ABSTRACT
Reproductive rights, including access to comprehensive reproductive health care, are essential to the well-being of women and society. The Dobbs decision of the US Supreme Court has greatly exacerbated the confusion, the stress, and the loss of services. Psychiatrists need to know and communicate the strong scientific evidence of the advantages of sex education, contraception, abortion, and bodily autonomy and to help patients process their feelings and make informed decisions about their own care.
Subject(s)
Reproductive Rights , Women's Rights , Pregnancy , Female , Humans , Mental Health , Women's HealthABSTRACT
Reproductive rights are essential to the recognition/treatment of women as full-fledged human beings/citizens. Barriers to reproductive rights pose a grave danger to women's well-being. This article explores the origins of these barriers, their nature, and their impact on mental health. The most controversial relationship is between induced abortion and mental health. Barriers, misinformation, and coercion affecting contraceptive, abortion, and pregnancy care are an ongoing danger to women's mental health and the well-being of their families. Mental health professionals are best qualified, and have an obligation, to know the facts, apply them, and provide accurate information to protect women's health.
Subject(s)
Reproductive Rights/statistics & numerical data , Women's Health/statistics & numerical data , Women's Rights/statistics & numerical data , Abortion, Induced/psychology , Female , Humans , Mental Health , Patient Advocacy/statistics & numerical data , Reproductive Rights/psychologyABSTRACT
Reproductive rights are essential to the recognition/treatment of women as full-fledged human beings/citizens. Barriers to reproductive rights pose a grave danger to women's well-being. This article explores the origins of these barriers, their nature, and their impact on mental health. The most controversial relationship is between induced abortion and mental health. Barriers, misinformation, and coercion affecting contraceptive, abortion, and pregnancy care are an ongoing danger to women's mental health and the well-being of their families. Mental health professionals are best qualified, and have an obligation, to know the facts, apply them, and provide accurate information to protect women's health.
Subject(s)
Mental Health , Reproductive Rights , Women's Health , HumansABSTRACT
Infertility, treatment with reproductive technologies, and abortion are among the most emotionally weighty and philosophically contentious experiences in most patients' lives. They involve the most intimate body parts and behaviors and the most heartfelt hopes and profound disappointments. They can strain relationships with partners, relatives, and friends. The primary care practitioner who is informed about the psychological impact of these experiences can play an essential role in interpreting medical information; helping patients think through their own values, resources, and options; facilitating communication between members of a couple and with their friends and family; providing emotional support; and identifying and treating psychiatric disorders that sometimes occur before, during, or after these experiences.
