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REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE: NOT JUST ABORTION, NOT JUST WOMEN |
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(SITE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION): After the international conference I was inundated with emails urging me to continue to share materials that I have used in teaching and in the development of the conference. I decided the best way to share would be through an online site. My schedule is quite full so I have take whatever time I can find to put up what you find here. The site will continue to expand and grow. Date of latest update appears at bottom of each page.
IMPORTANT **NOTE**
Medical advancements have saved the lives of women and babies at risk for
injury or death during pregnancy and birth.
This site is not about the doctors who properly use interventions to save
lives; it is about those who use them unethically for profit or convenience.
Improperly used interventions have led
to harm and death of women and babies and obstetrics
is the only field in which mortality
rates are rising and non-medically needed interventions such as c-sections are
related to 66% of maternal deaths. **NOTE**
This site is designed to share valid evidence for those working to change
the maternal healthcare system who do not have access to databases of peered
research. Chronological order allows users to find new data.
It also begs the question of why, when we have known for decades that
such practices are harmful, do they not only continue to be used but are
increasingly used.
The Evolution of This Website In the late 1990s and early 2000s there was a plethora of research challenging harm being done by the medicalization of pregnancy and birth. Changes began to lessen the practice. Then abortion became a hot topic of politicians and medicalization faded into the background.
In 2021, I stumbled across a documentary out of Australia (Birth Time) and thought it would have been a great documentary when we were all talking about medicalization of pregnancy and birth, but why now? Why was this documentary coming out in 2020 when we all thought the issues had been previously addressed as a result of the evidence of harm that was caused by it.
Being a curious academic, I headed for the library databases and was alarmed at what I found. I asked myself "what does the literature say" and set out to update my knowledge. Medicalization, under the cover of abortion, has grown almost exponentially. It has become such a problem that WHO and UN are attempting to address the issue to save lives which are being lost because of unnecessary procedure being performed on women. I then headed to the Internet and discovered International Movements trying to bring change and decided to bring together people from around the world to discuss the topic in an International Virtual conference which took place on May 4, 2022 sponsored by the Institute for Ethics in Public Life at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh. The conference information can be found at
Virtual International Conference: Reproductive Justice: Not Just Abortion, Not Just Women which took place on May 4, 2022 and was sponsored by the Institute for Ethics in Public Life at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh. This was a temporary site set up until the release of the actual conference site which had many more speakers and events. https://gloriabobbie.me/Reproductive%20Justice/reproductive_justice.htm
Recorded sessions from the conference may be found at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7y0CrjYr7K3wUwm1qSzNjrR8HpBcnQNS Out of the conference and above interactions came the realization that there is a lot of knowledge about the topic from many people and groups as well as research on the topics, but it is fragmented. I often hear the term evidence-based from people who have limited evidence on which to support their views and there are many people in the world who do not have access to the databases in which this evidence resides. This site is an attempt to bring together information for all of the players in maternal healthcare so that collaboration and cooperation replace conflict and competition that has become prevalent. As above, in the construction of this site, I ask "what does the literature say?". There is a global movement taking place, but it is fragmented. To bring about change everyone must come together with open minds to work together to solve the problems that exist in maternal healthcare which are causing harm to mothers, babies and families. ABOUT Site Developer: Gloria Bobbie, Department of Anthropology, State University of New York at Plattsburgh. See https://www.plattsburgh.edu/academics/schools/arts-sciences/anthropology/faculty/bobbie-gloria.html Also: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gloria-bobbie-phd-abd-383628156/ FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/gloria.bobbie.7 AND https://www.facebook.com/groups/1282723175154226 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bobbiegj123/ The site is being developed for use in education and I plan to develop a course around the site. I invite others who are also working to bring change to the maternal healthcare system to participate. .
:Last updated June 2024
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