Published in 2018 by Greenhaven Publishing, LLC
353 3rd Avenue, Suite 255, New York, NY 10010
Copyright © 2018 by Greenhaven Publishing, LLC
First Edition
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer.
Articles in Greenhaven Publishing anthologies are often edited for length to meet page requirements. In addition, original titles of these works are changed to clearly present the main thesis and to explicitly indicate the author’s opinion. Every effort is made to ensure that Greenhaven Publishing accurately reflects the original intent of the authors. Every effort has been made to trace the owners of the copyrighted material.
Cover image: Suz7/Shutterstock.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Cunningham, Anne C., editor.
Title: Reproductive rights / Anne Cunningham, book editor.
Description: New York : Greenhaven Publishing, 2018. | Series: At issue |
Includes bibliographical references and index. | Audience: Grades 9 to 12.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017039269| ISBN 9781534502062 (library bound) | ISBN 9781534502093 (pbk.)
Subjects: LCSH: Reproductive rights—United States—Juvenile literature.
Classification: LCC HQ766.5.U5 R475 2018 | DDC 613.9—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017039269
Manufactured in the United States of America
Website: http://greenhavenpublishing.com
1. State Legislatures Hammer Away at Abortion Access
Center for Reproductive Rights
2. Reproductive Rights in the Age of President Trump
Emily Crockett
3. Abortion Is Legal and Saying Otherwise Is Counterproductive
Bridgette Dunlap
4. Many States Are Hostile Toward Abortion Rights
Carrie Levi
5. ACA Repeal Would Strip Women of Contraceptive Coverage
Amie Newman
6. An ACA Repeal Impacts Specific Areas of Women’s Health
Danielle Kurtzleben
7. Defunding Planned Parenthood Is a Priority for GOP Leaders
Julie Rovner
8. Women’s Health Care in Jeopardy Under New Administration
Jamila Taylor
9. Women’s March Draws Thousands but Exposes Racial Fissures
Karen Grigsby Bates
10. Why We Need Intersectional Feminism
Taylor Hawk
11. Women Worldwide Will Suffer Under Global Gag Rule
Jamila Taylor and Kiersten Gillette-Pierce
12. Global Gag Rule Defunds Aid to the Poor
Patricia Schwerdtle
13. US Paid Leave Policies Lag Behind Those of Other Democracies
Danielle Kurtzleben
14. The Women’s Rights Movement Still Faces Backlash and Misunderstanding
Dominique Colbert
The term “reproductive rights” encompasses far more than a woman’s constitutionally protected right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. Access to accurate, age appropriate sex education, affordable contraception, and essential heath services such as prenatal care, breast cancer screenings, and even mental health counseling all fall under the heading of reproductive rights.
Despite a statement by the World Health Organization recommending that individual decisions about reproduction be free of violence or coercion, this is rarely the case worldwide. Even in the United States, a wealthy and developed nation, access to quality reproductive health care services is shrinking. Availability of these services has always varied widely according to income, race, and geographic location, but new legislation threatens to widen these existing disparities in access. It is more important than ever to reiterate that reproductive rights are fundamental human rights, rights to which we are all entitled in theory but must struggle to actualize in practice.
The claim “reproductive rights are human rights” may not strike us as controversial, but reproductive rights are among the most bitterly fraught social issues in contemporary politics. A glance at the news underscores that reproductive rights are under the gun, primarily from lawmakers who wish to curtail them based on religious or ideological grounds. Advocates for reproductive rights counter that a conservative minority should not dictate law and public health policy, nor should they interfere in private decisions made between a woman and a doctor. From both economic and public health standpoints, multiple studies suggest we have much to lose by rolling back reproductive rights.
The main reason reproductive rights are so contentious can be summed up in a single word: abortion. “Anti-choice” abortion opponents feel strongly that a human life begins at conception and that the termination of an embryo is tantamount to murder. While an answer to this thorny philosophical question of when life begins lies outside the scope of this book, the zeal and certainty with which abortion opponents answer this question ensures that legislation and court decisions concerning abortion will be passionate—and sometimes lethal. For example, in 2009, a Kansas doctor named George Tiller, known to perform abortions, was shot and killed while attending church. While only a few extremists resort to murder, anti-choice politicians justify their violent obstructions of women’s reproductive rights by invoking a false equivalence of violence against the unborn child.
Anti-choice leaders are willing to sacrifice a bevy of reproductive rights because they believe these actions will reduce abortions. But is this conclusion correct? The central irony of their position, as a few of the viewpoints here will convincingly argue, is that the most effective way to prevent abortion is through inexpensive, readily available birth control and a sex education curriculum that moves beyond an “abstinence only” approach. With a few exceptions, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires insurers to cover contraception. Since this became law, the incidence of abortion in America has declined. Nonetheless, defunding Planned Parenthood and abstinence-only sex education remain high priorities for many Republican politicians.
How did we arrive in a climate so hostile to abortion and reproductive rights? Back in 1973, the Supreme Court upheld a woman’s constitutional right to a legal abortion with their decision in the landmark case Roe v. Wade. The court hedged this protection by specifying that the state play a role in protecting the health of the mother and the potential life of the child. This caveat allows states considerable leeway to define conditions under which abortion is illegal, as well as other specifics regarding the procedure. On the federal level, pushback against Roe began almost immediately. In 1976, the Hyde Amendment prohibited any federal funds from being used for abortion. This is the pretext under which the movement to defund Planned Parenthood operates. As Bridgette Dunlap explains in her viewpoint here, attacks on abortion “are on its availability and affordability, not its legality.”
The 2010 midterm election also represented a significant turning point for abortion rights. That year, a spate of Republican politicians hostile to abortion rights gained power on both the state and federal level. Literally hundreds of new restrictions on the procedure have been passed in state legislatures since. Tactics include targeted regulation of abortion providers (TRAP) laws designed to shut down abortion clinics through onerous codes, enforced waiting periods, and requirements to counsel women from scripts often containing misinformation. Many of these laws, such as Texas HB2, have been struck down as unconstitutional due to their gratuitous and excessively burdensome nature.
Of course, the Republican presidential victory in the 2016 election promises to exacerbate the backlash. While President Donald Trump’s personal views on abortion are inchoate and hardly consistent, his running mate and now vice president Mike Pence has been one of the most ardent foes of reproductive rights on the political scene for decades. One of Trump’s first executive actions was to reinstate the so-called Global Gag Rule, which forbids funding for any NGOs to provide abortion or abortion related services. This reverses Obama’s policy and cuts aid to the most needy.
Those who oppose such policies are numerous, and on January 21, 2017, they made their voices heard. The Women’s March on Washington drew 500,000 to the nation’s capital, and 3 million worldwide participated. Still, problems of unity and inclusiveness threaten to divide the resistance, as Karen Grigsby Bates points out in her viewpoint here. As a strong and united defense of reproductive rights is crucial, these critiques are instructive in building effective resistance.
This At Issue volume comprises articles that trace this debate. It aims to provide a nuanced and critical look at a subject that at some point will affect all of us. If we wish to expand reproductive rights in this country, we must begin from an informed and historically grounded position. This book seeks to foster this crucial knowledge.