What True Reproductive Health Looks Like
In November, young men and women will converge in Brussels, Belgium for the 13th WYA Europe Emerging Leaders Conference. This year’s focus will be “Empowering by Educating: Training on Women’s Reproductive and Mental Health and Rights.” Through a series of discussions, workshops, and lectures, participants will delve into crucial topics surrounding women’s mental and reproductive health and their associated rights.
Everyone can agree that it’s important to care for women’s health needs—and that there are many areas of the world where those needs have been sadly neglected.
But what is women’s reproductive health? Is there a right to it? And what’s the best way to care for it?
Does an International Right to Reproductive Health Exist?
The term “reproductive health” was introduced in 1994 by the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). The ICPD defined reproductive health as, “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being in all matters relating to the reproductive system and its functions and processes.”
WYA affirms this definition. At the same time, however, we recognize that there are international organizations attempting to promote an incorrect understanding of reproductive health.
While various organizations have declared that reproductive health is an international right, none have had the authority to do so. As WYA’s White Paper on Reproductive Health explains:
“International human rights are not created by declarations of political will, such as documents produced at international conferences, or declarations by international or regional institutions, such as the United Nations.”
Instead, international human rights are established through international treaties. Treaties are binding instruments of international law for the States that both sign and ratify them. Non-treaty assertions of an international right to reproductive health do not have the force of law.
The White Paper on Reproductive Health goes on to note:
“The right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health is established in international law. However, no international human rights treaty asserts a right to reproductive health. Although some international human rights treaties have discussed health as related to women’s special needs and as related to nondiscrimination on the basis of sex, no treaty actually establishes a right to reproductive health.”
This isn’t the only misunderstanding related to reproductive health. There are many who try to push abortion as a universal reproductive health “right.”
In fact, it’s not uncommon for small and developing States to be threatened with the loss of foreign aid if they do not amend their reproductive health laws and policies to include abortion.
WYA has always stood against this practice. The WYA Declaration on Reproductive Health states:
“We condemn all coercion and abuses of human rights in regards to reproductive health, including: forced abortions and sterilizations; population control programs leading to feminicide in sex-selective abortion; commodification of children’s and women’s bodies through surrogacy; and imposing ideological programs on communities contrary to their religious and cultural values.”
States must not bow to pressure to include abortion in reproductive health. International law does not include abortion as a component of reproductive health. And no international treaty even mentions abortion.
The ICPD Programme of Action paragraph 8.25 says no State can be forced to change its abortion laws; any measures or changes related to abortion can only be determined at the national or local level. States have the sovereign right to look to the religious, ethical, and cultural values of their people when implementing the ICPD Programme of Action recommendations.
Moreover, customary international law does not include abortion as a component of reproductive health. Custom is created when a rule is followed as a general State practice, and when States accept the rule as if it were legally binding. Custom is binding on all States who do not consistently object to it. Currently, there is no consensus among States to include abortion as a component of reproductive health.
The ICPD Programme of Action casts abortion as undesirable, confining its inclusion to reproductive health care and services to States where it is already legal, and saying “governments should take appropriate steps to help women avoid abortion, which in no case should be promoted as a method of family planning.”
Beyond Birth Control
The ICPD puts a strong emphasis on giving women the tools for family planning. Birth control is often touted as the best way to do this. However, in order to really empower women and help them achieve lasting health, a better approach is needed.
As WYA’s Declaration on Reproductive Health states:
“Fewer than 3% of women worldwide can identify their time of fertility and many lack knowledge about their body and health. The idea of a global unmet need for contraception ignores this fundamental problem and attempts to substitute the sustainable impact of increased knowledge with the short-term effect of distributing contraception.”
It’s every woman’s right to understand the link between her hormones and health. The best way to advance reproductive health worldwide is to help women grasp their reproductive health in all its physical and emotional complexity—and give them access to treatment for underlying hormonal health conditions.
The international community need more care like that offered by WYA’s sister organization, FEMM (Fertility Education & Medical Management). FEMM provides evidence-based women’s healthcare and fertility awareness. FEMM recognizes that ovulation is a sign of health, and empowers women to be agents in the management and care of their overall reproductive health and well-being.
Using the FEMM app, a woman can easily track her body’s biomarkers each day. She can understand her fertility and learn how to work with her body to postpone or avoid pregnancy—or achieve it. Most importantly, she learns what a healthy cycle looks like. And she can get the support she needs if she detects symptoms or imbalances.
Medical providers trained in FEMM protocols offer comprehensive physical and lab workups to diagnose and treat the root cause of health conditions like infertility, polycystic ovarian syndrome, thyroid imbalances, endometriosis, and much more.
Instead of offering band-aid solutions that only suppress symptoms, a healthcare model like FEMM gets to the root causes of a woman’s reproductive health issues. This is the kind of reproductive healthcare that helps a woman achieve real, lasting wellbeing.