Women’s Control Over Reproductive Health
For the past couple decades, women have been fighting for control over their own bodies. The Human Rights Watch and other activist groups have been campaigning in several countries to demand women abortion rights, and control over all of their reproductive aspects (Feldt, 2007). Women, in some countries, are still subject to arranged marriages, female genitalia mutilation, and still have a lack of knowledge regarding safe sex practices (Smith, 2005). Women must have control over their reproductive health because it allows them to further their career, it reduces poverty, and it allows them to lead healthier lives.
Advancing One’s Career
In order for women to have a fair chance in the corporate world, they must have access to abortion clinics. If a women has a baby, she could miss a promotion, and it would be a set back in terms of getting a higher salary, or a higher status in her job. In addition, in nine months’ time, a woman could forget many of the skills she learned at her job, and would have to be retrained upon her return (Smith, 2005). At the very least, when she returns, she would be much slower at getting the job done. This is a waste of time and a setback for most women who want to develop themselves and earn a lot of money (Strickler, 2002). A baby is seen as an inconvenience, and women must have control over their bodies. Indeed, if a woman wants a top career and doesn’t want to put it in jeopardy, she either has to delay having a baby, or just not have one at all. Also, in order to go to graduate school and further her education, she needs to delay having a family (Strickler, 2002). This in turn, will allow her advance her career, and maybe become a CEO. By advancing a women’s career it expands both economic and social opportunities for her. She can use this money to start her own business, buy a home, or start an organization. The more she has control over her reproductive rights, the more she has control over her life (Smith, 2005). By making more money, she can save some of it for her retirement, reducing poverty.
Reduces Poverty
By women being able to have control over her reproductive rights, she can reduce her own poverty, the poverty of her family, and have a richer future. Controlling reproduction isn’t only limited to abortion, it can also mean one using contraceptives or birth control pills in order to avoid pregnancy. Women should have access to birth control pills and have an extensive knowledge of contraceptives starting from her teenage years (Joffe, 2004). Indeed, using contraceptives reduces the instances of poverty striking her from an early age. If a teenager gets pregnant and decides to have this baby, she will have to struggle in order to support this baby. Raising a baby is very expensive, and a teenager who hasn’t finished high school will only be able …
