Soft Sterilization: Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives in the Carceral State

Affilia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 218-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Della J. Winters ◽  
Adria Ryan McLaughlin
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
State Agencies ◽  
Reproductive Justice ◽  
Reproductive Autonomy ◽  
Carceral State ◽  
Marginalized Communities ◽  
Reproductive Control ◽  
Laws And Policies ◽  
Long Acting ◽  
Long Acting Reversible Contraceptives

In the United States, between 1907 and 1978, the proliferation of eugenic state practices routinely targeted institutionalized women with legalized involuntary sterilization. Sterilization laws and policies were a form of reproductive control, which predominantly impacted women from marginalized communities. After the implementation of federal regulations prohibiting involuntary sterilization practices, state agencies continued to engage in coercive sterilization under the guise of “voluntariness.” Using a reproductive justice framework, we introduce a concept of reproductive control embedded within the carceral state. Tracing historical sterilization practices and examining the use of long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC), we argue that LARC represents a different form of involuntary sterilization. The emergence of LARC as a highly effective, nonagentive, and mediated form of contraception for vulnerable populations demands interrogation. We identify the use of LARC as soft sterilization, which is both related to and distinct from other forms of reproductive control. As such, reproductive autonomy is not possible without the destruction of the carceral state.

Access and Use of Contraception and Its Effects on Women’s Outcomes in the United States

2017 ◽  
pp. 218-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martha J. Bailey ◽  
Jason M. Lindo
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Birth Control ◽  
The United States ◽  
Human Existence ◽  
Economic Outcomes ◽  
Birth Control Pill ◽  
American Women ◽  
Long Acting ◽  
Long Acting Reversible Contraceptives

Changes in childbearing affect almost every aspect of human existence. Over the last fifty years, American women have experienced dramatic changes in the ease and convenience of timing and limiting childbearing, ranging from the introduction of the birth control pill and the legalization of abortion to more recent availability of long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs). This chapter chronicles these changes, provides descriptive evidence regarding trends in the use of contraception and abortion, and reviews the literature linking them to changes in childbearing and women’s economic outcomes. It concludes by discussing the recent surge in LARC use, which seems to be one of the most pressing areas in need of further research.

Water Security and Racial Discrimination

2020 ◽  
pp. 83-102
Author(s):  
Rhett B. Larson
Keyword(s):  
Water Security ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
The United States ◽  
Water Insecurity ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Marginalized Communities ◽  
Water Policies ◽  
Ethnic Inequalities ◽  
Water Provision ◽  
Laws And Policies

Water policies around the world are developed or applied in ways that perpetuate racial or ethnic inequalities and discrimination. From the health crisis in Flint, Michigan, in the United States, to inadequate water provision to Romani communities in Europe, to disparate impacts of water pricing in South Africa, marginalized communities consistently face greater threats of water insecurity. For indigenous peoples, the challenge of water insecurity is often all the more poignant because of the unique cultural relationship these communities often have with their traditional waters. This chapter discusses how water laws and policies can deepen and perpetuate racial and ethnic inequalities, how existing laws can be asserted to promote the water rights and water security of racial and ethnic minorities, and the unique legal tools available to indigenous communities to pursue reforms and advances to achieve water security.

scholarly journals How Much Can Expanding Access to Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives Reduce Teen Birth Rates?

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 348-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason M. Lindo ◽  
Analisa Packham
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Supporting Evidence ◽  
Synthetic Control ◽  
Birth Rates ◽  
Teen Birth ◽  
Teen Birth Rates ◽  
Long Acting ◽  
Long Acting Reversible Contraceptives

We estimate the degree to which expanding access to long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) can reduce teen birth rates by analyzing Colorado's Family Planning Initiative, the first large-scale policy intervention to expand access to LARCs in the United States. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we find that the $23M program reduced the teen birth rate in counties with clinics receiving funding by 6.4 percent over 5 years. These effects were concentrated in the second through fifth years of the program and in counties with relatively high poverty rates. State-level synthetic control estimates offer supporting evidence but suffer from a lack of power. (JEL H75, I18, I32, J13)

scholarly journals Long-acting Reversible Contraceptives - IUDS/IUS and Implants: A Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohit a ◽  
Md Sadique Hussain ◽  
Chandan Mohapatra ◽  
Shakshi Sharma ◽  
Rakesh Kumar Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Unintended Pregnancy ◽  
Young Women ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Intrauterine Devices ◽  
Search Terms ◽  
Qualified Individual ◽  
Long Acting ◽  
Harmful Effects ◽  
Long Acting Reversible Contraceptives

Unexpected or unintended pregnancy is a global health concern. Young women who are pregnant are refused contraception care in many nations. For women, reversible methods of contraception with long-acting methods such as intrauterine devices (IUDs) proved more productive than short-acting methods including tablets and condoms. We systematically searched on Google scholar, PubMed, LitCovid, and MedRxiv using the search terms unintended pregnancy, contraception, implants, and IUD/IUS for published articles. The available IUDs now provide nearly complete childbirth protection although have few complications. Implantable contraceptives are commonly practiced all around the globe. Implants are among the most effective and reliable contraceptive strategies available. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States in 1990, approved the Norplant contraceptive. The IUDs and implants apart from being successful contraceptives have a variety of harmful effects, which led the development in the field. The insertion and removal involving a qualified individual and the aseptic setting were correlated with other small hazards for IUDs and implants. This review focuses on the complications with IUDs and implants, and also focuses on the developments in the field of novel IUDs approaches.

Why Reproductive Justice Matters to Reproductive Ethics

2021 ◽  
pp. 17-28
Author(s):  
Melissa Gilliam ◽  
Dorothy Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
Women Of Color ◽  
The United States ◽  
Ethical Principle ◽  
Indigenous Women ◽  
Safe Motherhood ◽  
Reproductive Justice ◽  
Reproductive Ethics ◽  
Long Acting ◽  
Disproportionate Burden

This chapter addresses the historical and current attempts by physicians and legislators to regulate the reproduction of Black, Latina, and Indigenous women, with a particular focus on Black women. It connects the contemporary language promoting long-acting reversible contraception for “risky” populations to past policies coercing Black, Latina, and Indigenous women to use contraception and undergo sterilization. At the same time, these efforts to regulate the reproduction of women of color coincide with a rising number of abortion restrictions and lack of access to abortion and safe motherhood, which affect women of color disproportionately. Black women bear a disproportionate burden of the staggering and rising maternal mortality rate in the United States. These topics are often omitted from discussions about reproductive ethics, and social justice is often neglected as a major ethical principle. Approaching the reproductive freedom of women of color from a reproductive justice perspective, therefore, offers an important way to expand our understanding of reproductive ethics.

scholarly journals Crisis Pregnancy Centers in Canada and Reproductive Justice Organizations’ Responses

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 28
Author(s):  
Haiqi Li
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Sex Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
Reproductive Justice ◽  
Reproductive Autonomy ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Status ◽  
Abortion Access ◽  
Crisis Pregnancy

The spread of crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) has become an alarming issue in the fields of public health and reproductive justice (RJ) as they impede women’s fully-informed decisions and threaten women’s reproductive autonomy. However, most existing scholarship has only focused on CPCs within the United States; hardly any literature has been devoted to anti-CPC activism. This study contributes to addressing these gaps by adopting a mixed method. The paper first reviews the status quo of U.S. and Canadian CPCs through the existing literature to contextualize my investigation. Then it explores the establishment of individual Canadian CPCs to evaluate whether they are gaining more influence. It also analyzes the presence and absence of information on Canadian anti-CPC activism in the social media of RJ organizations. Finally, it examines the interviews I conducted with Canadian RJ activists to identify the ongoing anti-CPC activism and why some groups do not regard it central to their agenda. Results of this research reveal that CPCs have been continuously expanding in Canada during the past 35 years. Despite realizing their threat, most Canadian RJ groups do not focus their activism on CPCs and instead, concern themselves more with such issues as abortion access owing to their political engagement restriction, as well as their viewpoint that variation among Canadian CPCs and the Canadian liberal political context lessen CPCs’ overall threat. The limited ongoing activism includes lobbying for halting funding for CPCs, revoking their charitable statuses, banning their advertisements, and removing their biased sex education from public schools.

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