Policy Issue: Reproduction and Reproductive Rights

Patriarchal norms constitute a threat to women’s health because women are not looked at in the same way that men are. Men’s bodies are the norm, and medical research has mostly focused on white men. Androcentrism has supported sexism and encouraged systems where men have more positions of power and influence in the health care system. Racism has an impact on the gendered experiences of women of color in the health care system because they are not given the same treatment. Racism still exists in many aspects, for example, delivery, financing, and research. Women of color stop getting treatment if they feel that it is a waste of their time. Reproductive choice is important for women because every woman should have safe and affordable birthing and parenting options. No matter what your circumstances are every woman should have reliable, safe, and affordable birth control technologies. They should also have freedom from forced sterilization and the availability of an abortion. By not giving a woman the safe and affordable birthing and parenting options she needs, you are harming the child. It is important for feminists to try and broaden discussions of reproductive choice beyond the issue of abortion because there are many families that cannot have children that would love to be parents. By getting abortions you are killing a baby who did not ask to be born. Every woman should be able to make their own reproductive choices but I do not believe that abortion is the best way to solve the problem. Although, there are extenuating circumstances to abortions, for example, a woman who is raped would probably not want to have their attacker’s baby.