Reproductive Rights: Gendered Perspectives

The goal of this project is to provide a useful tool in more fully understanding the underlying principles of reproductive rights as a concept of human rights. This will be done by discussing the topics surrounding reproductive rights, as well as the interconnected relationships between the rights, entities, viewpoints, and individuals involved. The observations made in this paper will be utilized in a website. This provides a rich foundation for learning, not only through comfort of access, but through the use of more interactive-based learning tools. The information will help users analyze the subject in light of their own experiences and develop a more informed personal concept of reproductive rights.

Since the Renaissance of the 15th century, societal views have evolved drastically. One of the largest changes has been the realization of individualism, along with the recognition of inalienable human rights.(UDHR, A.1) This means that all humans are equal, free, and capable of thought; as such, the rights of one individual cannot infringe on another’s at risk of de-humanizing the infringed upon. The fact that humans have a set of natural rights is not contested in society today; the idea of human rights is a societal construction based on normative ethical codes. Human rights are defined from the hegemonic standpoint, using normative ethical values and their application to the interactions of individuals with each other and state bodies. Human rights laws are legislature put in place by the governing body to regulate these interactions.

Before any legislation could be implemented, a definition of human rights had to be compiled and accepted. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was approved in 1948 by th...

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...or equitable treatment in some regions and cultures. Another convoluting factor for legislature involves pregnancy. Fetal rights are still undefined, and must be considered in direct relation to the rights of the parents, particularly the mother’s health rights.

Different cultures have different controversial subjects concerning reproductive rights. In some cultures around the world, females are second-class citizens; in many cultures, women are married at a young age without their consent and forced (socially, via lack of education/birth control) to birth children, in some cases continuously through life. Of course, these may not be controversial subjects in the culture/region it is rooted in, because it is socially accepted as the norm. In Western culture, the most debated subject is abortion, specifically the rights of the woman, fetus, and man involved.