Analyze Views Of Women's Reproductive Solutions

Views of Women's Reproductive Solutions in the 19th Century
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Views of Women's Reproductive Solutions in the 19th Century
Overview
Throughout the history of the United States, women have fought hard to have equal rights as their male counterparts including rights to participate in reproductive decisions (Engholm, 2014). During the last century, women roles were distinct from that of men, and their main responsibilities were performing household duties and bearing children. On the other hand, men were the breadwinners and could leave home and socialize with the other men in their occupations. Since women’s rights in the 19th century were non-existent, men were the sole decision makers in the matters concerning women reproductive systems, abortions, use of contraceptives and all other issues regarding the sexual life of women. For instance, the issue of abortion has been the source of contention in the entire history of the US (Engholm, 2014). In the 19th century, abortion was illegal, and women could bear several unwanted children. Abortion was only allowed on rare occasions when the baby posed a danger to the mother. Therefore, women could not terminate a pregnancy under any other circumstance.
Further, religion negatively influenced the reproductive life of women in various aspects during the 19th century. Historically, the problem resulted from religious views concerning gender and sexuality. Today, the impact of both religion and culture on sexual and reproductive behavior as well as healthcare utilization is primarily recognized (Engholm, 2014). Some studies indicate that various religious beliefs have a profound influence on the women’s reproductive outcomes. Specifically, religious affiliation significantly affected some of the reproductive issues such as abortion, use of anesthesia and contraceptives. For example, the Catholics viewed the use of birth controls as an artificial method of managing God’s creation which they indicated was not righ...