Fully entitled. The reproductive rights of women with disabilities

Reprod Freedom News. 2000 Feb;9(2):1, 3.

Abstract

PIP: The international community should recognize the human and reproductive rights of women with mental and physical disabilities. In support of this goal, the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy has just completed a formal analysis of the reproductive rights of women with disabilities. The analysis explored four interrelated freedoms in an international human rights framework: 1) the right to equality and nondiscrimination; 2) the right to marry and find a family; 3) the right to reproductive health including family planning and maternal health information, education, and services; and 4) the right to physical integrity. In addition, a variety of international documents promote the rights of the disabled including the Vienna Declaration and Program of Action. However, despite such international agreement, several laws and policies in various countries continue to violate the physical integrity of women with disabilities. These biased laws and practices contradict the equality norms set in the international human rights laws which allow women with disabilities to consent to marriage or to be involved in decision-making regarding their reproductive rights. Although women's vulnerability to sexual abuse and other exploitations entitle them to greater protection, their rights to reproductive and sexual autonomy must not be compromised.

MeSH terms

  • Behavior
  • Demography
  • Disabled Persons*
  • Economics
  • Human Rights*
  • Intellectual Disability*
  • Intelligence
  • Personality
  • Population
  • Population Characteristics
  • Psychology
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Women's Rights
  • Women*