Women's Rights to Their Bodies - Research Paper Example

Womens rights to their bodies Since time immemorial, women have been fighting for rights to make decisions regarding their own bodies. It is worth noting that these rights are directly linked to abortion. According to Krieger, "Although women have for centuries acted on the view that control over their bodies, fertility, and health ought to be in their hands, the formalization of this belief in the concept of reproductive rights is a fairly recent development" (p. 726). This paper outlines the history of womens rights to their bodies in terms of when this became an issue in society, who is involved in the issue, and what are the ethical responsibilities of those involved. Subsequently, an analysis of womens rights to their bodies is outlined in this paper. This will be achieved in this paper through the identification of a point of argument relative to womens rights to their bodies, an elucidation of the logical strengths and weaknesses of the issue as well as how it is approached, and also through a determination on whether the issue attempts to overreach into personal liberty. History Krieger postulates the fact that the history of womens fight for the right to their bodies runs back to the 1970s. This began when women established movements geared towards the protection of their rights to "access safe, legal abortion and contraception in North America and Europe and soon afterwards Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia, and Africa" (p. 726). During this period, women fought for their right to make their own decisions in regard to what point at their lives to have children, as well as the method or technique to be used when giving birth not considering their ethnic background, age, abilities, and also their social and economic status. When womens rights to their bodies became an issue in society Womens rights to their bodies became an issue when countries all over the world started creating and implementing plans of action aimed towards denying women their rights. For instance, this became an issue in India when the government enforced rules that required women to undergo sterilization and also insert hormonal implants in their bodies. Similarly, womens rights to their bodies became an issue in the Philippines and South American countries as a result of imposed strategies supported by the religious organizations disallowing or making illegal birth control methods and termination of pregnancies. In some African countries such as Egypt and Nigeria, womens rights to their bodies became an issue based on the governments disregard to dangerous and harmful cultural practices such as female circumcision (Krieger 726). Women felt that the government had failed to protect them from dangerous and harmful activities such as female genital mutilation on the basis of maintenance of cultural heritage and values. Parameters There are a number of people involved in the protection of human rights to their bodies. Medical practitioners are directly involved in this issue. In order to understand and as well comprehend the parameters in associated with womens rights to their bodies, it is imperative to elucidate the concept of informed consent. Certain medical operations such as abortions and female genital mutilations have immediate and long-lasting implications to the lives of women. Subsequently, there are many birth control methods that are used in family planning in the contemporary world. Medical codes of ethics requires medical practitioners to inform patients on the implications, benefits, and alternatives to all medical operations and modes of treatment to patients in order to equip them with knowledge that they can use to make informed choices. There are communities where female genital mutilation is a cultural norm and hence it is the role of medical practitioners to discuss both ethical and legal implications of such dehumanizing practices. Other professionals involved in this issue include social workers, and trained counselors (Carlstedt 17). These professionals involved directly with protecting the rights of women to make their own choices in regard to their bodies also play a role in protecting the rights of underage age girls who do not have a say in regard to their bodies. These professionals are obligated to report any cases of women abuse particularly when an underage girl is involved to relevant authorities if they feel the child is exposed to injury or impairment. This also shows that the police as well as other legal bodies such as the courts are also directly involved in ensuring womens rights to their bodies. There are also ethical responsibilities of health practitioners in regard to issues such as abortion. There has been a lot of debates on whether abortion is ethical, as well as on its legality. Some people oppose it on the basis of its immoral nature while others support it based on the rights of women to make decisions pertaining to their bodies (Boyle 21). Medical practitioners are obligated by their code of ethics to safeguard the life of the patient. In other words, doctors are allowed to terminate the life of an unborn child if the pregnancy puts the life of the mother at risk. However, medical practitioners are required to receive the consent of the mother before conducting any operations. Argument relative to womens right to their bodies Women have a moral right to decide what happens to their bodies. There are two conflicting arguments in regard to womens rights to their bodies particularly when it comes to abortion. There are people who believe that life begins at conception hence an unborn child ought to be considered a human being. Based on the fact that every human being has the right to live, an unborn child is therefore protected by these rights. On the other hand, there are people who believe that since human beings have a right to privacy, a woman ought to make her own choices in regard to her body. Additionally, they believe that since the fetus is dependent on the mother for survival, then the right of the mother reigns over that of the fetus (Steinbock 42). However, individuals in support of these opposing arguments agree on the fact that abortion is justified under special circumstances such as if a pregnancy is as a result of rape, or when the life of the mother is in danger. Subsequently, there are other problems associated with unwanted pregnancies. For instance, a woman may decide to undergo an abortion due to the inability to support a child financially (Steinbock 42). On the basis of these arguments therefore, women ought to given the right decide whether to abort or go through with the pregnancy to full term. Logical strengths and weaknesses According to Boyle, "In practice, the vast majority of abortions-over 90 per cent-are performed because the woman herself is said to be suffering from or vulnerable to mental disorder, usually neurotic disorder. Thus abortion legislation which relies on health grounds produces weak and vulnerable women" (72). This means that implementing policies legalizing abortion or empowering women in regard to making their own choices in regard to whatever happens in the bodies will produces strong women. Clearly, this shows one of the strengths of womens rights to their bodies. On the other hand, womens rights to their bodies affects the sovereignty or independence of the doctors and other medical practitioners. The role of health providers is to guide patients in a bid to help them make informed decisions on their health. Womens rights to their bodies will therefore "reduce doctors to mere technicians rather than members of a high and proud profession" (Boyle 72). In my opinion, womens rights to their bodies is also an illustration or indication of the endorsement of freedom of choice. Human rights allows people to make their own decisions and hence allowing women to make decisions in regard to their bodies shows support for these human rights. It is also worth noting that constitutions governing many countries in the world today safeguards the rights of individuals particularly to privacy and decision making. Therefore, womens rights to their bodies is an indication of peoples reverence to their own laws and regulations. How this issue is approached The issue of womens rights to their bodies particularly in regard to abortion, family planning, and female genital mutilations is approached in a human rights perspective. Women are aware of the fact that some policies geared towards prohibition of abortion and other practices such as birth control challenge the concepts of human rights. Human rights elucidate the fact that all human beings have a basic requirement and aspiration for reverence and protection. In other words, decisions made by women in regard to their bodies should be treated with reverence and their rights as human beings protected (Packer 131). In my opinion, allowing women to make their own decisions in regard to their bodies is an attempt to overreach into personal liberty. This is attributed to the fact that these rights gives women power of men in regard to termination of the life of an unborn child, as well as in other family issues such as birth control methods. These rights over-empowers women to such an extent that they are the sole determiners on when and how to give birth. Men also ought to be included in the decision making process as some issues pertaining to the bodies of women directly affect them. Conclusion The issue of womens rights to their bodies denotes womens ability to make choices in regard to abortion, family planning methods, as well as other issues associated with their bodies. Women movements were formed a few decades ago in a bid to fight for their rights in many parts of the world. Some of the issues that led to the womens fight for the rights to their bodies include policies implemented in some countries prohibiting abortion and family planning, and failure of governments to protect women from dangerous practices such as female genital mutilations. There are a lot of people involved in the preservation of womens rights to their bodies. The role of medical practitioners is to provide women with relevant information in terms of benefits, effects, and alternatives to medical operations and treatments directly affecting their bodies. It is also the role of medical practitioners to report any infringement or violation of women rights as pertains to their bodies to the relevant authorities. Other individuals involved in this issue include counselors, social workers, and the government in general. Women ought to be allowed to make decisions on all issues affecting their bodies. It is important to conclude that issues of womens ability to make their own choices pertaining to their bodies are approached on a human rights perspective. Works cited Boyle, Mary. Re-Thinking Abortion: Psychology, Gender and the Law. East Sussex: Routledge, 1997. Print. Carlstedt, Roland A. Handbook of Integrative Clinical Psychology, Psychiatry, and Behavioral Medicine: Perspectives, Practices, and Research. New York: Springer, 2010. Print. Krieger, Joel. The Oxford Companion to Politics of the World. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. Print. Packer, Corinne A. Using Human Rights to Change Tradition: Traditional Practices Harmful to Womens Reproductive Health in Sub-Saharan Africa. Cambridge: Intersentia, 2002. Print. Steinbock, Bonnie. Life Before Birth: The Moral and Legal Status of Embryos and Fetuses, Second Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. Print. Read More

Krieger postulates the fact that the history of women's fight for the right to their bodies runs back to the 1970s. This began when women established movements geared towards the protection of their rights to "access safe, legal abortion and contraception in North America and Europe and soon afterward Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia, and Africa" (p. 726). During this period, women fought for their right to make their own decisions in regard to what point in their lives to have children, as well as the method or technique to be used when giving birth not considering their ethnic background, age, abilities, and also their social and economic status.
Women's rights to their bodies became an issue when countries all over the world started creating and implementing plans of action aimed towards denying women their rights. For instance, this became an issue in India when the government enforced rules that required women to undergo sterilization and also insert hormonal implants in their bodies. Similarly, women's rights to their bodies became an issue in the Philippines and South American countries as a result of imposed strategies supported by the religious organizations disallowing or making illegal birth control methods and termination of pregnancies. In some African countries such as Egypt and Nigeria, women's rights to their bodies became an issue based on the government's disregard for dangerous and harmful cultural practices such as female circumcision (Krieger 726). Women felt that the
There are a number of people involved in the protection of human rights to their bodies. Medical practitioners are directly involved in this issue. In order to understand and as well comprehend the parameters is associated with women's rights to their bodies, it is imperative to elucidate the concept of informed consent. Certain medical operations such as abortions and female genital mutilations have immediate and long-lasting implications on the lives of women. Subsequently, there are many birth control methods that are used in family planning in the contemporary world. Medical codes of ethics require medical practitioners to inform patients on the implications, benefits, and alternatives to all medical operations and modes of treatment to patients in order to equip them with the knowledge that they can use to make informed choices. There are communities where female genital mutilation is a cultural norm and hence it is the role of medical practitioners to discuss both ethical and legal implications of such dehumanizing practices. Other professionals involved in this issue include social workers, and trained counselors (Carlstedt 17).     

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