The Impact of Reproductive Subordination of Women's Health-Family Planning Services

This article notes that empowering women with the ability to regulate and control their fertility is a basic requirement for women's health, well-being and quality of life. It argues that coerced contraception, sterilization or abortion, and coerced motherhood equally deny women the dignity of making reproductive choices. The author notes that the negative impact on health caused by such a violation is equally severe whether it is a result of direct state action or the failure to protect reproductive rights. The author also discusses the Cairo Program of Action which upheld the principles of women's reproductive rights. The author emphasizes that to hold states accountable for both action and inaction in this area, there is a need to bring together the legal community, health community and women's organizations under the banner of human rights treaties and the Women's Convention. [Descriptors: Reproductive Rights - Reproductive Freedom, International]