Reproductive Choice

Reproductiv e Choice Reproductive choice means being able to make your own decisions about abstinence, contraception, abortion and childbearing according to your own conscience. It means access to quality contraception and sex education, as well as abortion services, and being able to support the children you choose to have.

Women around the world hope for the future— for better lives for themselves, education and prosperity for their children, and security for their families. A broad array of social and economic changes is necessary to overcome the poverty, lack of education, and limited control over their own lives that often keep women's hopes from coming true. But women can take an important step forward when they make their own reproductive choices—about marriage, sex, childbearing, and contraception.

Making choices about the course of one's own life

asserts a person's fundamental dignity. Thus family planning is a basic human right. The woman who chooses when she has children, and how many, exerts an important measure of control over her own physical, emotional, and economic wellbeing. She contributes to her children's well-being too. Health. More than half a million women die each year from causes related to pregnancy. Many of these deaths follow unwanted pregnancies: 20% to 40% result from unsafe abortions. For women who want to avoid pregnancy, using contraception means avoiding the risks of pregnancy and childbirth or of unsafe abortion. Planning. By determining when she will have children and how many, a woman takes a step toward deciding how she will spend much of her life. Of course, a woman's decision to control her fertility does not guarantee her new opportunities. It does, however, help enable her to take advantage of opportunities that present themselves and to provide new resources to the family.

The Pro-Life To say that someone is "pro-life" is to say that the person believes that the government has an obligation to preserve all human life, regardless of intent, viability, or quality-of-life concerns. A comprehensive pro-life ethic, such as that proposed by the Roman Catholic Church and similar religious organizations, prohibits: Abortion Euthanasia and assisted suicide ; The death penalty ; and War, with very few exceptions.

The Pro-Choice To be "pro-choice" is to believe that individuals have unlimited autonomy with respect to their own reproductive systems as long as they do not breach the autonomy of others. A comprehensive pro-choice position affirms that all of the following must remain legal: Celibacy and abstinence ; Contraception use ; Emergency contraception use ; Abortion, for the first two trimesters of pregnancy; and Childbirth

Family planning programs contribute most by helping women prevent unwanted pregnancies. Well-designed, high-quality programs can do even more by delivering services in ways that help women meet other needs as well. They can: Show by example that women should be treated with dignity: their opinions, valued; and their decisions, respected; Provide additional contraceptive and other reproductive health services that can meet common and serious needs—possibly care for sexually transmitted diseases and information and services for young people, for example; Influence public perceptions of women's roles by depicting in the mass media women who act with courage, take responsibility, and succeed in new roles; Encourage men to understand their own and women's reproductive health needs, share reproductive decision making, and take more responsibility for reproductive health, contraceptive use, and their families' welfare; and Employ women as family planning professionals, treat them equitably, and offer them opportunities to lead.

PRECONCEPTION COUNSELING  Ideally, women should plan pregnancy and

discuss this plan with their physician. However, often this option is not considered. It becomes the task of the physician to anticipate the potential and discuss preparation for pregnancy just as one would discuss methods of birth control.  Primary care physicians are in the best position to anticipate the need for this counseling, because they are most aware of ongoing medical problems and social concerns of the women in their care.  However, it is our opinion that preconception care, in particular education, should begin at the time a patient reaches reproductive age, and not merely at the time she announces the desire to become pregnant.

Nurse’s Role in Sexuality Many diseases, accidents, illnesses, and their treatments create sexual dysfunctions and role changes. Rehabilitation nurses are in an excellent position to address these issues with their clients. Areas of expertise that nurses need to develop: Promote and maintain patient sexual health through knowledge of the subject matter, skill in assessing and interviewing. Awareness of beliefs, attitudes and values related to sexuality, and awareness of how these beliefs, attitudes, and values affect their

Roles: Assure that experiencing a disability, having a chronic illness, or aging does not need to translate into permanent sexual loss or eliminate the ability to give and receive affection. Nurses are also

responsible in dealing with sexuality by means of sex