Ethical Medical

Dilemma:
Reproductive
rights

By: Gustavo Macias

3rd Anatomy

Reproductive Rights (Abortion)

For

All women have the right to accessible,

affordable and adequate health care that takes
into account their cultural needs. They have the
right to access health care without
discrimination. And they have the right to
health care that responds to their particular
needs as women. Sexual and reproductive
health encompasses a range of prevention and
treatment services. Examples include: accurate
information about HIV transmission; the ability
to choose whether and when to get pregnant;
response to violence against women; and
services for sexually transmitted infections and
reproductive tract illnesses, such as cervical
cancer.

Against
In the United States, the progressive left frames
the discussion over reproductive rights as men
against women and conservatives against
women. The men and the conservatives, they say,
want to limit the reproductive rights of women by
taking away control over their own body to
abort a child. What about the mans reproductive
right to keep his child? What about the childs
right to life, which happens to be the first and
ultimate right ever granted? To give women the
right to abort, effectively disenfranchises the
rights of at least two other parties.

Reproductive Rights
Currents Events and News
Fo
r
5 Reproductive Rights Breakthroughs That Are
Changing Womens Lives
March 31, 20169:36 PM ByMonica Kim
On Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration
announced that they would be easing the strict usage
guidelines surrounding mifepristone, an abortioninducing pill, making it a more accessible option
inseveral key statesa set of changes that has farreaching implications for American women.This is a
significant advance for women, particularly in states
where medication abortion has been restricted, says
Janet Crepps, senior counsel in the U.S. Legal Program
at the Center for Reproductive Rights, who believes that
the new guidelines will provide women with more
choice. The announcement comes on the heels of several
major shifts in the modern reproductive rights
movement, which will come to a head this year, when
the Supreme Court rules on alandmark abortion case.
Here, five recent developments that are impacting the

Again
As Texas Clinics Close, Self-Induced Abortions Rise
st
By: Eva Hershaw November 25, 2015 | 1:35 pm

More than four decades after the Supreme Court guaranteed a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy, up
to 240,000 women in the state of Texas have reportedly attempted to self-induce an abortion. The numbers
are on the rise and, according to researchers, are the result of increasingly restricted access to abortion
clinicsand the availability of over-the-counter, abortion-inducing medication.
The latest research from the Texas Policy Evaluation Project (TxPEP) estimates that between 1.7 and 4.1
percent of Texas women ages 18 to 49 have attempted to self-induce an abortion. The findings, released last
week, come from a statewide survey and interviews with nearly 800 women carried out in 2014 and 2015.
"They didn't do this because this was their ideal form of health care, but because they felt that they had no
other option," saidlead TxPEP researcher Daniel Grossman, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the
University of California at San Francisco.
Reproductive health advocates see the numbers as a concerning reflection of the decisions faced by women
who live in conservative states where sweeping legislative measures have aimed to prevent women from
terminating their pregnancies.
"This new study confirms that women who are denied safe, legal abortion care where they live are more
likely to take matters into their own handswith often devastating consequences," said Nancy Northup,
president of the Center for Reproductive Rights.
These concerns were reflected in the answers given by women in the interviews. One woman living in the
Rio Grande Valley, the stretch of Texas that runs along the border with Mexico, told researchers, "I didn't
have any money to go to San Antonio or Corpus. Like I was just dirt broke. I was poor."

Reproductive Rights
Scientific Support
Modern Abortion Methods Make Termination Safer, No Longer Linked To Riskier Births Later In Life
Jul 9, 2013 05:00 PMByAnoopa Singh
A new study led by Gordon Smith from the University of Cambridge found that abortion was a strong risk
factor for subsequent preterm birth in the 1980s but over the next 20 years, the link progressively
deteriorated and was no longer present among women giving birth from 2000. The Scottish Stillbirth and
Infant Death Survey (SSBIDS) was considered from 1985 onward and morbidity records from 1980 onward.
Researchers found that there was a 15-percent increase in the odds of preterm birth associated with each
previous abortion. Notably, there was an 18-percent increase in the odds of spontaneous preterm birth for
each prior abortion, but no association between previous abortion and the risk of induced preterm birth.
Induced preterm births were defined as those where there was either a prelab or caesarean section or a
documented method of induction, or forcing, of labor.
It is important to note changes in abortion technology between 1980 and now. Previously, abortions were
surgical procedures in which a woman's cervix is mechanically dilated and her unborn child is removed
from her body. This posed great risk of damage to the woman's cervix, an organ that responds to hormones,
not tools, to remain closed during a pregnancy to sustain that pregnancy. A similar risk is faced by a
woman's uterus, the place in which fetuses develop before birth; during a surgical abortion, damage can be
suffered by this organ as well. Potential damage can affect subsequent pregnancies as the organs they
need for appropriate development have been injured or damaged by the surgical abortion.

Reproductive Rights
Marketing Aspect
In addition to its widely recognized health and
autonomy benefits for women, contraception directly
boosts the economy. In fact, research shows access to
the pill is responsible for a third of womens wage
gains since the 1960s.
And this benefit extends to their kids. Children
born to mothers with access to family planning
benefit from a 20 to 30 percent increase in their
own incomes over their lifetimes, as well as boosting
college completion rates.
Not surprisingly, in a survey, 77 percent of
women who used birth control reported that it
allowed them to better care for themselves and their
families, while large majorities also reported that
birth control allowed them to support themselves
financially (71 percent), stay in school (64 percent)
and help them get and keep a job (64 percent).

Reproductive health isntjust about abortions, despite all the

attention they get. Its also about access to family planning
services, contraception, sex education and much else.
Such access lets women control the timing and size of their
families so they have children when they are financially
secure and emotionally ready and can finish their education
and advance in the workplace. After all,having children is
expensive, costing a US $9,000 to $25,000 year.
And thats why providing women with a full range of
reproductive health options is good for the economy at the
same time as being essential to the financial security of
women and their families. Doing the opposite threatens not
only the physical health of women but their economic wellbeing too.

Vocabulary
Abortion:

the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often

performed during the first 28 weeks of pregnancy.

Self-induced Abortion:

anabortionperformed by the pregnant woman herself

outside of the recognized medical system.

The Pill:

The combined oralcontraceptive pill(COCP), often referred to as the birth

control pillor colloquially as "the pill", is a birth control method that includes a combination of
an estrogen (estradiol) and a progestogen (progestin). When taken by mouth every day,
thesepillsinhibit female fertility.

Birth Control:

Birth controlis any method used to prevent pregnancy. There are

many different methods ofbirth controlincluding condoms, IUDs,birth controlpills,
the rhythm method, vasectomy, and tubal ligation.

Pre-term Birth: A birth that occurs before the 37th week of pregnancy of the
normal 40 weeks

APA Citations
(n.d.). Retrieved May 16, 2016, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reproductive_rights#Women.27s_rights
Geary, K. (2012). The Truth About 'Reproductive Rights' in the United States. Retrieved
May 16, 2016, from https://thelastcivilright.org/2012/03/19/the-truth-aboutreproductive-rights-in-the-united-states-2/
Hershaw, E. (2015, November 15). As Texas Clinics Close, Self-Induced Abortions Rise |
VICE News. Retrieved May 16, 2016, from https://news.vice.com/article/as-texas-clinicsclose-self-induced-abortions-rise
Kim, M. (2016, March 31). 5 Reproductive Rights Breakthroughs That Are Changing
Womens Lives. Retrieved May 16, 2016, from
http://www.vogue.com/13422207/medical-abortion-pill-otc-birth-control-reproductiverights/
Singh, A. (2013, July 09). Modern Abortion Methods Make Termination Safer, No Longer
Linked To Riskier Births Later In Life. Retrieved May 16, 2016, from
http://www.medicaldaily.com/modern-abortion-methods-make-termination-safer-nolonger-linked-riskier-births-later-life-247510
US, T. C. (n.d.). How Limiting Women's Access to Birth Control and Abortions Hurts the