Essay about Stories about Reproductive Justice

In the US, black women are over three times more likely to die from maternally related complications than white women, and their babies are less likely to survive their first year (Oparah & Bonparte, 2015). Birthing Justice: Black Women, Pregnancy and Childbirth, edited by Julia Chineyere Oparah and Alicia D. Bonaparte tells the stories, experiences, oppression, and subjection of black women in the maternal health care system. Each chapter in the book explained a certain key point in the experience of black women and the health care system. In the following, I will discuss how the medical industrial complex or the introduction of medical treatments has not only stripped women of color, trans women, poor and immigrant women of their autonomy, but has sustained the hierarchy of patriarchy in the health system.

Susan Sherwin’s view on abortion is primarily focused through the lens of feminist philosophy. Her article focuses primarily on how the feminist view provides more holistic, and less cold view on the topic of abortion that is more inclusive of the mother. The feminist view of abortion is primarily focused on looking at the factors that affect the mother through the process of the abortion, such as a woman’s feelings around the fetus, is conception, her partner, and her obligations. These are all factors that are not usually thought of by non-feminist thinkers. This is usually because the discussion around this topic is, as the author puts it “generally grounded in masculinist concepts of freedom (such as privacy, individual choice, and individuals’ property rights with respect to their own bodies)” (Sherwin.1997, 100). This view, as she puts it, primarily focuses on the morality and legal aspects of abortion. The basis of Sherwin’s paper centers around a feminist model from which to look at abortion. This model takes into account the emotional impact that an unwanted pregnancy has on the woman, who will be impacted most by this event. It gives sole power of design to the woman, who “may make mistakes in their moral judgements, but no one else can be assumed to have the authority to evaluate and overrule their judgements”. (Sherwin.1997, 102) Sherwin also advocates against the division of the mother and the fetus as separate entities during bioethical discussions. This also

Control of reproductive decisions of black women is a highly prevalent a form of racial oppression in America. Due to this form of control, the meaning of reproductive liberty in America has been significantly altered. These issues are addressed in Dorothy Roberts’ Killing the Black Body. The novel demonstrates the way in which black women were consistently devalued as a tool for reproductive means, which in itself was a form of racial oppression. The novel also provides the reader with insight as to how experiences of black women since times of slavery have drastically changed the present day connotation of reproductive freedom.

This book is centered on three main points: Regulation of Black Women’s reproductive rights as it relates to America’s slave history, how the control of Black women’s reproductive

In Killing the Black Body, Dorothy Roberts describes the history of African-American women and the dehumanizing attempts to control their reproductive lives. Beginning with slavery, to the early beginning of birth control policy, to the sterilization abuse of Black women during the 1960s and 1970s, continuing with the current campaign to inject Norplant and Depo-Provera along with welfare mothers, Roberts argues that the systematic, institutionalized denial of reproductive freedom has uniquely marked Black women’s history in America.

In her chapter “Our Bodies, Ourselves: Reproductive Rights” she displays how the different society classes and race played a role in women’s rights (reproductively) as for the access to legal abortions, for most of the African Americans and the poor were not able to receive access to legal abortions due to cost. This chapter compares to Andrea Tone’s novel by illustrating how women of color were not privileged, which resulted in many having illegal abortions, as well as the right to choose when they could have children due to their demanding

Even to this day, women have not reached maximum equality, but the landmark Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade has helped the women’s equality movement drastically take a step in the right direction. Prior to the case, women had their rights very limited and restricted. Everyone was and still is entitled to their basic rights, however pregnant women were not. Their first, fourth, fifth, ninth, and fourteenth amendment rights were violated and were not addressed until Jane Roe testified in court. The decision made by the court still has a lasting impact even to this day. The landmark Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade was not just a win for Jane Roe, but a win for all women as it helped break the barrier that surrounded women’s equality.

’. The American Eugenics Movement in the 20th century emphasized the sterilization of African Americans and profoundly impacted the way we saw who was valuable enough produce our future. Bonnie Wynkle was involuntarily sterilized in Georgia along with her three sisters. Elaine Riddick was also sterilized at the age of fourteen, after giving birth to her first child as a repercussion of rape (White, 2007) . What these people have in common is that the state of Georgia as well as 32 others forcibly denied them the ability to have children.

replacement of stereotyped images of black womanhood with those that are self defined, 4) black women’s activism, and 5) sensitivity to black sexual politics. The first three themes correlate to black motherhood and living in a binary environment, one in which black people are the oppressed and white

In the article “Women’s Human Rights and Gender Equality’’ i read about how Women’s rights are the fundamental human rights that were enshrined by the United Nations for every human being on the planet nearly 70 years ago. These rights include to live free from violence, slavery, and discrimination; to be educated ; to vote and to earn a fair and equal wage. A famous saying goes “Women’s rights are human rights” meaning, women all around the world are entitled to all of these rights, but yet there are women and girls who are still denied these rights, often simply because of their gender. Winning these rights for women isn’t all, it’s also about changing how countries and communities works and their perspectives on gender equality. Global Fund for Women exists to support the tireless and courageous efforts of women’s groups who work every day to win rights for women and girls. These groups are working to ensure women can own property, vote, run for office, get paid fair wages, and live free from violence – including domestic violence, sexual assault. The Global Fund for Women also stand for other rights that are vital for women’s equality. They stand for a woman’s right to decide if and when she has children, and to have high-quality health

The third piece for evidence is a book solely based on minorities and health disparities. This book discusses racial and cultural issues in relation to medical disparities, this is not generalized amongst racial groups, the text dives into specifics. I plan to use this text to discuss the different perspectives on race and health disparities in various cultural groups. My two final pieces of evidence will be used to provide the audience with real world examples of how race causes health disparities in modern America. The first article is about how black women face health disparities, the article does dive into women’s healthcare, “Black women are three times more likely to experience an unintended pregnancy than white women. These higher rates in unexpected pregnancy reflect a disparity in access to quality affordable contraceptive services along with other quality women’s health care services” (1). The second article is geared towards ethic groups over the age of 65 who are impacted by health disparities in the form of

Black feminists have investigated how rape as a specific form of sexual violence is embedded in a system of interlocking race, gender, and class oppression (Davis 1978, 1981, 1989; Hall 1983). Reproductive rights issues such as access to information on sexuality and birth control, the struggles for abortion rights, and patterns of forced sterilization have also garnered attention

Women must be entitled to freedom, dignity and equality of treatment without regard to their race, religion or color. As Ina Gaskin (2011) stated, “women should not lose their human rights when they become mothers” (p.85). Moreover, I believe birth rights are connected to human rights, as they must allow women to direct their care surrounding pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum, and entitle women to respect and equality of treatment. Sadly, the pregnancy-related mortality ratios and stories such as Serena Williams’s, exemplify the reality that women of color are often stripped of their basic

Women’s reproductive rights are a global issue in today’s world. Women have to fight to have the right to regulate their own bodies and reproductive choices, although in some countries their voices are ignored. Abortion, sterilization, contraceptives, and family planning services all encompass this global issue of women’s reproductive rights.

Before women had rights to decide whether they could keep their baby, some states didn’t allow abortion, therefore requiring women to give birth to their child. In today’s current issues, abortion is still a controversial subject with millions of people supporting it or not supporting it. Every woman has the right to make changes to her own physical body, and those rights should not be taken away, according to the constitution. In the very famous case in 1973, “Roe v. Wade”, the United States Supreme Court legalized abortion throughout the first trimester of pregnancy. In the article, “Roe’s Pro-Life Legacy”, it is explained how after this movement, the right to abortion, lives have changed and led to lower abortion rates (Sheilds 2013.)