In the article on ‘Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Female Body in Early Modern Germany’, Rublack explores what it meant to be a women during these times and how a women could hold a certain power of authority when carrying a child. She also details the various methods that were used to ensure a safe childbirth and the standards that women were held to. She uses many cases to give examples of what happens when a mother did not follow the expectations set upon her by society or how miscarriages occurred due to externals shocks and factors. Rublack gives us the insight into the medical knowledge of Early Modern Germany. It was believed during this time period that any external factor could cause complications with child birth, the child
Gluckel's memoir enables a reader to gain an understanding of what a widowed Jewish woman would face in Christian dominated Germany both from a personal and public perspective throughout seventeenth and eighteenth century. Throughout her memoirs Gluckel describes the worries that a mother would have over her children, her relations with both her first and second husband while addressing the responsibilities she faced as a businesswoman. Gluckel arranged her life narrative in seven books. The first four books and the opening section of the fifth book have been written consecutively in the months or year of mourning after Haim's (her first husbands) death in 1689. The rest of Book 5 was written during the decade of the 1690's but given final form after her second marriage. The sixth book was written in 1702 or shortly afterward, during the initial shock of Hirsch Levy's (Gluckel's second husbands) bankruptcy in Metz, and the seventh and final book was composed in 1715, during her second widowhood, with a final paragraph from 1719 before her death. Gluckel has conveniently broken down her narratives in seven books, which help the reader clearly identify with individual aspects occurring in her life. In her memoirs Gluckel thoroughly encompasses a social, cultural and economical perspective about her life as a Jewish woman while contrasting it to Christian ways which dominated Germany during both 17th and 18th century.
In kilner’s case study “Having a baby the new-fashioned way”, present a story that can be relatable to a lot of families struggling to have a child. This is a dilemma that can be controversial and ethical in own sense. The couple that were discussed in the case study were Betty and Tom. Betty and Tom who are both in their early forties who have struggled to bear children. Dr. Ralph Linstra from Liberty University believes that “Fertility can be taken for granted”. Dr. Ralph talks about how many couples who are marriage may run into an issue of bearing a child and turn to “medical science” to fix the issue. He discusses that “God is author of life and he can open and close the womb”. That in it’s self presents how powerful God.
Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood by Kristen Luker, analyzes the historical and complex sociology of abortion. Luker focuses on three important factors: a historical overview of abortion, the pro-life and pro-choice views, and the direction the abortion debates are going (11, Luker, Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood p. 000). Abortion has always been seen as murder and with the idea that those who are already living have more rights. Back in the days, the laws didn’t give fetus personhood. Also, the laws against abortions weren’t strictly enforced upon anyone. In addition, abortion didn’t seem to be a huge problem, which explains why abortion was ignored in the past.
"I had traveled much on the Kennebec, by water, by ice, and, during those treacherous seasons when the river was neither one nor the other, by faith" (e.g., A Midwife's Tale). Martha's diary is one of the few documents written by a woman that exist today and that describes the behavior, occupation, roles, and daily activities of a common society in the 18th century during and after the Revolution. Although she dedicates her whole life to help others and her family, the diary exposes a very different world with the very different community. Many other history documents lacked the problems of women and the lack of written documents by the female gender. Through this document, Martha gives the importance of women in the community and how they
During the early twentieth century, the rate of unwanted childbirth was very high. Women in poor neighborhoods lived their lives in an almost constant state of pregnancy. Margaret Sanger recognized the need for women to be able to control their childbearing. She believed that unintentional childbearing caused many problems. She felt it led to poverty, abuse, crime, alcoholism, and joblessness. She saw the effect it had on the women’s emotional states and decided to make a difference. She provided women with the means and the knowledge to control their offspring. She gave them hope.
Women throughout time have been compelled to cope with the remonstrances of motherhood along with society’s anticipations
The primary issue in this article is whether or not abortion is still wrong even if the fetus is preserved after it is removed from the body of the mother. In a traditional legal abortion the fetus is removed and put to death. With new technology the fetus can be preserved so that it can still produce a child at a later time or in another persons body. The issue of abortion is broken up into two aspects according to the author: (1) the expulsion of the fetus and (2) the death to the fetus. Because of these two aspects two rights are created: (1) the right of the mother to control her own body and (2) the right of the fetus to life.
...lity. When they cannot take care of the baby, the mothers usually leaves the baby alone for it to pass away. It is because of the society and the lack of economic support that these mothers leave their babies. This is very common in Brazil which all became a tradition rooted by feudalism, exploitation, as well as institutionalized dependency (Hughes). In today’s society, women can be both cultural and natural contributors. Women have enough power to change the history and be written to be told to future generations.
“All over the world there exists in every society a small group of women who feel themselves strongly attracted to give care to other women during pregnancy and childbirth. Failure to make use of this group of highly motivated people is regrettable and a sin against the principle of subsidiarity.”
While working as a nurse Sanger came across a woman by the name of Sadie Sachs (likely a compilation of many women) who became very ill after giving herself an abortion. Sachs begged the doctor for advice on pregnancy preven...
The main weight of the essay shall focus on Article 2. It will also focus on case law where situations of the human rights law have developed the law on abortion. An overview of the United Kingdom position on abortion shall be considered before the Human Rights aspect is integrated into this work. The consideration of the European dimension is important in light of the European Convention on Human Rights, especially as research has concluded that, “In Europe, 30% of pregnancies end up in abortion”. Indeed, David Steel MP, who was responsible for the private member’s bill which led to the Abortion Act 1967, has stated that he, “never envisaged there would be so many abortions”. Good law requires statute to provide certainty, and whether or not human rights intervention has altered the domestic position shall be analysed within this work.
Abortion is a touchy topic. In different cultures and historical times, abortion has been viewed in a variety of perspectives. Some argue it is the right for a woman to have control over her body, while others argue it is murder. From assessing two different films, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days and A Woman Alone, one can say clear differences in the effects of having an abortion or keeping a child. In 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, two Romanian college women struggle with arranging an illegal abortion. The “doctor”, Mr. Bebe, clearly states that everything must be kept secret and that the repercussions of getting caught could be drastic. On the contrary, in A Woman Alone, the main character, a mother, decides to keep her child. They have an extremely
Prior to reading these articles, I really only had a basic idea of what a midwife was. I had thought that their only role was delivering babies but through the readings, I was shown that the delivery was only a small part of what midwives did. One really big thing I noticed was that being a midwife was probably the closest thing a woman could do to have similar rights and freedoms of a man. For instance woman who were midwives were granted some form of education through apprenticeships and manuals. So far, as learned through this course, I have learned that it was not very common for women to get any form of education for women other that learning how to tend to their household, yet the midwives were given both the home life of a woman and the work life of a man. Midwives were not only taught how to birth children, but also other medical practices such as healing, and even preforming the religious ceremony of baptism. Midwives were also active members of society in their own community which man women did not have
Abortion is one of the most controversial social issues in today’s society. Over forty two million abortions are performed each year on legal and illegal grounds and one-hundred and fifteen thousand daily around the world. Abortion throughout human history has been practiced in every culture on earth. In primitive societies abortion was carried out by using sharp sticks or putting sheer pressure on women’s torsos. The result of which was vaginal bleeding. The greatest cultures which this world had fostered long before us also had their own methods of abortions. In fact, techniques for terminating pregnancies are printed in mankind’s longest surviving medical texts.
“The so-called right to abortion has pitted mothers against their children and women against men. It has sown violence and discord at the heart of the most intimate human relationships. It has aggravated the derogation of the father's role in an increasingly fatherless society. It has portrayed the greatest of gifts--a child--as a competitor, an intrusion and an inconvenience. It has nominally accorded mothers unfettered dominion over the dependent lives of their physically dependent sons and daughters. And, in granting this unconscionable power, it has exposed many women to unjust and selfish demands from their husbands or other sexual partners.” – Mother Theresa.