RHR - Reproductive Health and Rights

The subject of reproductive health and rights is very complicated. The issue which concerns ownership of the female body becomes influenced by cultural demands that are a product of the laws of that culture.

Women in some cultures of the world have ownership rights to their bodies. If they find that they are pregnant, they can end that pregnancy without facing legal entanglements. In other cultures, a woman who ends her pregnancy can be involved in legal problems if she uses another person to help her to end her pregnancy. That is how the issue of reproductive health and rights becomes a problem that demands laws which demand legislation from those who make those laws.

A society does not have legal resource to a woman's reproductive health and rights until that woman gets assistance from a second person to end that pregnancy or if that woman jeopardizes her own life which might be interpreted as endangering her own life. Then, reproductive health and rights towards those in the society who are most influenced by reproduction become a legal matter.

A culture can not directly control the reproductive process of women legally. The social sanctions sometimes imposed by family are the only control many women have as regards their reproduction health and issues. A culture can get involved in the reproductive health and rights of women if the health of women is jeopardized by practices that might be illegal, like abortion. Setting medical conditions on when an abortion can be legally performed by another party becomes a legal issue and the rights of women while in the reproductive process are owned by the culture under whose laws those women live.

All cultures can legislate reproductive laws that take away from women the right to decide on the course of their pregnancy or even on their health. The question of enforcing those laws becomes the issue if women make decisions on their own which might jeopardize their own health and existence. Making laws that govern the health and rights of another human being is very complicated and requires sensitive treatment by those who can affect the health and rights of women.


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