Undivided Rights- Beatriz Martinez

This week’s reading, Undivided Rights, touched base on the rights women have over their bodies. One point the author made caught my attention in specific because it is a topic I have difficulty with. Fighting for the Right to Have -or Not Have- Children helped me understand the topic of pregnancy a lot more.

During this section of the Undivided Rights reading, I challenged my own thoughts on abortion. I have a strong stand against abortion because I believe it is wrong to kill an innocent life; however, I understand abortion is the answer to several women due to financial, physical or emotional stability. The author mentioned how unprotected sex like rape can cause a pregnancy that the woman was not prepared for. “Population control during slavery took the form of brutal and coercive efforts to increase African American women’s reproduction” (). A lot of women during slavery were raped on purpose to sell the children. In this situation, I believe abortion could have been an option for the women.

Moreover, the author also stated how birth control was not only taken away from women but also given to them. “Both Republicans and Democrats, who had formerly opposed family planning, suddenly favored it as a way of regulating the reproduction of these groups” (). It is just absurd to know how a race and gender can suffer so much due to the power of others. Minorities are either raped in their own communities or influenced to control their fertility by the government. Either way, they do not have rights over their reproduction. Frances Bael in 1970 said, “We are not saying that black women should not practice birth control… black women have the right and responsibility to determine when it is in the interest… to have children or not to” (). Bael is fighting for the rights any human being should have. Women need to be aware of their rights as a human and as a mother.

Similarly to these women, young girls at school are taught only about abstinence in their sex ed classes. I personally do not remember being taught how to practice safe sex or what were my rights as a woman during sex. These sex ed classes only teach students how to not practice sex in order to avoid obtaining a disease. I am not saying it is bad to teach students about abstinence, but it is bad to not teach teenagers about sex. In that period of their life, teenagers are at risk of getting pregnant since they are most likely having sex for their first time. Teenagers need to know the dangers of sex and their rights.

With that being said, a lot of parents ignore the idea of teaching their kids about sex because they are afraid it will encourage them to have sex. What are some ways parents could mention sex to their kids without making them or the children uncomfortable?