Critical Issues in Reproductive Health
In this book, leading academics and practitioners in the field of reproductive health address topics such as contraception, abortion, sexually transmitted infections, maternal and prenatal health, sexuality and reproductive rights by examining a number of critical issues in these areas. The authors describe new research, identify gaps and priorities in policy and practice, and illustrate innovative solutions. The book further addresses such current imperatives as understanding the social meanings of emergency contraception, measuring gender-based violence, improving reproductive health governance, strengthening health systems and services, and redressing institutional barriers. The book also assesses how reproductive health programs can be reconfigured to new challenges such as those posed by climate change, vulnerable youth in fragile states, and risks from new infertility treatments. Using a rich and varied set of cases, a broad public health and social science perspective, and novel methodological approaches, this book questions common assumptions, illustrates effective solutions and sets out research, policy, and programmatic agendas for the present and future. This is a comprehensive volume which provides a valuable resource to researchers, educators, practitioners, policymakers and students, as well as anyone studying or advocating for reproductive health.
Obstacle Course: the everyday struggle to get an abortion in America
It seems unthinkable that citizens of one of the most powerful nations in the world must risk their lives and livelihoods in the search for access to necessary health care. And yet it is no surprise that in many places throughout the United States, getting an abortion can be a monumental challenge. Anti-choice politicians and activists have worked tirelessly to impose needless restrictions on this straightforward medical procedure that, at best, delay it and, at worst, create medical risks and deny women their constitutionally protected right to choose. Obstacle Course tells the story of abortion in America, capturing a disturbing reality of insurmountable barriers people face when trying to exercise their legal rights to medical services. Authors David S. Cohen and Carole Joffe lay bare the often arduous and unnecessarily burdensome process of terminating a pregnancy: the sabotaged decision-making, clinics in remote locations, insurance bans, harassing protesters, forced ultrasounds and dishonest medical information, arbitrary waiting periods, and unjustified procedure limitations. Based on patients' stories as well as interviews with abortion providers and allies from every state in the country, Obstacle Course reveals the unstoppable determination required of women in the pursuit of reproductive autonomy as well as the incredible commitment of abortion providers. Without the efforts of an unheralded army of medical professionals, clinic administrators, counselors, activists, and volunteers, what is a legal right would be meaningless for the almost one million people per year who get abortions. There is a better way--treating abortion like any other form of health care--but the United States is a long way from that ideal.
Our Communities, Our Sexual Health : awareness and prevention for African Americans
This groundbreaking book provides a comprehensive historical prospective of the disproportionate burden of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among African Americans. The book opens with a compelling Foreword that features a Q&A session with early HIV prevention pioneers and champions, Drs. David Satcher and Helene Gayle. The chapters that follow explore the context of HIV and STIs in African American communities and include discussions of sexuality and the roles of faith and spirituality in HIV and STI prevention efforts. Additional chapters provide insight into strategies, e.g., HIV testing, condom distribution and marketing campaigns, parent-child communication, effective clinical care and support, and partnerships, for addressing HIV and other STI-related health disparities within these communities. The book is a valuable resource for practitioners, scholars, clinicians,educators, providers, policy makers and students
Reimagining Global Abortion Politics: a social justice perspective
What are the contemporary issues in abortion politics globally? What factors explain variations in access to abortion between and within different countries? This text provides a transnationally-focused, interdisciplinary analysis of trends in abortion politics using case studies from around the Global North and South. It considers how societal influences, such as religion, nationalism and culture, impact abortion law and access. It explores the impact of international human rights norms, the increasing displacement of people due to conflict and crisis and the role of activists on law reform and access. The book concludes by considering the future of abortion politics through the more holistic lens of reproductive justice. Utilising a unique interdisciplinary approach, this book provides a major contribution to the knowledge base on abortion politics globally. It provides an accessible, informative and engaging text for academics, policy makers and readers interested in abortion politics.
Rural Women's Sexuality, Reproductive Health, and Illiteracy: a critical perspective on development
Based on twenty-five years of fieldwork, Rural Women s Sexuality, Reproductive Health, and Illiteracy: A Critical Perspective on Development examines rural women s behaviors towards health in several developing countries. These women are confronted with many factors: gender inequalities, violence from partners, and lack of economic independence. The book also gives insight into the general weakness of the health systems in place and questions the progress of numerous international conferences ICPD (International Conference on Population and Development) and MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) along with WHO (The World Health Organization) Frame Work for Action, UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) and CEDAW (Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women) all supporting women s empowerment as related to violence, education, and reproductive health. Chapters provide numerous concrete examples and vignettes describing constraints on women in a variety of countries related to their intimate lives and their struggle between traditional and modern medicine. Widely practiced clandestine sex work is a challenge to HIV/AIDS programs. The book examines the women who choose clandestine sex work and their clients sexual behavior and attitudes toward prostitution and HIV prevention. It also explores the negotiations between promiscuous, migratory men, and the ties of sexuality and fertility that women use to tie them to a male partner. The book argues for effective delivery of healthcare programs accompanied by multi-lateral responses from the civil society, governments, donors and agencies. Rural Women s Sexuality, Reproductive Health, and Illiteracy is a useful resource scholars, as well as consultants and staff working in development agencies and public health."
Sexual Health: a public health perspective
"Sexual Health: A Public Health Perspective provides a comprehensive, yet a practical resource on sexual health for public health professionals. The book elaborates sexual health from a variety of angles including biomedical, behavioural, social and contextual as well as giving a clear articulation of public health interventions for improving sexual health. Illustrative examples relevant to a variety of settings facilitate understanding and applicability of knowledge to both low- and high-resource settings. The book is highly recommended for public health programmers and practitioners, and those working in the area of sexual health." Dr Lale Say, Co-ordinator, Department of Reproductive Health and Research (RHR), World Health Organization, UK "A great and novel approach which demonstrates theoretically and through many examples, the need to consider issues of sexual health by understanding sexuality not as a fact of nature but as a social construction. A valuable link between academic knowledge and sexual health policies that invites sexual health professionals to consider the politic, economic and social determinants of sexuality and health issues related to it." Dr N Bajos, Research Director at INSERM (National Institute for Health and Medical Research), France This timely book introduces social aspects of the study of sexual health and their application to public health practice. The book addresses five key themes: Conceptual and theoretical aspects of sexual health, Sexual health outcomes of risk and vulnerability, Improving sexual health status and Measuring and assessing sexual health status. The authors consider each of these themes within their cultural and historical context and illustrate topics with international examples and case studies. Key features of the book include: A spotlight on populations rather than individuals, and a focus on the prevention of ill health and promotion of well being. A global perspective; the book makes the distinction between developing and developed countries, but recognises that inequalities are to be found within as well as between countries. A view of sexual behaviour as socially learned rather than biologically given and so as amenable to change and intervention to improve sexual health status. An emphasis on ways in which risk and vulnerability are products, not only of individual behaviours, but of the social context in which they are practiced. Written by authors with a wide range of experience, this book will be a valuable resource for public health practitioners and those studying and working in the area of sexual health. Understanding Public Health is an innovative series published by Open University Press in collaboration with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Series Editors: Rosalind Plowman and Nicki Thorogood. Contributors: Sevgi O Aral, Chris Bonell, Helen Burchett, Joanna Busza, Martine Collumbien, Simon Forrest, Rebecca French, Claudia Garcia-Moreno, Anna Glasier, Jami Leichliter, Kirstin Mitchell, Will Nutland, Thomas Peterman, Elisabeth Pisani, Kaye Wellings, Meg Wiggins and Maria Zuurmond.
The Turnaway Study: ten years, a thousand women, and the consequences of having--or being denied--an abortion
"If you read only one book about democracy, The Turnaway Study should be it. Why? Because without the power to make decisions about our own bodies, there is no democracy." --Gloria Steinem "Dr. Diana Greene Foster brings what is too often missing from the public debate around abortion: science, data, and the real-life experiences of people from diverse backgrounds...This should be required reading for every judge, member of Congress, and candidate for office--as well as anyone who hopes to better understand this complex and important issue." --Cecile Richards, cofounder of Supermajority, former president of Planned Parenthood, and author of Make Trouble A groundbreaking and illuminating look at the state of abortion access in America and the first long-term study of the consequences--emotional, physical, financial, professional, personal, and psychological--of receiving versus being denied an abortion on women's lives. What happens when a woman seeking an abortion is turned away? Diana Greene Foster, PhD, decided to find out. With a team of scientists--psychologists, epidemiologists, demographers, nursing scholars, and public health researchers--she set out to discover the effect of receiving versus being denied an abortion on women's lives. Over the course of a ten-year investigation that began in 2007, she and her team followed a thousand women from more than twenty states, some of whom received their abortions, some of whom were turned away. Now, for the first time, the results of this landmark study--the largest of its kind to examine women's experiences with abortion and unwanted pregnancy in the United States--have been gathered together in one place. Here Foster presents the emotional, physical, and socioeconomic outcomes for women who received their abortion and those who were denied. She analyzes the impact on their mental and physical health, their careers, their romantic lives, their professional aspirations, and even their existing and future children--and finds that women who received an abortion were almost always better off than women who were denied one. Interwoven with these findings are ten riveting first-person narratives by women who share their candid stories. As the debate about abortion rights intensifies, The Turnaway Study offers an in-depth examination of the real-world consequences for women of being denied abortions and provides evidence to refute the claim that abortion harms women. With brilliant synthesis and startling statistics--that thousands of American women are unable to access abortions; that 99% of women who receive an abortion do not regret it five years later--The Turnaway Study is a necessary and revelatory look at the impact of abortion access on people's lives.
Whose Choice Is It?: abortion, medicine, and the law
Whose Choice Is It? covers everything about abortion, including the key question-should a woman be allowed to choose whether to continue her pregnancy or should a legislature make that choice for her? Some of the world's foremost experts address past, present, and future abortion practices from legal, medical, political, and moral perspectives. When human life begins is addressed. Women's access to abortion and contraception throughout history is explained. Dr. Rebecca Gomperts-the world's leading deliverer of abortion care in restrictive countries-relates her experiences, and there is much, much more. Whose Choice Is It? will be a tremendous resource everywhere, whatever the fate of the Roe and Doe decisions in the United States. Book jacket.