Summary: The Cultural Context Of Abortion

Many people believe abortion is a moral issue, but it is also a constitutional issue. It is a woman's right to choose what she does with her body, and it should not be altered or influenced by anyone else. This right is guaranteed by the ninth amendment, which contains the right to privacy. The ninth amendment states: "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." This right guarantees the right to women, if they so choose to have an abortion, up to the end of the first trimester. Regardless of the fact of morals, a woman has the right to privacy and choice to abort her fetus. The people that hold a "pro-life" view argue that a woman who has an abortion is …show more content…
When women are lumped together as a general category falling under the rubric of "female," important racial and cultural distinctions are elided. Abortion does not affect all women in the same way, and this section implies sensitivity to this fact. Chapter Five discusses how most Black women are not represented in popular abortion discourse. In fact, less than 5% of Black women are involved in the U.S. prochoice movement. Black women tend to focus more on framing the issue in terms of a more inclusive reproductive rights movement. This notion calls for improved systems of basic health care rather than simply a fight centered on abortion rights. Chapters Six and Seven involve Latinas and Asian Pacific Islander Americans (APIAs), respectively. In Chapter Six, Erickson and Kaplan point out that Latinas have higher abortion rates than their white counterparts, yet little is known about how the procedure effects these women. In Chapter Seven, Tanjasiri and Aibe maintain that American-born APIAs tend to be more accepting of abortion than those born in countries prohibiting the procedure altogether. What is particularly impressive about this section is the fact that while many texts marginalize women of color as they explicate white women's efforts to maintain abortion rights, this section explicitly places women of color at the forefront. It offers them agency in an issue that …show more content…
The section opens with Chapter Thirteen, wherein Fisher, Castle, and Garrity provide specific counseling strategies based on theories that can be utilized both before and after the abortion. In Chapter Fourteen, Rivera reviews abortion issues that may arise in psychotherapy. Her approach addresses women's perceptions of themselves in relation to the abortion experience. Masho, Coeytaux, and Potts suggest methods for improving women's access to abortion providers in Chapter Fifteen. The authors encourage the United States to follow examples set by those developing countries struggling to improve the quality of their abortion