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Reproductive Rights

Hello!

I am currently working on a project about education, and I was wondering if you could tell me how school textbooks should describe abortion and the debates around it. Should it even be mentioned in health books? How should it be represented in history books?

Thank you so much for your help!

Sincerely,

Torin

   

Torin,

What a good question. I think that abortion should be included in health books as part of a larger discussion about pregnancy, reproduction, and women's health. We need to start mainstreaming the discussion about abortion, as it is actually something that most women experience either as a part of a planned or unplanned pregnancy, though in the case of the former we usually refer to it as a termination. These are the same things and are increasingly a part of women's lives. It needs to be referenced as a part of what women do once they learn they are pregnant: some women celebrate it; some do that and later learn the pregnancy would be too hard on them or their potential baby; and others know it's not the right time for them to be a parent.Once the conversation becomes more integrated into these conversations on pregnancy it will be less targeted.

Just my thoughts...Good luck, and again, great topic for fodder.

-- Amy