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  • Title: The women's health movement in the United States.
    Author: Norsigian J.
    Journal: Newsl Womens Glob Netw Reprod Rights; 1992; (39):9-12. PubMed ID: 12285927.
    Abstract:
    The current women's health movement in the US had its origins in the late 1960s, when women's groups, health and medical providers, and others organized a country wide effort to legalize abortion. Some established women-controlled health centers, some produced women's health publications and other educational materials, and others carried out a number of women's health advocacy projects to change public policies affecting women's health. Sterilization abuse became the focus of government inquiry after activists publicized that certain women, especially women of color and Native American women, were sterilized without informed consent. During the 1970s, dozens of women-controlled health centers emerged as alternatives to the conventional delivery of health and medical care. Several years of hard work resulted in a landmark National Cancer Institute recommendation that breast biopsies be done as part of a 2-step procedure in most cases. Childbirth is another issue, Cesarean section rates averaging 1: 4 births nationwide remain unjustifiably high. Childbirth is a medicalized experience for most women, when it should be an essentially normal event. Abortion and reproductive rights are primary concerns in the women's health movement, although prochoice groups are well-organized. Some feminists argue that reproductive technologies expand women's choices, while other emphasize their potential for exploitation. The women's health movement has not yet changed the way most medical institutions are run. Thus, a new coalition with the disability rights movement, the various aging movements, and the civil rights movement will be crucial in the future.
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