Reproductiv

e Choice
Reproductive choice
means being able to
make your own
decisions about
abstinence,
contraception, abortion
and childbearing
according to your own
conscience. It means
access to quality
contraception and sex
education, as well as
abortion services, and
being able to support
the children you
choose to have.
Women around the world hope for the future—
for better lives for themselves, education and
prosperity for their children, and security for
their families. A broad array of social and
economic changes is necessary to overcome
the poverty, lack of education, and limited
control over their own lives that often keep
women's hopes from coming true. But women
can take an important step forward when they
make their own reproductive choices—about
marriage, sex, childbearing, and
contraception.
Making choices about the course of one's own life
asserts a person's fundamental dignity. Thus family
planning is a basic human right.
The woman who chooses when she has children, and
how many, exerts an important measure of control
over her own physical, emotional, and economic well-
being. She contributes to her children's well-being too.
Health. More than half a million women die each year
from causes related to pregnancy. Many of these
deaths follow unwanted pregnancies: 20% to 40%
result from unsafe abortions. For women who want to
avoid pregnancy, using contraception means avoiding
the risks of pregnancy and childbirth or of unsafe
abortion.
Planning. By determining when she will have children
and how many, a woman takes a step toward deciding
how she will spend much of her life.
Of course, a woman's decision to control her fertility
does not guarantee her new opportunities. It does,
however, help enable her to take advantage of
opportunities that present themselves and to provide
new resources to the family.
The Pro-Life
To say that someone is "pro-life" is to say that the
person believes that the government has an
obligation to preserve all human life, regardless of
intent, viability, or quality-of-life concerns.
A comprehensive pro-life ethic, such as that
proposed by the Roman Catholic Church and similar
religious organizations, prohibits:
Abortion
Euthanasia and assisted suicide ;
The death penalty ; and
War, with very few exceptions.
The Pro-Choice
To be "pro-choice" is to believe that individuals
have unlimited autonomy with respect to their
own reproductive systems as long as they do not
breach the autonomy of others.

A comprehensive pro-choice position affirms that

all of the following must remain legal:
Celibacy and abstinence ;
Contraception use ;
Emergency contraception use ;
Abortion, for the first two trimesters of
pregnancy; and Childbirth
Family planning programs contribute most by helping women
prevent unwanted pregnancies. Well-designed, high-quality
programs can do even more by delivering services in ways that
help women meet other needs as well. They can:
Show by example that women should be treated with dignity:
their opinions, valued; and their decisions, respected;
Provide additional contraceptive and other reproductive health
services that can meet common and serious needs—possibly
care for sexually transmitted diseases and information and
services for young people, for example;
Influence public perceptions of women's roles by depicting in
the mass media women who act with courage, take
responsibility, and succeed in new roles;
Encourage men to understand their own and women's
reproductive health needs, share reproductive decision making,
and take more responsibility for reproductive health,
contraceptive use, and their families' welfare; and
Employ women as family planning professionals, treat them
equitably, and offer them opportunities to lead.
PRECONCEPTION
COUNSELING
 Ideally, women should plan pregnancy and
discuss this plan with their physician. However,
often this option is not considered. It becomes the
task of the physician to anticipate the potential
and discuss preparation for pregnancy just as one
would discuss methods of birth control.
 Primary care physicians are in the best position to
anticipate the need for this counseling, because
they are most aware of ongoing medical problems
and social concerns of the women in their care.
 However, it is our opinion that preconception care,
in particular education, should begin at the time a
patient reaches reproductive age, and not merely
at the time she announces the desire to become
pregnant.
Nurse’s Role in Sexuality
Many diseases, accidents, illnesses, and their
treatments create sexual dysfunctions and
role changes. Rehabilitation nurses are in an
excellent position to address these issues with
their clients.
Areas of expertise that nurses need to
develop:
Promote and maintain patient sexual health
through knowledge of the subject matter, skill
in assessing and interviewing.
Awareness of beliefs, attitudes and values
related to sexuality, and awareness of how
these beliefs, attitudes, and values affect their
Roles:
Assure that
experiencing a
disability, having a
chronic illness, or aging
does not need to
translate into
permanent sexual loss
or eliminate the ability
to give and receive
affection.

Nurses are also

responsible in dealing
with sexuality by
means of sex