My thesis aims to examine how partisan politics and politicization of women’s health issues adversely impacts the health and wellbeing of women. I will explore this topic within the broader context of partisanship, morality, feminism, and social justice in an attempt to dissect the arguments propagated by both the pro-life and pro-choice spheres. Political polarization results in limitations for reproductive health resources for women, particularly low-income and minority women who rely on government-funded healthcare to meet their needs. Moreover, reducing women’s healthcare decision-making opportunities not only has a destructive impact on their health and financial security, but also poses significant human rights implications concerning bodily autonomy and gender equality. Through the literature review, I intend on highlighting the role of conservative politics in diminishing available services, to the detriment of women, particularly low-income and marginalized women. I plan to demonstrate this hypothesis through a literature review, analysis of Roe v. Wade, and a review of the historical trajectory that illuminates factors related to the availability and accessibility of reproductive resources. Lastly, I will critique the political narratives pushed by both liberal and conservative media and highlight the need for a comprehensive reproductive justice framework for achieving positive SHRH outcomes.

Childbirth, an essential stage of human life, has been carried out and treated differently in numerous ways throughout time. Although the overall method of birth is biologically the same, women and medical professionals in the United States in particular have changed how they view and manage childbirth over the past 70 years. Some of said changes are extensive and occurred more rapidly than one might typically expect for such a delicate and important stage of a woman‘s, and infant‘s, life. As consumerism, capitalism, and the courts have changed America‘s lifestyles, politics, and society, so too have they drastically affected the way we are conditioned to approach childbirth. More importantly, as society changes over time, the medical field and
methods of specialists also change, and although the benefits of these changes are challenged by some individuals, these procedures and recommendations from professionals inevitably affect us all. Methods and procedures of modern, medicalized childbirth, and even the significance placed on the event, are products of historical and cultural factors influenced by scientific and social trends. However, there exists a small and steadily growing number of women and families who choose to have their birth take place outside of the present societal norm, and consequently outside of hospitals. This group‘s existence and growth has been attributed to several factors, including changes in societal values, differentiation between different financial classes, and the
medicalization of childbirth. Although statistically a small percentage of the majority, these women who choose to give birth outside of a hospital exist amidst an immense ongoing controversy between gynecologists, physicians, mothers, and midwives regarding what options should be available when childbirth is undertaken in the United States.