Feminism, Social Policy, and Long-Acting Contraception

Abstract

The authors apply a feminist approach to two social debates over the use of Norplant. A woman convicted of child abuse was offered the use of Norplant as a condition of parole. She would have had to remain in jail had she opted to not accept the method. While such an offer may be justified the authors find it to be harmful and disrespectful to women. In order to justify offering long-term contraception as a condition of probation it would have to be clear that the future benefits were quite significant and unlikely to be obtained through other less harmful or disrespectful methods. The second debate involves CURE a clergy group in East Baltimore which has raised concerns about the use of Norplant among teenagers. The group argues that Black society sees the birth of a baby as a joyous occasion and that the majority White culture in the US may not understand Black culture. As such the majority culture should stay out of the procreational decision making and activities of the minority community. The feminist view of the authors however is that although many Black girls choose to have babies their mothers and grandmothers are saddled with much of the burden of rearing them. This male clergy which has spoken for the African American community actually may not understand what women want. Although the clergy which comprises CURE may be interpreting many of the communitys values correctly Black women may have other interests which are being poorly served by their interpretation.