The Pros And Cons Of Reproductive Decisions

Reproductive decisions may be one of the most personal, private decisions individuals make in their lives; yet it is dictated, controlled, and policed so greatly that the words ‘decision’ and ‘choice’ are no longer applicable. Male dominated professions, such as doctors and lawyers, have, historically, made reproductive decisions for all women, often making decisions that demonized women who did not want to become mothers. Traditional institutions, such as marriage, religion, and its inherent patriarchy; have also been used to dominate and control reproducing women, questioning their womanhood if they do not conform to gender expectations. In addition, race, socioeconomic status, and citizenship status have significant effects on the treatment
For one, ‘quickening,’ described as “the period in pregnancy when a woman felt fetal movement” (Luker, 14), was used to determine when conception had occurred. However, due to the fact that only pregnancy women can determine this stage, abortion regulation was probably minimal and infrequent. Devising abortion to be a physician-related decision gave abortion authority to the physician, and the physician alone. Physicians argued that abortion during any period of pregnancy was murder (Luker, 14), and justified their stance by arguing that women seeking abortions are misguided. Physicians used two arguments to justify their intervention and authority on abortion. The first argument they employed was that they were compelled to address the abortion issue because American women were committing a moral crime based on ignorance about embryonic life (Luker, 21). This argument allowed physicians to criticize the act of abortion, while also alleviating blame from women because of their ignorance and lack of scientific knowledge. The other argument made by physicians builds on the first, that it was a physician’s job to save women from their ignorance about the life of an embryo being a child at conception (Luker, 21). Women did not treat abortion as the controversial issue that it is today, nor did they see it as something that was morally
Therefore, women managing their fertility through abortion or birth control, without the male head of the house dictating her decisions, deviated from the patriarchal institution of family. As historian Rickie Solinger writes in her book Pregnancy and Power, “if women managed their fertility in this way, that would undermine the social arrangements that mandated families in which husbands held power and made all the important decisions” (Solinger, 7). This means that women taking control of their fertility was seen as undermining the patriarchal power in the nuclear family. In effect, women deviating from the traditional gender roles and subordination to their husband’s wishes diminished their womanhood and