{"id":65178,"date":"2015-06-22T12:58:01","date_gmt":"2015-06-22T16:58:01","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=65178"},"modified":"2016-09-07T16:09:37","modified_gmt":"2016-09-07T20:09:37","slug":"reproductive-justice-for-all-moms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/reproductive-justice-for-all-moms\/","title":{"rendered":"Reproductive justice for all moms"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Editor\u2019s Note: Over the next three weeks, we will be sharing with you a series of articles on Reproductive Justice, written by Americans United for Life in March of 2010<\/a>. They have kindly granted us permission to reprint here. In this article, abortion restrictions are discussed. <\/em><\/p>\n

The term \u201creproductive justice\u201d\u009d took on a personal meaning for me in April of 2008, when I underwent an emergency C-Section.\u00a0 In spite of a flawless pregnancy and topnotch prenatal care, my labor completely stalled, my body simply could not do what it was supposed to do.\u00a0 Fortunately, there was no panic, no fear; in fact, there was never a moment when my husband and I wondered whether we would be able to safely bring our son into the world.<\/p>\n

It is difficult to imagine anything more in keeping with reproductive justice , defined by one reproductive rights group as \u201cthe complete physical, mental, spiritual, political, economic, and social well-being of women and girls,” than for women to have access to all existing means to safely deliver their children.<\/p>\n

We have this form of reproductive justice in the United States.\u00a0 Because of the excellent obstetric care we received, our son was born pink and healthy, I was fine, and I should have no trouble bearing more children.<\/p>\n

However, one of my nurses told me that this form of reproductive justice is terribly absent in many parts of the world.\u00a0 She explained that while a C-Section performed in a developing nation only costs US$60.00, millions of women do not have access to the procedure.\u00a0 For a woman without access to quality obstetric care, facing a complicated delivery is devastating \u2014 her baby often dies and if she survives, she is left with empty arms and a serious medical condition called an obstetric fistula.<\/p>\n

The United Nations defines an obstetric fistula as \u201ca hole in the birth canal caused by prolonged labour without prompt medical intervention, usually a Caesarean section. The woman is left with chronic incontinence and, in most cases, a stillborn baby.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n

Fistulas can be repaired for the average cost of about US $300, and the success rate is as high as 90%.\u00a0 However, most women with fistulas do not know that the surgery is available or cannot access or afford it.\u00a0 Therefore, they must live with leaking urine or feces and other chronic medical problems, and are ostracized from society.<\/p>\n

The statistics on maternal deaths and injury in developing nations are staggering.\u00a0 Figures released in October 2007 jointly by the UNFPA, WHO, UNICEF and The World Bank show that a woman dies of pregnancy-related causes at the rate of one woman a minute.\u00a0 There are 450 maternal deaths per 100,000 births in developing regions compared to 9 per 100,000 births in developed regions.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the United Nations estimates that at least 2 million women in Africa, Asia, and the Arab region are living with fistulas, and approximately 50,000 to 100,000 new cases develop each year.<\/p>\n

This problem is not being ignored internationally; however, far too little is being done to address it.\u00a0 The United Nations included improving maternal health as their fifth Millennium Development Goal, aiming to reduce maternal mortality by 75 percent by 2015.\u00a0 However, they will not even come close to that goal at current rates.\u00a0 Further, the UN promotes access to \u201csafe abortion\u201d\u009d as a key component in achieving the fifth goal, rather than focusing on improving women\u2019s health and access to quality obstetric care, including pre-natal and post-natal care.<\/p>\n

The United Nations is also involved in combating the problem of fistulas, as are private organizations.\u00a0 Perhaps what is most stunning to me, however, is the fact that more \u201creproductive health resources,\u201d\u009d be they private or public, are not being used to improve the deplorable state of maternal healthcare worldwide.<\/p>\n

Of the billions of dollars that have been spent on \u201creproductive health programs,\u201d\u009d only a fraction of the funding has been spent on prenatal and obstetric care. As pointed out by MaterCare International, an organization devoted to promoting maternal health care in developing nations, we are all familiar with crimes of commission against women in these countries \u2014 sexual assault, genital mutilation, torture \u2014 but the extreme neglect that mothers face as a result of insufficient maternal care is just as deadly.<\/p>\n

I visited the websites of the most prominent \u201creproductive rights groups\u201d\u009d and found that they were overwhelmingly devoted to overturning \u201crestrictive abortion laws\u201d\u009d in developing countries.\u00a0 While they discuss the need for good obstetric care, the vast majority of the articles are focused on pushing a pro-abortion and pro-contraception agenda overseas.<\/p>\n

Shouldn\u2019t real reproductive justice fight for the ability for all women to welcome their children into the world?\u00a0 Shouldn\u2019t our focus be on providing basic health care, sanitation, and obstetric care for all women?\u00a0 Why, when cultures in developing nations often welcome large families and value life, are resources diverted from providing care for women and their babies and towards combating abortion laws and pushing contraception?\u00a0 How is that justice?<\/p>\n

If I am blessed with another child I will likely need another C-section, and I will get to have it \u2014 I don\u2019t even have to think about it.\u00a0 It is heartbreaking that not all moms can have this opportunity, and deplorable that more is not being done to bring reproductive justice to these moms and their babies.<\/p>\n

Other posts from AUL\u2019s Reproductive Justice Series:<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n