Women's Reproductive Rights - Outline Example

A Ban on Abortion Violates Womens Reproductive Rights Outline Thesis: The right of a woman to make reproductive health decisions is based upon internationally protected rights under the Beijing Platform and Teheran International Conference on Human Rights. Therefore, the continued ban on abortion in various countries poses a direct violation of a womans reproductive rights. I. Introduction A. Basic arguments B. Where does the fetus right to life begin? II. International Conferences Covering Womens Rights A. Teheran International Conference on Human Rights B. Beijing Platform III. Abortion as a Male Conception A. The Male Conspiracy B. Protecting a Womans Rights IV. The Growing Acceptance of Abortion as a Womans Right A. International Laws in Support of Abortion B. The European Court of Human Rights Stand on Abortion V. Conclusion 1 Ever since the case of Roe v. Wade made judicial history in the 1970s, the debate regarding the legality of abortion has only found itself escalating in the moral, social, and legal circles. The question of the right of the fetus to life has always been brought to the center of the argument. Anti-abortionists insisting that the fetus has a right to life just as the mother has a right to live. The opposing side, those who support abortion, argue that since a fetus relies mostly on its mother for sustenance and development over the months prior to its birth, then the life of the fetus does not exist yet and as such, cannot be considered to be a separate life from its mother. Therefore, abortion is a decision that a woman can and must undertake for her own personal or medical reasons. To have laws that ban her right to free herself of the fetus via abortive means violates her rights as a woman and her right to choose. This essay will look into the reasons as to why banning abortion is a violation of womens rights and why those who oppose abortion directly violate the Reproductive Rights of Women. According to Frederica Matthews - Greene, abortion must be opposed because it violates the right of a woman to protect her body. She claims that “That right must begin when her body begins, and it must be hers no matter where she lives — even if she lives in her mother’s womb. The same holds true for her brother.” 1 In this line of thinking, it would appear that the right of a woman to her body ends the moment that she conceives a child. Regardless of whether that conception is expected, wanted, or the product of an accident or a crime. In the minds of anti-abortionists, a woman no longer has a right to her body because of the second resident in the womb, who takes 2 precedence over her own safety and concerns. This is an argument that is flawed in every manner. If the life of the fetus does not begin until the umbilical cord is cut and the first cry comes with its first life giving breath, there is no life to actually consider within the womb as the life of what is within relies solely on the existence of the mother and her ability to sustain a secondary life within. Let us remember that the right of women to have a right to control what happens to their body in all manners sexual and reproductive is a protected right installed by the Teheran International Conference on Human Rights and was further expanded under the Beijing Platform which dictates “ The human rights of women include their right to have control over their body and decide freely and responsibly on matters related to their sexuality, including sexual and reproductive health free from coercion, discrimination, and violence.” 2 As an internationally protected human right, it truly makes one beg to wonder as to why abortion is still being prevented in a number of nations when there are already international regulations in place that dictate the legality of abortion based upon a womans right to her body. It is funny how anti-abortionists such as Andrea Dworkin seem to get lost in their own thoughts in trying to defend their stand to the point where she believes that abortion is actually a male sexist plot to simply allow them to have unlimited sex with ; their female partners as pregnancies tend to limit the sexual activity of women. She explains; “The decriminalization of abortion--for that was the political goal--was seen as the final fillip: it would make women absolutely accessible, absolutely "free." The sexual 3 revolution, in order to work, required that abortion be available to women on demand. “3 It is truly quite disconcerting to learn that anti-abortionists can have such a limited, sexist, and unrealistic point of view regarding the real reasons that abortion is a womans right and is a necessary part of female independence. While men are admittedly creatures of fornication, that does not mean that the laws that are recognized by international bodies such as the U.N. governing council, were set into place simply for the pleasure of men. If that were the case then there would not be an increasing support for abortion across various nations and states (in the United States). It is important to stop and for a moment, consider that human rights bodies such as the European Court of Human Rights have acknowledged women need to have access to lawful abortions4 Considering the numerous cases of banned abortions when it was the only way to protect a womans life, one could actually view the continued ban on abortion in other nations as a move towards controlling the freedom and right to life of women. Why must the life of the unborn child, who has yet to take the breath of life, be more of a priority than that of the life of the woman who is already alive and is in distress over a pregnancy that is causing her problems and discomfort? There is a growing movement in support of abortion. The womens rights groups that advocate for the reversal of the anti-abortion rules or laws in various nations have an uphill climb ahead of them. They are faced with an archaic legislative system that seems to need to have a total change of its members to a younger, more forward 4 thinking group of lawmakers before the changes to the laws can be acknowledged and deemed necessary. Indeed, it sometimes seems that what is required in order for women to totally and properly protect their right to reproductive health and other accompanying womens rights, is to wait for the old guard to die out and for the new guard to come in. When it comes to the concept of abortion, it would seem that what is required is a change in the mindset of the people. A change of that magnitude cannot happen overnight. It is a gradual change that occurs with the proper education and enlightenment of women and men alike in terms of the importance of a womans right to reproductive health decisions. This is a decision that a woman can make for herself, without the aid of others because this is a decision that affects only her and changes the direction of her life. Bibliography Dworkin, Andrea. “Right Wing Women”, Abortion (1983): http://www.nostatusquo.com/ACLU/dworkin/RightWingWomenAbortion.html European Court of Human Rights, “Reproductive Rights”, Access to Lawful Abortion (2015): http://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/FS_Reproductive_ENG.pdf Matthews - Greene, Frederica. “Abortion: Womens Rights... and Wrongs”. Feminists for Life (2013): http://www.feministsforlife.org/abortion-womens-rights-and-wrongs/ Regmi, Sonali. “Unsafe Abortion: Violations of Womens Right to Reproductive and Sexual Health A Study With Reference to Nepal”. University of Toronto (2001) : https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/15997/1/MQ63091.pdf Read More