizational strengths,) and how to improve them. SisterSong received favorable comments for leadership, innovativeness, networking, justice and equity. But under organizational areas of improvements, the comments included: “needs technical assistance, not stable in finances and staffing/operations.” All too familiar repeated statements made about CBOs’ capacity especially those led by women of color.

Today when using GuideStar to search for “reproductive rights” nonprofits the yield is 3,387 organizations. If the search uses the words “reproductive justice” 1,234 organizations are identified. If the exclusion criteria, “only organizations that have provided data on diversity, equity and inclusion”, is applied the results yield, 42 organizations for reproductive rights and only 12 for reproductive justice.

Today, the U.S. reproductive health agenda both nationally and locally, largely because of the efforts to overturn Roe versus Wade, remains polarized to a choice or abortion issue without any alignment to other issues within the reproductive health framework. Women of color have often voiced that the mainstream reproductive rights framework, which addresses legal issues, is mainly one-dimensional with no consideration for the broader issues within their communities (e.g. limited or no access to health services especially prenatal care, Medicaid expansion, hysterectomies, pregnancy-related deaths, poverty, interpersonal violence, STDs/AIDS, environmental injustices, mental health issues, etc.) which impact their reproductive health and rights on a daily basis.

A more recent display of extreme infringement on women’s reproductive rights and justice are the impending abortion laws adopted in multiple states such as Alabama, Georgia, Ohio, Missouri and Mississippi. Each passed abortion bans for nearly all-reproductive scenarios with limited exceptions (if the pregnant person’s life is at risk, or if the abortion is before six weeks of pregnancy (“heartbeat bills”)). While these bans are fundamentally unsound, unsafe and unethical, this extreme agenda pushed by ill-informed and buffoonery politicians disregards the entire paradigm of why women seek abortions in the first place (i.e., rape, incest, emergency life threatening conditions, etc.).

Unfortunately, many of these efforts are initially generated in states within the existing Bible Belt and extremely conservative religion theology undermines the bans. These states, and others considering adopting similar policies, have large powerful conservative religious populations and politicians. This is another clear example of how religion has been used repeatedly as a means of controlling, disempowering, and dominating women and girls for centuries.

Health is the physical, mental, spiritual and social wellbeing of an individual and access to it is a human right. Thus, services such as abortion, the method by which one can choose not to reproduce is embedded within a woman’s right to access health services and is a fundamental human right However, for it to have become the central and only theme of reproductive health represents an extremely myopic view of a woman’s human right to comprehensive reproductive health care. This approach although targeting power imbalances does not consider the degree to which women of color choices are constrained.

Bell Hooks, a black feminist, expounded on this when she wrote in 1999: “highlighting abortion rather than reproductive rights as a whole reflected the class biases of the women who were at the front of the movement.” ‘While the issue of abortion was and remains relevant to all women, there were other reproductive issues that were just as vital which needed attention and might have served to galvanize the masses.” ... “Ongoing discussion about the wide range of issues that come under the heading of reproductive rights is needed if females of all ages and our male allies in the struggle are to understand why these rights are important. This understanding is the basis of our commitment to keeping reproductive rights a reality for all females” (Hooks, 1999).

Today the approach termed “reproductive rights” or “reproductive justice” continues to conjure up preconceived thoughts and beliefs that have become even more polarized. Unfortunately, due to this polarization, individuals instantly take a stance for (choice) or against (prolife) this vital health issue with limited knowledge and understanding.

A New Ethical Course of Action

The few women-led organizations that have adopted a reproductive justice framework for their programming efforts are laudable. They are more likely to develop the interventions or strategies needed to shift the continuous burden of poor health outcomes among women and girls especially those of color. Unfortunately, due to limited complete data and escalating poor health outcomes, it is obvious that they cannot keep doing the same thing nor do it alone. Women’s health and wellness is an overpowering issue.

Therefore, to minimize the effects of losing any more ground and capitalizing on the opportunities, a new course of action or promising next steps would be to broaden the reproductive justice framework and embrace and advocate for “optimal health” for all women and girls regardless of socio-cultural or economic limitations.

Optimal health defined by the late John T. Chissell, MD is the “best possible emotional, intellectual, physical, spiritual and socio-economic aliveness that one can attain” (Chissell, 1998). It is a continuous journey versus a destination. In his work, Dr Chissell offers an Afrocentric approach or playbook to achieving optimal health that is relevant today. Dr Chissell’s definition of optimal health is similar to that for reproductive justice and offers an expanded focus with steps. This expanded focus can enhance the existing reproductive justice framework, amplify the language and shift the paradigm to one of total wellness while offering steps for action.

Focusing on optimal health as the next level of the women’s reproductive justice movement would eliminate polarized language, silos, unidirectional programming, selective funding efforts and the myopic focus of mainstream organizations that still haunts the reproductive justice movement. A new broadened framework will produce new dialogue, engender innovative solutions, foster new partnerships and strengthen existing ones. This new agenda termed “optimal health justice” or simply “heath justice” advocates for complete wellness.

This framework will be grounded in two major theories. The first is Womanism. Created by Alice Walker, Womanism is defined as – “... the opposite of frivolous, the cultivation of community, the demand of love- ...a woman who LOVES herself unconditionally or a form of feminism that emphasizes women’s natural contribution to society” ( Walker, 1983 ).

The second is the theory of the “divine feminine.” The divine feminine is defined as – “one’s powerful inner energy that represents the feminine side of self or consciousness. It is energy that is- present, loving, nurturing, creative, intuitive, kind, empathic, community focused, collaborative, flexible, sensual (in touch with feelings versus thinking or intellect)” ( Cromwell, 2017 ).

Both schools of thought offer an innovative and even broader framework for action. Together with all women and their allies these theories will aid and sustain a movement that will target the social, political, economic, spiritual and cultural factors that perpetuate poor health outcomes among all women and girls living in the U.S.

New thoughts and frameworks nurture new partnerships. Possible new allies and nontraditional partners for sustained action of this optimal health framework is the religion and spirituality domains. Noted earlier, religion is and has been closely aligned with conservative political ideology that is often anti-choice, lacks understanding of and is non-supportive of comprehensive reproductive health care. But this new framework must consider religion and spirituality as necessary allies. Women and girls operate within these arenas and they too have poor health outcomes.

Spiritual wellbeing is an integral component of an optimal health model. The faith community, both traditional (e.g. Black Churches), and non-denominational (e.g. Buddhist, Interdenominational entities) can clearly speak in support of this new approach and not sanction opposing rhetoric or unprecedented extreme bans on essential health care (i.e. abortions). Progressive and conservative religion/spiritual voices must be encouraged and welcomed thus ensuring inclusivity, sustainability and success ( Goodstein, 2007 ).

Visibly calling for and collaborating with males or partners in a movement targeting women and their optimal health is delicate but essential. The role of men and partners must be defined and welcomed. They may highlight missing keys to multiple insights, solutions and interventions. Women do not exist in isolation. They thrive in healthy relationships with others in communities. Having strategic input and involvement from those they are in relationships with would be innovative. Also partnering with male dominated institutions (e.g. Teamsters Union, 100 Black Men, etc.) would be even more innovative ( Funk, 2007 ).

Other strong nontraditional partners to foster new relationships with could include 1199 Hospital Workers, Teacher Union, Social Workers, Nurses, American Medical Association (AMA), National Medical Association (NMA), Black Lives Matter, etc. Each could contribute to strengthening the movement and ensuring it is sustained and successful.

This broader framework will need a new paradigm of research involving researchers and community practitioners working in concert with the community (a Communiversity) to evaluate and support capacity building assistance within cultural contexts. Reinforcing the sustainability and institutional capacity of community-based organizations involved in this new movement will entail offering capacity building assistance that includes relationship building, board development, program implementation, linking local strategies to national efforts, evaluation, training, organizational growth/development/adaptability and funding.

Due to the threats to women’s health and rights under the current conservative political climate there could not be a more pertinent time to support reproductive justice efforts by broadening the focus and engaging in optimal health justice advocacy. Forging a new paradigm by embracing an optimal health approach and partnering with new and nontraditional allies (i.e., religion, spirituality, men, others) can only build and reinforce the capacity for a stronger, more inclusive and effective optimal health justice movement for all women and girls. Inclusive involvement is essential to nourish this new ethical framework, propel relevant advocacy efforts, reinforce its capacity and sustain it to ensure its success on the local, state and national levels.

Authors’ Note

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors alone. They do not reflect the official opinion of any institutions that the authors serve. The authors have no financial conflicts of interest.

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Reproductive Rights - Free Essay Samples And Topic Ideas

Reproductive rights encompass the rights of individuals to make decisions concerning reproduction, family planning, and access to reproductive health services. Essays on reproductive rights could explore the historical and contemporary debates surrounding issues like abortion, contraception, and access to reproductive healthcare. Moreover, discussions might examine the intersection of reproductive rights with gender equality, socio-economic equity, and religious beliefs. Analyzing the impact of legal frameworks, governmental policies, and social movements on reproductive rights, and examining case studies from different cultural and national contexts can provide a comprehensive understanding of the complexities surrounding reproductive autonomy and justice. A vast selection of complimentary essay illustrations pertaining to Reproductive Rights you can find at PapersOwl Website. You can use our samples for inspiration to write your own essay, research paper, or just to explore a new topic for yourself.

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Summary: A documentary on the efforts to legalize abortion in the United States and on the social and medical dangers of illegal abortions prior to Roe vs Wade. UF LIBRARY WEST DVD (2nd Floor) DVD 720

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21 Reproductive Rights: A Solution, Not a Political Issue

A Solution, Not a Political Issue

Margaret M. Davis

Click to listen to this essay

The intent of Davis’s essay is clear: women should be in control of their own reproductive rights. Davis uses a combination of research and personal anecdotes to illustrate the negative impacts for women without reproductive rights and highlights those fighting for these rights. The images provided throughout the essay are effective in playing with formatting and stretching the limits of what a standard academic essay can look like. One of the most interesting aspects of this piece is Davis’s use of social media (Facebook in particular) as a form of research material. Davis observes that people use social media to create a conversation where “each person contributes their own voices to the dialogue at hand.” In doing so, Davis emphasizes how social media becomes a means for advocacy where the public are social writers.

Margaret Davis

ENGLWRIT 112: College Writing

Day Month Year

Reproductive Rights: A Solution, Not a Political Issue

The right to have a family, be given information on where to get help, and decide what to do with one’s own body should not be something a woman has to fight for. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as “the recognition of the basic right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health” (“Reproductive Health”). For women, these rights sometimes include: the right to legal and safe abortion, the right to birth control, the right to education and access in order to make free and informed choices, and many more. Yet what seem like basic rights women should have are, in fact, not actually enforced.

Many of the current policies for reproductive rights are at the state level, but President Trump has taken away some of these rights altogether. President Trump and the administration he appointed in the Department of Health and Human Services issued new rules making it no longer mandatory for health care insurance to cover birth control, claiming 99.9% of women will be unaffected by this change, even though over 55 million women have access to birth control for free because access to it is mandatory as stated by existing policies (Goldstein et al.). President Trump described it as stripping the new health care bill of “essential benefits” in an aim to repeal Obamacare (Pear et al.). His words are only directed to the beneficiaries of this policy and states this is a “win for religious liberty,” yet he completely ignores the female employees that this mandate will affect (Pear et al.). What is even more concerning is that women are not involved in making these decisions. People retweeted a picture of President Trump, along with former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus; Director of the National Trade Council Peter Navarro; President Trump’s advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner; Senior Advisor to the President Stephen Miller; and former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, reinstituting the global gag rule removing U.S. funding to any organizations in developing nations that offer abortions even if the organization provides those services with their own funding (Nikolau) (see fig.1). Although this issue expands further than just birth control and covering abortion rights or other means of preventative care, this issue affects 50% of the population making it a huge concern for many.

Reproductive rights should not be a political issue; it should be a solution for all women and their decision to do what they want with their bodies. As a young woman, I fear what President Trump and his administration might do to many of my rights. President Trump has made it no longer mandatory for insurance companies to provide women with birth control coverage and is trying to ban abortions for good. I decided to get the arm implant as a form of birth control and without insurance coverage, the device and the procedure would cost over a thousand dollars. For many, including myself, birth control is not only used to prevent unintentional pregnancies, but to manage period symptoms. Many men do not see birth control as necessary, but for some women, it is a treatment for health conditions such as premenstrual dysmorphic disorder or endometriosis. Because of President Trump’s new insurance policy, millions of women will be paying out of pocket for something to simply ease their daily life or make their periods even somewhat bearable. I remember many of my friends rushing to get some form of birth control right after Trump was elected before he could change the insurance policies. It was astonishing to see so many women scared for something that seems like such a basic right. It was an eye-opener for me because I never thought some of these basic rights about my body could be threatened until then. This policy is important for not only me, but half the world’s population – even if they are not under President Trump’s administration. The right to make choices for one’s own body is not ever something that should be debated by a room of a handful of men. Even in a developing nation, women should never feel their bodies are being controlled by anyone but themselves, which the current policies at hand are overstepping.

I searched Facebook for posts regarding reproductive rights around 2016 to the present, and I found three main types of posts: personal stories, concerns for the future, and posts educating the public. The message of each of those stories was the same though: reproductive rights is a choice they should have no matter what. The majority of the personal stories and concerns I found were specifically in the Facebook group, “Pantsuit Nation.” This group is a safe space for many women (and some men) to post their stories and their concerns to share with over a million others around the world. One example is a story posted by Holly Rawlings (see fig. 2). Rawlings includes personal details about the decisions she faced and what factors contributed to the decision she made in the end. Stories like these using emotional appeal get both women and men reacting and supporting the person posting. Many others in Pantsuit Nation have posted their stories about going through abortions (some legal, some not) and how the legal issues around it impacted their lives for better or for worse. Other stories included how birth control has saved their lives quite literally for health reasons. By posting as a Facebook post specifically in Pantsuit Nation rather than a tweet or on their wall, these women open up completely allowing the audience to be impacted more by their words.

The other type of posts I saw were about the public’s concerns about new policies regarding women’s rights and other politicians trying to educate the public about what is really happening. Judy Gumbo Albert voices her concern and asks people to support Planned Parenthood (see fig. 3). Albert, like many, is speaking out in order to gain support or voice an opinion. Some of the more educational posts, like one by Senator Elizabeth Warren, use the logical appeal and include facts like “Contraception not only prevents pregnancy and helps control health conditions – it gives women more chances to go to school, get jobs, create businesses, and grow our economy” (Warren). The logical appeal in conjunction with personal anecdotes of what society used to be like before all of the progress that has been made makes the reader critically reflect on the past and where we stand now. Their posts also seemed more hopeful, sometimes saying, “we must take action” or “we can’t go back to the days where women didn’t have these rights.” Again, using Facebook posts as their mediums allows the public to respond easily and voice their opinions. It is a less formal way of writing, but a conversation is still being had where each person contributes their own voices to the dialogue at hand.

After posting in Pantsuit Nation, over 3.5K people liked my post and 490 people have commented or responded to comments made (see fig. 4). Many of the comments were in agreement with my post saying, “Stay strong braveheart!” and “You go woman <3!” It was amazing to see that much support on a post that I was simply passionate about. It was also amazing to see the different perspectives people had. Women from different generations who lived during a time where birth control was illegal unless they were married responded. Other people also opened the conversation to the double standard for men: Viagra, a hormone regulator for men, is apparently covered by Medicaid. It was an astonishing experience to see in real time people adding their opinions to an existing conversation and how many women are impacted by the policy initiated by President Trump and his administration.

The right to make choices about one’s own body should never be questioned or threatened, but unfortunately, we are seeing this all around the world. Abortions, in particular, are an area of concern. Many pro-life supporters are shaming women about getting abortions, even if it is a life-threatening condition or they know they cannot support a child at that stage in their life. And when it is illegal, women still go through with abortions, only it typically is unsafe and can permanently injure them. In the most extreme, women have their boyfriends punch them in the stomach or insert knitting needles into their vagina, or even throw themselves down the stairs in order to miscarry. But the most effective way to reduce abortions is in fact to provide women effective birth control. Seems circular, right? That’s because it is. According to Planned Parenthood, over 2.2 million unplanned pregnancies are prevented each year from family planning services available through Medicaid and Title X of the Public Health Service Act, and the number of abortions in the U.S. would be two-thirds higher than it is now without these services. Millions of women are greatly impacted without these reproductive rights, and it should be a crime to let men dictate our access to basic health care.

Works Cited

Goldstein, Amy, et al. “Trump administration narrows Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate.” The Washington Post , 6 Oct. 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/trump-administration-could-narrow-affordable-care-acts-contraception-mandate/2017/10/05/16139400-a9f0-11e7-92d1-58c702d2d975_story.html?utm_term=.ca7b622775aa .

Pear, Robert, et al. “Trump Administration Rolls Back Birth Control Mandate.” The New York Times , 6 Oct. 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/06/us/politics/trump-contraception-birth-control.html .

“Reproductive Health.” World Health Organization , 2018, http://www.who.int/topics/reproductive_health/en/ .

Warren, Elizabeth. Addressing President Trump’s attack on ACA’s birth control mandate. Facebook , 16 Oct. 2017, https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fsenatorelizabethwarren%2Fposts%2F863526300476531 .

Images Cited

Albert, Judy Gumbo. Concern about birth control to Pantsuit Nation. Facebook , 16 Nov. 2016, https://www.facebook.com/groups/pantsuitnation/permalink/1128652583899009/ .

Davis, Meg. Social Media Post to Pantsuit Nation. Facebook , 22 Apr. 2018, https://www.facebook.com/groups/pantsuitnation/permalink/1804665312964396/?comment_id=1810084122422515&reply_comment_id=1811223262308601&notif_id=1524768465620782&notif_t=group_comment&ref=notif .

Rawlings, Holly. Abortion story to Pantsuit Nation. Facebook , 17 May 2017, https://www.facebook.com/groups/pantsuitnation/permalink/1473303089433955/ .

Vucci, Evan. “President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Jan. 23, 2017, in Washington.” Humanosphere , 24 Jan. 2017, http://www.humanosphere.org/global-health/2017/01/trumps-gag-rule-endangers-the-lives-of-women-around-the-world/ .

UMass Amherst Writing Program Student Writing Anthology by Margaret M. Davis is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Key Arguments From Both Sides of the Abortion Debate

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• Reproductive Rights
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• B.A., English Language and Literature, Well College

Many points come up in the abortion debate . Here's a look at abortion from both sides : 10 arguments for abortion and 10 arguments against abortion, for a total of 20 statements that represent a range of topics as seen from both sides.

Pro-Life Arguments

• Since life begins at conception,   abortion is akin to murder as it is the act of taking human life. Abortion is in direct defiance of the commonly accepted idea of the sanctity of human life.
• No civilized society permits one human to intentionally harm or take the life of another human without punishment, and abortion is no different.
• Adoption is a viable alternative to abortion and accomplishes the same result. And with 1.5 million American families wanting to adopt a child, there is no such thing as an unwanted child.
• An abortion can result in medical complications later in life; the risk of ectopic pregnancies is increased if other factors such as smoking are present, the chance of a miscarriage increases in some cases,   and pelvic inflammatory disease also increases.  
• In the instance of rape and incest, taking certain drugs soon after the event can ensure that a woman will not get pregnant.   Abortion punishes the unborn child who committed no crime; instead, it is the perpetrator who should be punished.
• Abortion should not be used as another form of contraception.
• For women who demand complete control of their body, control should include preventing the risk of unwanted pregnancy through the responsible use of contraception or, if that is not possible, through abstinence .
• Many Americans who pay taxes are opposed to abortion, therefore it's morally wrong to use tax dollars to fund abortion.
• Those who choose abortions are often minors or young women with insufficient life experience to understand fully what they are doing. Many have lifelong regrets afterward.
• Abortion sometimes causes psychological pain and stress.  

Pro-Choice Arguments

• Nearly all abortions take place in the first trimester when a fetus is attached by the placenta and umbilical cord to the mother.   As such, its health is dependent on her health, and cannot be regarded as a separate entity as it cannot exist outside her womb.
• The concept of personhood is different from the concept of human life. Human life occurs at conception,   but fertilized eggs used for in vitro fertilization are also human lives and those not implanted are routinely thrown away. Is this murder, and if not, then how is abortion murder?
• Adoption is not an alternative to abortion because it remains the woman's choice whether or not to give her child up for adoption. Statistics show that very few women who give birth choose to give up their babies; less than 3% of White unmarried women and less than 2% of Black​ unmarried women.
• Abortion is a safe medical procedure. The vast majority of women who have an abortion do so in their first trimester.   Medical abortions have a very low risk of serious complications and do not affect a woman's health or future ability to become pregnant or give birth.  
• In the case of rape or incest, forcing a woman made pregnant by this violent act would cause further psychological harm to the victim.   Often a woman is too afraid to speak up or is unaware she is pregnant, thus the morning after pill is ineffective in these situations.
• Abortion is not used as a form of contraception . Pregnancy can occur even with contraceptive use. Few women who have abortions do not use any form of birth control, and that is due more to individual carelessness than to the availability of abortion.  
• The ability of a woman to have control of her body is critical to civil rights. Take away her reproductive choice and you step onto a slippery slope. If the government can force a woman to continue a pregnancy, what about forcing a woman to use contraception or undergo sterilization?
• Taxpayer dollars are used to enable poor women to access the same medical services as rich women, and abortion is one of these services. Funding abortion is no different from funding a war in the Mideast. For those who are opposed, the place to express outrage is in the voting booth.
• Teenagers who become mothers have grim prospects for the future. They are much more likely to leave school; receive inadequate prenatal care; or develop mental health problems.  
• Like any other difficult situation, abortion creates stress. Yet the American Psychological Association found that stress was greatest prior to an abortion and that there was no evidence of post-abortion syndrome.  

Additional References

• Alvarez, R. Michael, and John Brehm. " American Ambivalence Towards Abortion Policy: Development of a Heteroskedastic Probit Model of Competing Values ." American Journal of Political Science 39.4 (1995): 1055–82. Print.
• Armitage, Hannah. " Political Language, Uses and Abuses: How the Term 'Partial Birth' Changed the Abortion Debate in the United States ." Australasian Journal of American Studies 29.1 (2010): 15–35. Print.
• Gillette, Meg. " Modern American Abortion Narratives and the Century of Silence ." Twentieth Century Literature 58.4 (2012): 663–87. Print.
• Kumar, Anuradha. " Disgust, Stigma, and the Politics of Abortion ." Feminism & Psychology 28.4 (2018): 530–38. Print.
• Ziegler, Mary. " The Framing of a Right to Choose: Roe V. Wade and the Changing Debate on Abortion Law ." Law and History Review 27.2 (2009): 281–330. Print.

“ Life Begins at Fertilization with the Embryo's Conception .”  Princeton University , The Trustees of Princeton University.

“ Long-Term Risks of Surgical Abortion .”  GLOWM, doi:10.3843/GLOWM.10441

Patel, Sangita V, et al. “ Association between Pelvic Inflammatory Disease and Abortions .”  Indian Journal of Sexually Transmitted Diseases and AIDS , Medknow Publications, July 2010, doi:10.4103/2589-0557.75030

Raviele, Kathleen Mary. “ Levonorgestrel in Cases of Rape: How Does It Work? ”  The Linacre Quarterly , Maney Publishing, May 2014, doi:10.1179/2050854914Y.0000000017

Reardon, David C. “ The Abortion and Mental Health Controversy: A Comprehensive Literature Review of Common Ground Agreements, Disagreements, Actionable Recommendations, and Research Opportunities .”  SAGE Open Medicine , SAGE Publications, 29 Oct. 2018, doi:10.1177/2050312118807624

“ CDCs Abortion Surveillance System FAQs .” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 25 Nov. 2019.

Bixby Center for Reproductive Health. “ Complications of Surgical Abortion : Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology .”  LWW , doi:10.1097/GRF.0b013e3181a2b756

" Sexual Violence: Prevalence, Dynamics and Consequences ." World Health Organizaion.

Homco, Juell B, et al. “ Reasons for Ineffective Pre-Pregnancy Contraception Use in Patients Seeking Abortion Services .”  Contraception , U.S. National Library of Medicine, Dec. 2009, doi:10.1016/j.contraception.2009.05.127

" Working With Pregnant & Parenting Teens Tip Sheet ." U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Major, Brenda, et al. " Abortion and Mental Health: Evaluating the Evidence ." American Psychological Association, doi:10.1037/a0017497

• The Pro-Life vs Pro-Choice Debate
• The 1969 Redstockings Abortion Speakout
• Abortion on Demand: A Second Wave Feminist Demand
• The Roe v. Wade Supreme Court Decision
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• Biography of Margaret Sanger
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• Pro-Choice Quotes
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Public Health in the Field: The Public Health Case for Abortion Rights

Annalies Winny

Lindsay Smith Rogers

This article is adapted from a special episode of the Public Health On Call Podcast called Public Health in the Field. You can hear the full episode here .

Please note: Throughout this article, the gendered terms “woman” and “women” are used as that’s how the CDC and other sources record related data. 

More coverage:

• Overturning Roe v. Wade and Public Health
• What We Know—and Don't Yet Know—About The Leaked Supreme Court Draft Opinion That Could Overturn Roe v. Wade

A single case before the Supreme Court will likely decide the future of Roe v. Wade.

In 2018, the Mississippi legislature passed and the governor signed House Bill 1510, known as the  Gestational Age Act , which bans abortions after 15 weeks. There are exceptions if the life of the fetus or parent is at risk—but not in cases of rape or incest. The law violated Roe v. Wade, a Supreme Court decision that protects the right to abortion prior to “viability” of the fetus, which is at around 24 weeks. The bill was quickly blocked by lower federal courts but now the law’s fate is up to the Supreme Court.

The outcome of this case— Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization —has implications for abortion rights far beyond Mississippi: A decision that previability bans are not unconstitutional could upend longstanding protections established by Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark case that legalized abortion nationwide. 

The conversation about abortion rights in the U.S. is a noisy one involving politics, precedents, and personal beliefs. What often gets short shrift, however, is the public health reality that restricting access to abortion results in erosion of the health of women, especially low-income and women of color. This is why abortion is so much more than a legal battle. 

The Public Health Case for Abortion Rights

Many women who were denied wanted abortions had higher levels of household poverty, debt, evictions, and other economic hardships and instabilities, according to Joanne Rosen , JD , associate director of the  Johns Hopkins Center for Law and the Public’s Health .

The findings come from a 10-year study,  The Turnaway Study , which followed nearly 1,000 women who either had or were denied abortions and tracked their mental and physical health and financial impacts. 

“The study also found that women who were seeking but unable to obtain abortions endured higher levels of physical violence from the men who had fathered these children,” Rosen says. “And people who were turned away when seeking abortions endured more health problems than women who were able to obtain [them], as well as more serious health problems.

“That gives you a sense of the ways in which being unable to obtain abortions had really long lasting impacts on these peoples’ lives.”

A 2020 study in the  American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that women living in states with less restrictive reproductive health policies were less likely to give birth to low-weight babies. Other research  published in The Lancet found that restrictive abortion laws actually mean a higher rate of abortion-related maternal deaths.

Restrictive abortion laws affect more than just the health of individuals and families—they affect the economy, too. Research from The Lancet found that “ensuring women’s access to safe abortion services does lower medical costs for health systems.”  

The  Institute for Women’s Policy Research has a host of data around how reproductive health restrictions impact women’s earning potential, including an interactive map tool, Total Economic Losses Due to State-level Abortion Restrictions. In Mississippi , for example, the data indicate that an absence of abortion restrictions would translate to a 1.8% increase of Black women in the labor force, over 2% for Hispanic women, and a leap of more than 2.6% for women who identify as Asian-Pacific Islander. This same tool calculates that removing abortion restrictions would translate to an estimated $13.4 million in increased earnings at the state level for Black women alone. 

Abortion restrictions disproportionately affect people of color and those with low-incomes. According to  data from the CDC , Black women are five times more likely to have an abortion than white women, and Latinx women are two times as likely as whites. Seventy-five percent of people who have abortions are low-income or poor. 

Mississippi, Texas, and The Supreme Court   

On December 1, the Supreme Court will hear Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and Joanne Rosen thinks it’s unlikely the Court would agree to hear the case if they were just going to affirm the status quo. 

The case isn’t the only one on the docket, however. Texas’ Senate Bill 8, which bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, made headlines earlier this month and may impact SCOTUS’ ultimate decision on the Mississippi case. The high-profile law came before the Supreme Court in November 2021 and Rosen said the important thing to note is that the Court didn’t actually address whether the six-week ban is constitutional. Rather, they examined the unusual enforcement scheme of the law—where, when, and by whom the Texas law could be challenged.

Rosen says that the justices may compare the Texas law with the Mississippi law and, when considering a six-week abortion ban, a 15-week ban may seem less extreme. In this way, the Texas case could give the Court some cover to uphold Mississippi’s 15-week ban.

It’s likely to be months before an opinion is released; Rosen says the Court typically releases its decisions on high-stakes or controversial cases in June. And high stakes this is: for the future of abortion, for reproductive health rights, and for public health. 

Annalies Winny is an associate editor for  Global Health NOW . 

Alissa Zhu is a journalist and current  MSPH student at the Bloomberg School.

Lindsay Smith Rogers, MA, is the producer of the  Public Health On Call podcast and the associate director of content strategy for the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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• Public Health Law Experts Discuss the Supreme Court Vacancy and Barrett Nomination

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This article is adapted from a special episode of the  Public Health On Call Podcast  called Public Health in the Field.

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Abortion as a Human Right in the United States: Exploring the Role of CEDAW Cities in Challenging the Hyde Amendment

Pierson, Jessica

Women’s sexual and reproductive rights are foundational to gender equality. Having access to abortion care is fundamental to the full realization of a woman’s human rights. Anti-choice advocates consistently and successfully separate abortion from other basic health care that women need. At the same time, activists for gender equality often shy away from advocating for abortion care as part of their women’s rights agenda because of the political stigma that is associated with abortion. Although abortion is legal in the United States, anti-choice groups and conservative lawmakers have been successful in restricting the right to an abortion, particularly through legislation like the Hyde Amendment, which bans federal funds from covering abortion care for low-income women insured by the Medicaid program. U.S. constitutional law has upheld restrictions on abortion care, leaving a large portion of reproductive age women without the ability to exercise their constitutional right to an abortion. In contrast, international human rights mechanisms have had an impact on liberalizing national abortion laws by requiring that governments take affirmative action to ensure that women can access safe abortion care as a fundamental human right. While the international community is advancing abortion as a human right, several cities have aligned themselves with an international human rights framework by adopting the principles of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), an international women’s rights treaty that the U.S. has refused to ratify at the federal level. This research aimed to discover how these cities could utilize this human rights framework to advance abortion as a human right in their communities, particularly in states that follow the federal Hyde Amendment restrictions on abortion. The research was conducted through qualitative semi-structured interviews with local activists working to pass and implement CEDAW resolutions and ordinances, people working on the Cities for CEDAW (C4C) campaign, reproductive rights professionals, and a local abortion fund. This thesis found that framing reproductive health as a human right is a paradigm shift toward destigmatizing abortion. This thesis concludes that the local CEDAW resolutions and ordinances have the power to influence state policies involving abortion. Furthermore, local CEDAW activists can instigate a political shift by embracing and utilizing the jurisprudence, General Comments, and Concluding Observations identified by the United Nations CEDAW Committee regarding abortion as a human right. The negative human rights impact of the Hyde Amendment, although law of the land, can be challenged by activists through advocacy around passing and implementing local CEDAW ordinances and resolutions.

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• United States
• Human rights
• Abortion--Law and legislation
• Women's health services
• Constitutional law
• United Nations. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979 December 18)

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Women in the States

In this section, introduction, the reproductive rights composite score, trends in women’s reproductive rights, access to abortion, the affordable care act and contraceptive coverage, emergency contraception, medicaid expansion and state medicaid family planning eligibility expansions, other family planning policies and resources, access to fertility treatments, mandatory sex education in schools, same-sex marriage and second-parent adoption, fertility, natality, and infant health.

• Women’s Fertility

Prenatal Care

Low birth weight, infant mortality, appendix tables.

Reproductive rights—having the ability to decide whether and when to have children—are important to women’s socioeconomic well-being and overall health. Research suggests that being able to make decisions about one’s own reproductive life and the timing of one’s entry into parenthood is associated with greater relationship stability and satisfaction ( National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy 2008 ), more work experience among women ( Buckles 2008 ), and increased wages and average career earnings ( Miller 2011 ). In addition, the ability to control the timing and size of one’s family can have a significant effect on whether a young woman attends and completes college ( Buckles 2008 ; Hock 2007 ). Given that a postsecondary degree considerably increases earnings ( Gault, Reichlin, and Román 2014 ), the ability to make family planning choices could mean the difference between women being stuck at poverty-level wages or achieving long-term financial security.

In recent years, policies affecting women’s reproductive rights in the United States have substantially changed at both the federal and state levels. The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) increased access to preventive women’s health services and contraceptive methods and counseling for millions of women ( Burke and Simmons 2014 ), and facilitated states’ ability to expand Medicaid family planning services. At the same time, legal limitations to women’s reproductive rights have increased in states across the country, making it harder for women to access the reproductive health services and information they need ( Guttmacher Institute 2015a ; NARAL Pro-Choice America and NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation 2015 ). In the first quarter of 2015 alone, state legislators introduced a total of 332 provisions to restrict access to abortion services; by April 2015, 53 of these provisions had been approved by a legislative chamber and nine had been enacted ( Guttmacher Institute 2015a ).

This report provides information on a range of policies related to women’s reproductive health and rights. It examines abortion, contraception, the access of individuals in same-sex couples to full parental rights, infertility, and sex education. It also presents data on fertility and natality—including infant mortality—and highlights disparities in women’s reproductive rights by race and ethnicity. In addition, the report examines recent shifts in federal and state policies related to reproductive rights. It explores the decision of some states to expand Medicaid coverage under the ACA, as well as state policies to extend eligibility for Medicaid family planning services. It also reviews the recognition of same-sex marriage in a growing majority of states across the nation ( National Center for Lesbian Rights 2015 )—a change that has profound implications for the ability of same-sex couples to create the families they desire.

Best and Worst States on Women’s Reproductive Rights

The reproductive rights composite index includes nine component indicators of women’s reproductive rights: mandatory parental consent or notification laws for minors receiving abortions, waiting periods for abortions, restrictions on public funding for abortions, the percent of women living in counties with at least one abortion provider, pro-choice governors or legislatures, Medicaid expansion or state Medicaid family planning eligibility expansions, coverage of infertility treatments, same-sex marriage or second-parent adoption for individuals in a same-sex relationship, and mandatory sex education. States receive composite scores and corresponding grades based on their combined performance on these indicators, with higher scores reflecting a stronger performance and receiving higher letter grades ( Table 5.1 ). For information on how composite scores and grades were determined, see  methodology .

• Oregon has the highest score on the composite reproductive rights index. It does not require parental consent or notification or waiting periods for abortion; provides public funding to poor women for abortion; has 78 percent of women living in counties with abortion providers; has a pro-choice Governor, Senate, and House of Representatives; has adopted the expansion of Medicaid coverage under the ACA of up to 138 percent of the federal poverty line and enacted a state Medicaid family planning eligibility expansion; recognizes same-sex marriage; and requires schools to provide sex education. Oregon does not, however, require insurance companies to cover infertility treatments. The state’s top ranking is a substantial improvement since the 2004 Status of Women in the States report, when it ranked 19th in the nation.
• The worst-ranking state for reproductive rights is South Dakota. It requires parental consent or notification and waiting periods for abortion, does not provide public funding to poor women for abortion, has just 23 percent of women living in counties with abortion providers, does not have a pro-choice state government, has not adopted the overall Medicaid expansion or expanded eligibility for Medicaid family planning services, does not require insurance companies to cover infertility treatments, does not recognize same-sex marriage or allow second-parent adoption for same-sex couples, and does not require schools to provide mandatory sex education. In the 2004 Status of Women in the States report, South Dakota ranked second to last.
• In general, reproductive rights are strongest in the Mid-Atlantic region, New England, and the West. In addition to Oregon, the top ten jurisdictions include California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, and Washington.
• The South and Midwest fare the worst on the reproductive rights composite index. In addition to South Dakota, five Midwestern states—Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, and Nebraska—are among the ten lowest-ranking states. Three Southern states are also a part of this group: Arkansas, Louisiana, and Tennessee. Idaho also ranks in the bottom ten.
• The top grade for reproductive rights is an A-, which was awarded to the District of Columbia and seven states: Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Vermont. The four lowest-ranking states—South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Idaho —all received an F (for information on how grades were determined, see methodology ).

Between the publication of the 2004 Status of Women in the States report and this report, states overall made nominal progress on two indicators and declined or stayed the same on five others. 1

What Has Improved

• In October 2014, 12 states required insurance companies to provide coverage of infertility treatments, compared with just nine states in 2004. The number of states that required insurance companies to offer policyholders at least one package with coverage of infertility treatments, however, declined from five states in 2004 to two in 2014 ( IWPR 2004 ; National Conference of State Legislatures 2014 ).
• Between 2004 and 2015, the percentage of women living in counties with at least one abortion provider declined in 22 states, increased in 24 states, and stayed the same in four states and the District of Columbia ( IWPR 2004 ; Table 5.1 ).

What Has Worsened or Stayed the Same

• In 2015, 30 states had statutes requiring waiting periods for abortions—which mandate that a physician cannot perform an abortion until a certain number of hours after the patient is notified of her options in dealing with a pregnancy—compared with 26 states in 2004 ( Table 5.1 ; IWPR 2004 ). 2
• Between 2004 and 2015, the share of public officials—including the Governor (or mayor for the District of Columbia) and state legislators (or city council members for the District of Columbia)—who were pro-choice increased in 14 states and decreased in 22 states. The share of pro-choice officials stayed the same in the other 14 states and the District of Columbia ( IWPR 2004 ; Table 5.1 ).
• The number of jurisdictions with laws on the books preventing minors from accessing abortion without parental consent or notification (43) stayed the same between 2004 and 2015 ( Guttmacher Institute 2004a ; Table 5.1 ).
• The number of states (17) that provide public funding for all or most medically necessary abortions—typically defined to protect the woman’s physical or mental health ( Kaiser Family Foundation 2014b )—for Medicaid enrollees stayed the same between 2004 and 2015 ( Guttmacher Institute 2004b ; Table 5.1 ).
• Between 2004 and 2015, the number of jurisdictions that required schools to provide mandatory sex education (23) remained the same ( Guttmacher Institute 2004c ; Table 5.1 ).

In the United States, the 1973 Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade established the legal right to abortion. State legislative and executive bodies nonetheless continue to battle over legislation related to access to abortion, including parental consent and notification and mandatory waiting periods ( Guttmacher Institute 2015b ). In addition, public funding for abortion remains a contested issue in many states: federal law has banned the use of federal funds for most abortions since 1977, and currently does not allow the use of federal funds for abortion unless the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest or the woman’s life is in danger ( Boonstra 2013 ). The Affordable Care Act of 2010 reinforces these restrictions, but state Medicaid programs have the option to cover abortion in other circumstances using only state and no federal funds ( Salganicoff et al. 2014 ).

State legislative efforts to limit access to abortion have become commonplace. In 2013 and 2014, a broad range of legislation was introduced and passed, including bills requiring women to have an ultrasound before obtaining an abortion, stringent regulatory measures targeting abortion providers, bans or restrictions preventing women from obtaining health insurance coverage for abortion, and bans on abortion at later stages of pregnancy ( National Women’s Law Center 2014a and 2014b ).

• Twenty-six of the 30 states that as of March 2015 had statutes requiring mandatory waiting periods for obtaining an abortion enforced these statutes, with waiting periods that ranged from 18 to 72 hours ( Guttmacher Institute 2015b ). In Delaware, Massachusetts, Montana, and Tennessee, the legislation remained part of the statutory code but was not enforced.
• As of March 2015, 43 states had parental consent or notification laws—which require parents of a minor seeking an abortion to consent to the procedure or be notified—and 38 of the 43 enforced these laws. Among these 38 states, 12 enforced the notification of parents and 21 enforced parental consent. Five states—Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming—enforced both parental consent and notification for minors seeking to undergo an abortion procedure ( Guttmacher Institute 2015b ).
• Seventeen states as of March 2015 fund abortions for low-income women who were eligible for Medicaid in all or most medically necessary circumstances. In 27 states and the District of Columbia, state funding for abortions is available only in situations where the women’s life is in danger or the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest ( Guttmacher Institute 2015b ). In five states—Indiana, Mississippi, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin—state Medicaid funds can be used to pay for abortions in situations where the woman’s life is endangered, when the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest, or when there is a threat to the woman’s physical health or a fetal anomaly. In South Dakota, state Medicaid funds can be used to pay for abortions only when the woman’s life is endangered ( Guttmacher Institute 2015b ).
• As of 2011—the most recent year for which data are available—the percentage of women aged 15–44 who lived in counties with an abortion provider ranged across states from a low of four percent in Wyoming to a high of 100 percent in the District of Columbia and Hawaii. In the bottom five states—Wyoming, Mississippi, West Virginia, Arkansas, and South Dakota—fewer than one in four women lived in counties with at least one provider. In the top eight jurisdictions—the District of Columbia, Hawaii, California, Connecticut, Nevada, New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts—more than 90 percent of women lived in counties with at least one abortion provider ( Guttmacher Institute 2014 ).
• As of December 2014, the governor and majority of state legislators in 21 states were anti-choice (NARAL Pro-Choice America and NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation 2015). In six jurisdictions—including California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Oregon, and Vermont—the governor (or in the case of the District of Columbia, the mayor) and the majority of legislators (city council for the District of Columbia) were pro-choice and would not support restrictions on abortion rights. In the remaining states, the government was mixed.

The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) has expanded women’s access to contraception in several ways, including by requiring health care insurers to cover contraceptive counseling and services and all FDA-approved contraceptive methods without any out-of-pocket costs to patients ( U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2014 ). This change is particularly significant for lower-income women who often struggle with the financial burden associated with purchasing contraception on a regular basis ( Center for Reproductive Rights 2012 ). According to the Guttmacher Institute, the average cost of a year’s supply of birth control pills is the equivalent of 51 hours of work for a woman making the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour ( Sonfield 2014 ). One national study estimates that for uninsured women, the average cost of these pills over a year ($370) is 68 percent of their annual out-of-pocket expenditures for health care services ( Liang, Grossman, and Phillips 2011 ).

Prior to the ACA, state contraceptive equity laws were the only legal protections ensuring that women could access affordable contraceptives as easily as they could other prescription drugs ( Guttmacher Institute 2015c ). These laws required state-regulated plans providing coverage for prescription medications to do the same for contraceptive drugs and devices ( National Women’s Law Center 2012 ). Only 28 states, however, required full or partial contraceptive coverage; the remaining states and the District of Columbia had no such legal protection safeguarding access to affordable contraception ( Guttmacher Institute 2015c ). The ACA has significantly increased the proportion of women who have access to contraception at no cost: one study focusing on about 900 women who had private health insurance and used a prescription contraceptive method found that between the fall of 2012 (before the ACA’s contraceptive coverage requirement took effect for most women) and the spring of 2014, the percentage of women paying zero dollars out of pocket for oral contraception increased from 15 to 67 percent ( Sonfield et al. 2015 ).

The ACA’s contraceptive requirement, however, has some notable exceptions. Some religious organizations, such as churches and other houses of worship, are exempt from the requirement to include birth control in their health insurance plans ( National Women’s Law Center 2015 ). An “accommodation” is also available to religiously-affiliated nonprofit organizations that certify their religious objections to the health insurance carrier or third party administrator, or notify the Department of Health and Human Services of their objection; those who qualify for the accommodation do not have to cover contraceptives for their female employees, but these employees can still get birth control coverage directly from the insurance company ( National Women’s Law Center 2015 ; Sobel, Salganicoff, and Kurani 2015 ). In addition, “grandfathered” health plans that existed prior to the ACA are temporarily exempt from the requirement to provide contraceptive coverage through employer-sponsored health plans, except in states with a contraceptive equity law that already requires coverage (although contraceptive equity laws do not require insurers to provide contraceptive coverage without cost sharing; National Women’s Law Center 2012 ). 3  A Supreme Court decision, Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., has also expanded allowable exemptions to certain family-owned, “closely held” corporations with religious objections to contraception ( Dreweke 2014 ; National Women’s Law Center 2015 ). The ruling does not supersede state contraceptive equity laws, but it does mean that employees of firms such as Hobby Lobby, which self-insures its employees and therefore is subject only to federal law, may lose their coverage of contraceptive drugs and services ( Rovner 2014 ).

While the ACA expands access to contraception for many women, some have expressed concern that insurance-related delays in access or denials of a preferred method of contraception may undermine the law’s intent to eliminate barriers to all FDA-approved methods of contraception ( Armstrong 2013 ). Insurers often use “medical management techniques”—such as limiting quantity and/or supply or requiring provider authorization before providing a drug or service—that can deter patients from using certain services and shape the course of treatment. While such practices, in some circumstances, can improve efficiency and save costs, they can also prevent or delay access to services. When insurers adopt practices that limit women’s options for contraception, some women may be left without access to the method that works best for them ( Armstrong 2013 ). One recent report that reviewed the insurance plan coverage policies of 20 insurance carriers in five states found that while most carriers are complying with the ACA’s contraceptive provision, there exists some variation in how the guidelines for contraceptive coverage issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are interpreted; as a result, not all carriers cover all contraceptive methods without cost-sharing ( Sobel, Salganicoff, and Kurani 2015 ). To help ensure that women have access to the full range of contraceptive methods without cost-sharing, the state of California passed a post-ACA contraceptive coverage law (SB 1053) that limits medical management as applied to contraception and goes beyond federal law in prohibiting non-grandfathered and Medi-Cal plans from instituting cost-sharing requirements or imposing restrictions or delays in providing contraceptive benefits ( Sobel, Salganicoff, and Kurani 2015 ).

Emergency contraception—birth control that can be taken up to several days after unprotected sex, contraceptive failure, or sexual assault—can prevent unwanted pregnancies and allow women to maintain control over the timing and size of their families. Plan B—approved for use in the United States in 1999—was the first oral form of emergency contraception to be available, but others were subsequently introduced ( Kaiser Family Foundation 2014c ). The Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive provision that requires all new private health plans to cover all contraceptive drugs and devices prescribed to patients without cost-sharing includes emergency contraception ( Kaiser Family Foundation 2014c ).

State legislatures have taken different approaches to addressing the issue of emergency contraception. Some have sought to restrict access by excluding it from state Medicaid family planning eligibility expansions or contraceptive coverage mandates, or by allowing some pharmacists or pharmacies to refuse to provide contraceptive services ( Guttmacher Institute 2015d ). Others have expanded access by requiring emergency rooms to provide information about emergency contraception to sexual assault victims, requiring emergency rooms to dispense emergency contraception to sexual assault victims who request it, allowing women to obtain emergency contraception without a doctor’s prescription, or directing pharmacies or pharmacists to fill all valid prescriptions ( Guttmacher Institute 2015d ). Public health and educational initiatives have led to an increase in awareness and use of emergency contraception ( Kaiser Family Foundation 2014c ); one study that analyzed data from the National Survey of Family Growth found that in 2006–2010, 11 percent of sexually experienced women aged 15 to 44 reported having ever used emergency contraception pills, compared with 4 percent in 2002 ( Daniels, Jones, and Abma 2013 ).

Still, women continue to encounter barriers to accessing emergency contraception. For example, although most women have heard of emergency contraception, some are not aware of its existence ( Kaiser Family Foundation 2014c ), In addition, federal law requires women of all ages to have a prescription to obtain ella, the most effective form of emergency contraception for women who are overweight or obese; Plan B and generic forms of emergency contraception can be purchased over-the-counter ( Kaiser Family Foundation 2014c ). Another barrier is that health care providers also do not always discuss emergency contraception with women in clinical settings, leaving some women without the information they need ( Kaiser Family Foundation 2014c ). One study of 180 pharmacies in 29 states also found that progestin-based EC pills are often not stocked on store shelves or held behind the counter due to their high cost ( American Society for Emergency Contraception 2014 ).

Native American Women and Emergency Contraception

Research indicates that for many Native American women, emergency contraception may be particularly difficult to access. This lack of access represents a serious concern for indigenous communities, especially given that Native American women experience higher levels of sexual assault than women of other races and ethnicities ( Breiding et al. 2014 ; Kingfisher, Asetoyer, and Provost 2012 ). One study that surveyed 40 Indian Health Service (IHS) pharmacies found that only 10 percent had Plan B available over the counter; at 37.5 percent of the pharmacies surveyed, an alternative form of emergency contraception was offered, and the rest had no emergency contraception at all ( Gattozzi 2008 ; Asetoyer, Luluquisen, and Millis 2009 ). Many Native American women who live on reservations face significant barriers to accessing emergency contraception through a commercial pharmacy outside of their reservation ( Kingfisher, Asetoyer, and Provost 2012 ), including geographic constraints (having to travel a great distance to find a pharmacy that provides emergency contraception) and financial obstacles. Expanding access to emergency contraception for Native American women and others who may lack access is integral to improving women’s overall well-being and securing their reproductive rights.

In addition to requiring most health insurers to cover contraceptive counseling and services and all FDA-approved contraceptive methods, the Affordable Care Act has increased women’s access to contraception by expanding the number of people who have health insurance coverage. The ACA has dramatically reduced rates of uninsurance among women aged 18 to 24 by allowing adult children to stay on their parents’ health insurance plans until the age of 26; between 2008 and 2014, the percentage of women aged 18 to 24 without health insurance decreased from 24.9 to 15.9 percent. During this time period, uninsurance rates for women of all ages dropped about 18 percent, from 13.0 percent of women lacking insurance in 2008 to 10.6 percent in the first nine months of 2014 ( Martinez and Cohen 2009 and 2015 ). Complete data reflecting changes in health insurance for women following the ACA are not yet available.

The ACA has also increased the number of people with health insurance through changes to Medicaid, a public health coverage program for low-income individuals. To help those who may have struggled in the past to afford insurance, the ACA seeks to expand Medicaid eligibility to all individuals under age 65 who are not eligible for Medicare and have incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty line (individuals were previously eligible only if they were pregnant, the parent of a dependent child, 65 years of age or older, or disabled, in addition to meeting income requirements; the National Conference of State Legislatures 2011 ). 4  This change increases the number of women who are eligible to receive family planning services, along with other health care services; however, states can opt out of this Medicaid expansion. As of April 2015, 29 states and the District of Columbia had chosen to adopt the Medicaid expansion, and five were in the process of deciding whether to do so ( Kaiser Family Foundation 2015 ).

In addition to the overall Medicaid expansion, the ACA provides states with a new pathway to expand eligibility for family planning coverage through changes to their state Medicaid program. Before the ACA, states could expand their programs by obtaining a waiver of federal policy from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ( Guttmacher Institute 2015e ). States interested in expanding family planning through Medicaid can now either complete the process through a waiver from the federal government (which is a temporary solution), or through an expedited option of a State Plan Amendment, which is a permanent change to the state’s Medicaid program ( Guttmacher Institute 2015e ).

• As of April 2015, 28 states had extended family planning services to individuals who are otherwise ineligible, either through a waiver or through a State Plan Amendment (including Texas, which had an expansion funded solely by the state). The income ceiling among states that have expanded their programs ranged from a low of 105 percent of the federal poverty line in Virginia (where the expansion includes those losing postpartum coverage) to a high of 306 percent of the federal poverty line in Wisconsin ( Guttmacher Institute 2015e ).
• Of the 28 states that expanded eligibility for family planning services through Medicaid, 25 states provided family planning benefits to individuals based on income, with most of these states having an income ceiling at or near 200 percent of the federal poverty line. One state (Florida) provided these benefits to women who lose Medicaid coverage for any reason, rather than basing eligibility only on income, and Rhode Island and Wyoming provided them only if a woman loses coverage postpartum ( Guttmacher Institute 2015e ).
• Twenty states defined the eligible population for Medicaid coverage of family planning services to include individuals who are younger than 19 years old. Three states—Georgia, Missouri, and Pennsylvania—included individuals who are 18 years old but not those who are younger than 18 ( Guttmacher Institute 2015e ).
• As of April 2015, 16 states had both expanded Medicaid overall and expanded Medicaid family planning eligibility ( Guttmacher Institute 2015e ; Kaiser Family Foundation 2015 ). Fourteen states and the District of Columbia had expanded Medicaid overall but did not have a family planning eligibility expansion, and 13 states had enacted a family planning expansion but had not adopted the Medicaid expansion. Eight states—Alaska, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Nebraska, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Utah—had neither expanded Medicaid overall nor enacted a state family planning expansion ( Table 5.1 ).

Infertility treatments can increase the reproductive choices of women and men, but they are often prohibitively expensive, especially when they are not covered by insurance. As of June 2014, the legislatures of 12 states—Arkansas, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, and West Virginia—had passed measures requiring insurance companies to cover infertility treatments. 5  In another two states—California and Texas—insurance companies had to offer infertility coverage to their policy holders ( National Conference of State Legislatures 2015 ). 6

Research has shown that sex education is critical to giving young women and men the knowledge they need to make informed decisions about their sexual activity and to avoid unwanted pregnancy and disease ( Douglas 2007 ). In 22 states and the District of Columbia, schools are required to provide sex education. 7  One of these states, Tennessee, requires schools to provide sex education if the pregnancy rate among 15- to 17-year-olds is 19.5 per 1,000 or higher. Of the 23 jurisdictions with a statute on the books requiring sex education, all but two—Mississippi and North Dakota— also require HIV education. Eighteen states and the District of Columbia require that information about contraception be included in the curricula, and 37 states require that information regarding abstinence be included ( Guttmacher Institute 2015f ).

The laws that shape the ability of individuals in same-sex couples to form the families they want have changed substantially in recent years. Because there is no federal law that guarantees same-sex couples the same parenthood rights afforded to different-sex married couples, state courts have held considerable power to determine what legally constitutes lesbian and gay families. In the past, they have exercised this power in many ways, including by denying lesbian and gay individuals the right to legally adopt their partners’ children or granting them this right through second-parent adoption, which provides legal rights to second parents in same-sex relationships that are automatically available to biological parents. These rights include (but are not limited to) custodial rights in the case of divorce or death and the right to make health care decisions for the child ( Movement Advancement Project, Family Equality Council, and Center for American Progress 2011 and 2012 ).

At the time IWPR’s 2004 Status of Women in the States report was published, second-parent adoption represented the only option for many lesbian and gay individuals seeking to be legal co-parents of their children. Since then, the recognition of marriage for same-sex couples in 37 states and the District of Columbia, whether by legislation or pursuant to a state or federal court ruling ( National Center for Lesbian Rights 2015 ), has opened up new options for same-sex couples. It has given married same-sex couples who have a child together the same parental rights as married different-sex couples. 8  In addition, the recognition of same-sex marriage has made stepparent adoption—a legal process available to married couples where the nonbiological parent adopts the child or children of their spouse—a possibility for many individuals in same-sex couples who marry after one or both partners has a child or children.

As of April 2015, same-sex couples had access to marriage statewide in 37 states and the District of Columbia; 9  in an additional four states, same-sex couples had access to second-parent or stepparent adoption in certain counties (which had either authorized gay marriage or allowed second-parent adoption, though no statewide legislation or appellate court decision expressly allowing it was in place). 10  Nine states do not allow second-parent adoption for same-sex couples or same-sex marriage. Two states that prohibit same-sex marriage have laws that specifically ban second-parent adoption for all couples (Nebraska and Ohio). One state that bans same-sex marriage—Mississippi—specifically prohibits second-parent adoption for same-sex couples but allows it for different-sex couples ( National Center for Lesbian Rights 2014 ).

LGBT Reproductive Rights

The United States has a long and complicated history of debating who deserves to become a parent, and LGBT individuals have often been at the center of this debate. While the traditional conception of the family is shifting, and LGBT reproductive rights are gaining greater recognition, many LGBT individuals still face challenges in their paths to parenthood. These challenges range from finding a culturally competent health care provider to outright discrimination or legal prohibitions in pursuing adoption, foster parenting, surrogacy, or donor insemination ( Cooper and Cates 2006 ; Lambda Legal 2015 ).

• An estimated 122,000 same-sex couples are raising children under the age of 18 in the United States. Married same-sex couples are considerably more likely to be raising children than unmarried same-sex couples (27 percent compared with 15 percent; Gates 2015 ).
• While same-sex couples are less likely to be raising children than different-sex couples, same-sex couples are nearly three times as likely to be raising an adopted or foster child (4.0 percent compared with 1.4 percent; Gates 2015 ). Still, the majority of children of same-sex couples are biologically related to one of their parents (61 percent, compared with 90 percent of children of different-sex couples).
• More than one-third (35 percent) of women of color in same-sex couples are raising a child under the age of 18, compared with 24 percent of white women in same-sex couples ( Gates 2015 ). Seventy-one percent of same-sex married couples and 81 percent of same-sex unmarried couples raising children under the age of 18 are female.
• Six states—California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin—prohibit discrimination against LGBT parents who want to foster a child. One state, Nebraska, restricts fostering by LGBT parents. Forty-three states and the District of Columbia are silent on the issue ( Movement Advancement Project 2015 ).
• In 35 states and the District of Columbia, LGBT parents can petition for joint adoption statewide. In three states—Louisiana, Michigan, and Mississippi—same-sex couples face legal restrictions when petitioning for joint adoption. In 12 states, the status of joint adoption for same-sex couples is uncertain ( Movement Advancement Project 2015 )

Women’s Fertility

The fertility rate for women in the United States has declined in recent years, due in part to women’s tendency to marry and give birth later in life. In 2013, the median age for women at the time of their first marriage was 26.6 years, up from 20.3 years in 1960 ( U.S. Census Bureau 2013 ; Cohn et al. 2011 ). In 2013, the mean age for women at the time of their first birth was 26.0 years, compared with 21.4 years in 1970 ( Martin et al. 2015a ; Mathews and Brady 2009 ).

In 2013, the fertility rate was 62.5 live births per 1,000 women aged 15–44 in the United States. This represents a significant decline since 1960, when the fertility rate was 118.0 births per 1,000 ( Martin et al. 2015a ). In the ten-year period between 2003 and 2013, the fertility rate among women aged 15–44 declined from 66.1 to 62.5 births per 1,000 women ( Martin et al. 2015a ).

• New Hampshire has the lowest fertility rate in the nation among women aged 15–44 at 50.8 live births per 1,000, followed by Vermont at 51.4 per 1,000 and Rhode Island at 51.6 per 1,000. In addition to these three states, five other states in the Northeast are among the ten jurisdictions with the lowest fertility rates: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania. The District of Columbia and Oregon are also among the ten jurisdictions with the lowest fertility rates ( Martin et al. 2015a ).
• Utah has the highest fertility rate in the nation at 80.9 live births per 1,000, with South Dakota (78.1 per 1,000) and Alaska (77.8 per 1,000) close behind. Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Texas are also among the ten states with the highest fertility rates ( Martin et al. 2015a ).

Women who receive prenatal care throughout their pregnancy are, in general, more likely to deliver healthy babies ( U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2009 ). In the United States in 2011, 84 percent of women began receiving prenatal care in the first trimester of pregnancy, which was a similar proportion to 2001, when 83 percent of all mothers received prenatal care this early in their pregnancy. Between 2001 and 2011, the percentage of women beginning prenatal care in the first trimester of pregnancy has increased among Native American women (a 12 percentage point gain, from 69 to 81 percent). Black and Hispanic women have each experienced a seven percentage point gain (from 74 to 81 percent for black women and from 76 to 83 percent for Hispanic women). The percentage of Asian/Pacific Islander women beginning prenatal care in the first trimester has stayed the same (84 percent), and among white women the percentage of women receiving early prenatal care declined from 89 to 86 percent ( IWPR 2004 ; Table 5.2 ).

Pregnant women of color are more likely than white women to begin prenatal care toward the end of their pregnancies, or to not receive it at all. One study that analyzed natality data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that between 2007 and 2013, only 4.4 percent of white women nationwide received late (not beginning until the third trimester) or no prenatal care, compared with 5.4 percent of Asian/Pacific Islander women, 7.6 percent of Hispanic women, 10.0 percent of black women, and 11.3 percent of Native American women ( Child Trends 2014 ).

Low birth weight is a health concern in states across the nation. Nationally, eight percent of babies born in the United States in 2013 had low birth weight (less than five pounds, eight ounces; Martin et al. 2015b). Among the largest racial and ethnic groups, non-Hispanic black women were the most likely to have low-birth weight babies (13.1percent), followed by Asian/Pacific Islander women (8.3 percent), Native American women (7.5 percent), Hispanic women (7.1 percent), and white women (7.0 percent; Martin et al. 2015a ).

Nationwide, the percent of babies with low birth weight has increased slightly, from 7.7 percent of babies in 2001 to 8.0 percent in 2013. Among blacks, the percent of babies born with low birth weight stayed the same (13.1 percent in both years), while among whites and Native Americans it increased a bit (from 6.8 to 7.0 percent for whites and 7.3 to 7.5 percent for Native Americans). Among Hispanics and Asian/Pacific Islanders, the percent of babies with low birth weight increased more substantially (from 6.5 to 7.1 percent for Hispanics and from 7.5 to 8.3 percent for Asian/Pacific Islanders; IWPR 2004 and Table 5.2 ).

States differ in their proportions of babies born with low birth weight.

• Alaska has the lowest proportion of babies born with low birth weights at 5.8 percent, followed by Oregon and South Dakota (6.3 percent each). California, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Vermont, and Washington are also in the best 11 states (with New Hampshire and California tied for 10 th place ( Appendix Table B5.1 ).
• Mississippi has the largest proportion of babies born with low birth weight at 11.5 percent, approximately twice the rate of the best-ranking state, Alaska. In general, states in the South have comparatively high proportions of babies born with low birth weight: Alabama, Arkansas, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia all rank in the bottom twelve. Colorado (which ties with Arkansas and North Carolina for 40 th place) and New Mexico are also a part of this group ( Appendix Table B5.1 ).

In the United States overall, infant deaths occur at a rate of 6.0 per 1,000 live births. Among women of the largest racial and ethnic groups, Asian/Pacific Islander women (4.1 per 1,000 live births), white women (5.0 per 1,000 live births), and Hispanic women (5.1 per 1,000 live births) have the lowest rates of infant mortality, while black women and Native American women have the highest rates (11.2 and 8.4 per 1,000 live births, respectively; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2013 ).

Between 2001 and 2012, the infant mortality rate in the United States decreased from 6.8 to 6.0 per 1,000 live births. These gains were experienced across all racial and ethnic groups. Rates of infant mortality among white women decreased from 5.7 to 5.0 per 1,000 births, from 13.5 to 11.2 among black women, from 9.7 to 8.4 among Native American women, from 5.4 to 5.1 among Hispanic women, and from 4.7 to 4.1 per 1,000 births among Asian/Pacific Islander women ( IWPR 2004 ; Table 5.2 ).

Infant mortality rates vary across states.

• New Hampshire and Massachusetts have the lowest infant mortality rates in the nation, at 4.2 per 1,000, followed by Vermont (4.3 per 1,000). Other states in the top eleven are geographically dispersed: California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, and Utah (the rates in both Hawaii and New York are 5.0 per 1,000; Appendix Table B5.2 ).
• Alabama has the highest infant mortality rate in the nation, at 9.0 per 1,000 live births, more than double the rate of the best-ranking states. Many states with the lowest rankings are in the South: in addition to Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina are in the bottom ten. The District of Columbia, Delaware, Ohio, Oklahoma, and South Dakota are also in this group ( Appendix Table B5.2 ).

Notes: Data for mothers beginning prenatal care in the first trimester of pregnancy are for 2011. Data for infant mortality rate are for 2012. Data for percent of low birth-weight babies are for 2013. For data on prenatal care and low birth-weight, whites and blacks are non-Hispanic; other racial groups include Hispanics. For data on infant mortality, all racial categories are non-Hispanic. Hispanics may be of any race or two or more races.

Source: iwpr compilation of data from the centers for disease control and prevention 2012 a , centers for disease control and prevention 2013 b , and hamilton et al. 2014 c ..

Women’s status in the area of reproductive rights has seen minor gains, as well as substantial setbacks, since the publication of IWPR’s 2004 Status of Women in the States report. The rate of infant mortality has declined, states across the nation have recognized same-sex marriage, and many states have expanded their Medicaid programs under the ACA, increasing women’s access to reproductive health services. Yet, the number of states requiring mandatory waiting periods for abortion has increased, and the percentage of low birth weight babies has gone up. While the implementation of the Affordable Care Act has changed the landscape of reproductive health care for women by granting more women access to much needed reproductive and family planning services, some women still face barriers to obtaining the services they need, and women’s reproductive rights continue to be contested in state legislatures across the nation. Increasing access to reproductive rights and resources will help to advance women’s health, economic security, and overall well-being.

Methodology

1 Two additional indicators examined in this report are: 1) Medicaid expansion and state Medicaid family planning eligibility expansions, which replaces an indicator in IWPR’s previous Status of Women in the States reports on state contraceptive coverage laws; and 2) same-sex marriage or second-parent adoption, which modifies an indicator on second-parent adoption in previous IWPR Status of Women in the States reports. For more on these changes, see Appendix A5 and the sections on Medicaid expansions and on same-sex marriage and second-parent adoption below.

2 An additional four states in 2015 had legislation requiring waiting periods for abortions that was part of the statutory code but not enforced.

3 Women living in states without a contraceptive equity law must wait until their private health plan loses its grandfathered status to gain full access to no-cost contraceptive coverage ( National Women’s Law Center 2012 ).

4 Federal law allows for the expansion of Medicaid to individuals with incomes at or below 133 percent of the federal poverty line. The law also includes a five percent “income disregard,” which effectively makes the limit 138 percent of poverty (Center for Mississippi Health Policy 2012).

5 An additional state, Louisiana, prohibits the exclusion of coverage for a medical condition that would otherwise be covered solely because the condition results in infertility.

6 A mandate to cover infertility treatments requires health insurance plans sold by licensed insurers to include coverage for these treatments. A mandate to offer coverage means that the plans must provide this coverage, but the person buying the policy does not have to elect coverage for this benefit ( Kaiser Family Foundation 2014a ).

7 This includes states requiring sex education at any grade level (K-12).

8 Even in states where same-sex marriage is recognized, in some circumstances there may still be obstacles to consistent legal recognition of nonbiological parents even if they are married to the birth parent (Ming Wong, National Center for Lesbian Rights, personal communication, April 10, 2015).

9 In Alabama, a federal district court ruled the state ban on same-sex marriage to be unconstitutional in January 2015. Both the 11 th Circuit Court of Appeals and U.S. Supreme Court declined to impose a stay on the court’s order while on appeal. However, the Alabama Supreme Court ordered probate judges in the state to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Couples were seeking a class-action suit in the state’s federal court as of April 2015.

10 Of these four states, three (Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas) did not recognize same-sex marriage, but allowed second-parent adoption in certain counties. In one state—Missouri—same-sex couples can marry in certain counties but second-parent adoption is not available to unmarried same-sex couples.

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Comprehensive argumentative essay example on the rights of women, rachel r.n..

• February 20, 2024
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What You'll Learn

Women’s rights have been a significant focal point in the ongoing discourse on social justice and equality. The struggle for women’s rights is deeply rooted in history, marked by milestones and setbacks. While progress has undeniably been made, there remain persistent challenges that necessitate continued advocacy and action. This essay argues that the advancement of women’s rights is not only a matter of justice and equality but also a fundamental imperative for societal progress.(Comprehensive Argumentative essay example on the Rights of Women)

The historical context of women’s rights is marked by a legacy of systemic discrimination, limited opportunities, and societal norms that perpetuated gender inequality. From the suffragette movement to the fight for reproductive rights, women have consistently challenged oppressive structures. The recognition of women’s rights as human rights, as articulated in international conventions, underscores the global commitment to address historical injustices and promote gender equality.(Comprehensive Argumentative essay example on the Rights of Women)

One crucial aspect of women’s rights is economic empowerment . The gender pay gap and limited access to economic resources have persisted despite advancements in the workplace. Empowering women economically not only contributes to their individual well-being but also enhances overall societal prosperity. Research consistently demonstrates that economies thrive when women actively participate in the workforce and have equal opportunities for career advancement.(Comprehensive Argumentative essay example on the Rights of Women)

Education is a powerful catalyst for social change, and ensuring equal access to education for girls and women is integral to advancing women’s rights. When women are educated, they become catalysts for positive change within their communities. Educated women are more likely to make informed decisions about their lives, contribute meaningfully to society, and break the cycle of poverty.

Rights Securing women’s rights includes safeguarding their reproductive health and rights. Access to comprehensive healthcare, including reproductive services, is essential for women to have control over their bodies and make autonomous choices about family planning. Policies that prioritize women’s health contribute to a healthier and more equitable society.(Comprehensive Argumentative essay example on the Rights of Women)

Violence Against Women Addressing and preventing violence against women is a critical component of the women’s rights agenda. Gender-based violence not only inflicts harm on individual women but also perpetuates a culture of fear and inequality. Legal frameworks, awareness campaigns, and support services are essential tools in combating violence against women and ensuring their safety and well-being.(Comprehensive Argumentative essay example on the Rights of Women)

In conclusion, the advancement of women’s rights is not only a moral imperative but also a crucial factor in fostering societal progress. A comprehensive approach that addresses historical injustices, economic disparities, educational opportunities, reproductive rights, and violence against women is essential. As we strive for a more equitable future, it is imperative that individuals, communities, and governments actively support and promote women’s rights, recognizing that the empowerment of women is synonymous with the advancement of society as a whole.(Comprehensive Argumentative essay example on the Rights of Women)

80 Topic Ideas for Your Argumentative Essay

• Universal Basic Income
• Climate Change and Environmental Policies
• Gun Control Laws
• Legalization of Marijuana
• Capital Punishment
• Immigration Policies
• Healthcare Reform
• Artificial Intelligence Ethics
• Cybersecurity and Privacy
• Online Education vs. Traditional Education
• Animal Testing
• Nuclear Energy
• Social Media Impact on Society
• Gender Pay Gap
• Affirmative Action
• Censorship in the Media
• Genetic Engineering and Designer Babies
• Mandatory Vaccinations
• Electoral College vs. Popular Vote
• Police Brutality and Reform
• School Uniforms
• Space Exploration Funding
• Internet Neutrality
• Autonomous Vehicles and Ethics
• Nuclear Weapons Proliferation
• Racial Profiling
• Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide
• Cultural Appropriation
• Socialism vs. Capitalism
• Mental Health Stigma
• Income Inequality
• Renewable Energy Sources
• Legalization of Prostitution
• Affirmative Consent Laws
• Education Funding
• Prescription Drug Prices
• Parental Leave Policies
• Ageism in the Workplace
• Single-payer Healthcare System
• Bullying Prevention in Schools
• Government Surveillance
• LGBTQ+ Rights
• Nuclear Disarmament
• GMO Labeling
• Workplace Diversity
• Obesity and Public Health
• Immigration and Border Security
• Free Speech on College Campuses
• Alternative Medicine vs. Conventional Medicine
• Childhood Vaccination Requirements
• Mass Surveillance
• Renewable Energy Subsidies
• Cultural Diversity in Education
• Youth and Political Engagement
• School Vouchers
• Social Justice Warriors
• Internet Addiction
• Human Cloning
• Artistic Freedom vs. Cultural Sensitivity
• College Admissions Policies
• Cyberbullying
• Privacy in the Digital Age
• Nuclear Power Plants Safety
• Cultural Impact of Video Games
• Aging Population and Healthcare
• Animal Rights
• Obesity and Personal Responsibility
• Reproductive Rights
• Charter Schools
• Military Spending
• Immigration and Economic Impact
• Mandatory Military Service
• Workplace Harassment Policies
• Cultural Globalization
• Criminal Justice Reform
• Immigration Detention Centers
• Antibiotic Resistance
• Internet Censorship
• Discrimination in the Workplace
• Space Colonization

Brownlee, K. (2020). Being sure of each other: an essay on social rights and freedoms. Oxford University Press, USA. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=kTjpDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Argumentative+essay+example+on+the+Rights+of+Women&ots=oysLrPE6ux&sig=ANTnu_5AH4_3PMfGG0XdMzxBpLA

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Women's Reproductive Rights: A literary perspective

Valentina Adami holds a PhD in English Studies from the University of Verona. She is Adjunct Professor of English language at the University of Verona and at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, and member of AIDEL (Associazione Italiana di Diritto e Letteratura), AIA (Associazione Italiana di Anglistica) and ESSE (European Society for the Study of English). Her fields of research are trauma studies; law, language and literature; bioethics, medicine and literature; ecolinguistics and ecocriticism. She has published various essays and two monographs: Trauma Studies and Literature: Martin Amis’s Time’s Arrow as Trauma Fiction (Peter Lang, 2008) and Bioethics Through Literature: Margaret Atwood’s Cautionary Tales (Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier, 2011).

This paper examines the development of the concept of women’s reproductive rights in human rights treaties and conventions since the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights , revealing how traditional human rights formulations are often male-centered and lack a gender-sensitive approach. Since feminist speculative fiction has anticipated many of the reproductive rights issues that we are facing today, the author claims that literary texts such as Ursula Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness (1969), Marge Piercy’s Woman on the Edge of Time (1976), Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale (1985), P. D. James’s The Children of Men (1992) and Sarah Hall’s The Carhullan Army (2007) can enlighten contemporary debates on reproductive rights and contribute to the development of a universal ethics of human rights that takes into account the specificity of women’s rights.

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©[2012] by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston

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Scripps Senior Theses

Beyond pro-life vs. pro-choice: reproductive rights for women of color and low-income women.

Sabrina Wu Follow

Graduation Year

Document type.

Campus Only Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Second Department

W.M. Keck Science Department

Elise Ferree

Alyssa Newman

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Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont .

In today’s debate over abortion, there are a multitude of additional factors to consider when restricting abortion for women of color and low-income women. The binary pro-life vs. pro-choice debate may seem like two clear-cut opposing sides, and many people find themselves agreeing firmly on one stance. However, these terms seek to implicitly portray the other stance unfavorably. Pro-life seems to imply that opponents are anti-life, or even “pro-death” and pro-choice insinuates that the opposition is “anti-choice” or favors coercion. The debate marginalizes women of color, poor women, and women from other marginalized communities because it does not take into account pre-existing conditions, such as financial incapability, harmful environmental factors and lack of social support, that restrict them from real choice to decide whether to have a child or have an abortion. Firstly, it is important to understand the complex issue of abortion in its procedure, its implications and its history in the United States, as well as the consequences upon denial of abortion and the effects of returning to a pre-Roe vs. Woe world. Abortion bans objectively affect low-income and women of color because of higher numbers of unwanted pregnancies, spatial inequalities to abortion access and its implicated costs, language barriers, financial difficulties and situational obstacles such as incarceration or environmental factors. In opposition to today’s abortion bans, it is important to get rid of the bans, prioritize women's health and work to create long-term solutions to combat economically and socially coerced abortions. We should work to reduce reasons for abortion, instead of criminalizing the procedure.

Recommended Citation

Wu, Sabrina, "Beyond Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice: Reproductive Rights for Women of Color and Low-income Women" (2020). Scripps Senior Theses . 1516. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/1516

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Since February 28, 2020

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