While pregnant women’s lack of access to basic medical facilities in India is entrenched, social attitudes around the accepted role of women as childbearers worsen maternal health in the country.
Childbirth and pregnancy are extremely dangerous endeavors for the women of the world but most especially for women in developing nations and even more especially for teen girls in developing nations. We know this. We know that anti-choice, religious right extremists prefer to throw women and girls under the bus rather than admit to this fact. But it is the truth.
The anti-choice community is angry with the appointments of Hillary Clinton and Susan Rice because, they say, these two women will add abortion as an international human right.
We all arrive through pregnancy. You’d think with this kind of reputation, prioritizing maternal health might be a no-brainer for governments. What about the United States? Will our presidential candidates address the plight of mothers worldwide in the first debate?
There exists a “drug drought” for pregnant women in this country and around the world, leaving women and their fetuses to face obstetric conditions and other medical problems using untested medication or no treatment at all.
Illegal abortions are one of the top ten causes of maternal death in Jamaica. Safe, legal abortions are only accessible to those who can afford one. Existing abortion “common law” in Jamaica is ambiguous and differs than legislation on the books. Jamaica is in the midst of a heated abortion debate.
