‘More immigrant women say they were abused by ICE gynecologist.’
‘Texas asks Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade in legal papers defending abortion ban.’
‘Black mothers are at risk as the US maternal mortality rate continues to rise yearly, CDC says.’
‘Living under conservatorship: Women forced to take birth control, get sterilized.’
‘Man convicted of raping 12-year-old given joint custody of their child.’
Headlines like these stress the presence of continued threats to bodily integrity and reproductive health. Since the catalyst of the Jan. 2017 Women’s March, a new generation has taken up the mantle to defend reproductive health in the United States. They have adopted an intersectional approach to advocacy to respond to the multifold threats to reproductive and sexual healthcare that exist today.
Defenders of bodily integrity argue that all human beings deserve the right, “to autonomy and self-determination over their own body.” This right provides the key to respond to unique threats to reproductive health and better protect individuals who face the greatest risks.
Bodily Integrity is Universal
Framing reproductive health as an issue of bodily integrity promotes the universal protection of reproductive rights. Pro-choice activists often share the same goals and may often be the same group of people as maternal health activists. Similarly, advocates for access to birth control may share much in common with activists who decry forced sterilization.
Using the framework of the right to bodily integrity, advocates can protect all aspects of reproduction. Bodily autonomy and self-determination affirms that individuals should be able to choose the procedures and tools that impact their reproduction. Threats to family planning and personal safety, including access to birth control and abortion, are just as important to address as threats to the health of parents and the ability of individuals to conceive.
Framing reproduction as an issue of bodily integrity considers a more holistic view of sexual and reproductive health. This universality provides a wider range of protection than specific policy advocacy alone can offer.
Bodily Integrity is Intersectional
Each of the major threats to reproductive health result in profound consequences, yet these repercussions vary considerably depending on individuals’ identities. Evidence shows that poor women of color face between two and three times higher odds of pregnancy-related death than white women, often as a result of reduced access to essential health and reproductive care, increased likelihood of missed or delayed diagnoses, and a lack of knowledge among both patients and providers about potential reproductive health threats. Disabled individuals also face risks to their reproductive health, largely due to violations of bodily autonomy and historical policies of forced sterilization.
Often excluded from mainstream conversations about women’s rights, trans and intersex individuals may experience discrimination on the basis of their identities as a compounding factor that threatens their access to reproductive rights. Researchers find that transgender, nonbinary, and gender expansive individuals experience delays, denials, and extra charges for medical care, which limits access to reproductive services including abortion and pre-natal care. Marginalization on the basis of legal identity or criminal activity also compounds risks to reproductive health. Undocumented immigrants and prisoners face added threats to their access and quality of reproductive and sexual healthcare, if access and care exists at all.
Outside of the United States, bodily autonomy also faces high threats in countries largely located in the Global South and with lower Human Development Index measures. For women, children, and LGBTQI+ individuals in these countries, limited access to treatment for STDs, contraception, and healthcare for complications related to pregnancy result in serious — sometimes deadly — consequences.
Framing reproductive health as an issue of bodily integrity encourages the development of more equitable reproductive and sexual health policies that consider the different challenges that members of these groups may face.
Bodily Integrity is Adaptable
Arguments for the right to bodily integrity include its universality in coverage of reproductive health and its ability to address individual risk with an intersectional focus. Bodily integrity also offers adaptability outside of its application to reproductive health — a third justification for advocates to use this framework. Bodily autonomy and self-determination are essential to protect victims of rape and child marriage, just as they are important for developing policies to prevent domestic violence and sex trafficking and creating policies that protect the lives and rights of sex workers.
The adaptability of the right to bodily integrity creates a compelling argument that may reach a wider audience than only proponents of reproductive and sexual health. Individuals who may not feel their rights to reproductive health are at risk may identify with some of the other applications
of bodily integrity, such as broader issues with bodily autonomy and a lack of choices with regard to specific types of healthcare treatments.
Under a rights-based framework with bodily integrity at its core, a wider set of threats can be matched by the efforts of advocates in solidarity with one another. Rights to reproductive and sexual health are essential and should be protected by the promotion of bodily integrity as a central organizing force for justice.
Further Reading
For more information about reproductive health and its threats during the COVID-19 pandemic: ‘Restore sexual, reproductive health rights lost during COVID, rights expert urges.’
To read a World Health Organization report on human rights and reproductive health: Sexual Health, Human Rights, and the Law
Links to the articles corresponding with the headlines at the beginning of this piece: 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5
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