The Over-Medicalization and Corrupted Medicalization of Abortion and Its Effect on Women Living in Poverty
Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics, Forthcoming
24 Pages Posted: 9 Oct 2018
Date Written: September 12, 2018
Abstract
Many current abortion regulations over-medicalize abortion or corrupt its true medical nature, with disproportionate consequences to women with lower incomes and lesser means. This article explores the effects of unnecessary and harmful abortion restrictions on women living in poverty. A brief summary of the major abortion rights cases explains how the Constitution, as currently interpreted, vests the government and sometimes the medical profession with the power to protect women’s health, rather than granting this power to women themselves. The article then argues for a new approach for protecting women’s health and respecting their dignity by reframing reproductive rights as health rights that women themselves can assert.
Keywords: Abortion, TRAP Laws, Women’s Health, Poverty, Medicalization, Whole Woman’s Health
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation