The Ethical Problem of Women's Reproductive Rights and Healthcare
One of the major ethical issues that relates to contemporary healthcare is that of women's reproductive rights. This has become an important issue as it also relates to the ethical problematic s of treating HIV/AIDS patients. The intersection between women's reproductive rights, AIDS and healthcare has become a focal point of research and medical studies due to the sensitive and often complex nature of these issues. The focus on the ethics of women's reproductive right has also intensified in recent years due to the increase in the number of HIV/AIDS cases, particularly in developing countries. Healthcare and nursing organizations are therefore facing a problem that is growing at an alarming rate. The statistics on AIDS indicates that".... the treatment and prevention of HIV pose not only a huge challenge to medical care, social resources, state finances and policies, but also confront the present ethics and human rights debate with a serious moral dilemma." ( Vorster J.M. 2003. p.345) Coupled with the above statistics is the fact that many studies show that women and children have shown the most significant growth in the incidence of HIV/AIDS. The issue of reproductive rights for women is in itself as complex and convoluted
Reproductive rights therefore refer to the fact that both males and females have the right to determine the reproductive process and child‑rearing in all aspects and "The right to make decisions about reproduction must be free from discrimination, force and violence." (What are women's reproductive rights?) However, as has been mentioned, the issue of the reproductive rights for women becomes problematic and often fraught with controversy when it is applied to those infected with the HIV virus. This dilemma has far‑reaching implications for the millions of women with HIV throughout the world; as well as for medical and health workers. ( Linked Services for HIV Positive Women) Health staff has tended to hold very judgmental attitudes concerning the rights of HIV positive women to have children or indeed our right to access safer sex methods and contraceptives or to sexual pleasure. Women interviewed in ICW research have felt that health personnel reflect community member's attitude that HIV positive women should not have children or be sexually active. area of moral ethical as well as legal discourse as it is also linked to other contentious ethical issues such as sexual and gender rights. This is an issue which is complicated by cultural views of sexual activity which is both complex and dynamic. This complexity also means that healthcare solutions and methods of dealing with the problem of women's reproductive rights become even more problemat
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