Reproductive Solutions in the 19th Century. Health & Medicine Essay

Reproductive Solutions in the 19th Century and Their Historical and Contemporary Impact
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Reproductive Solutions in the 19th Century and their Historical and Contemporary Impacts
The history of reproductive solutions has often revolved around the man’s right to regulate and control the body of the woman. Reproductive solutions involve methods used to control births such as contraceptive methods and family planning methods. While these methods have been around for a while, their use and integration into the communal setting has been significantly impacted by religious and cultural aspects that have limited women’s freedom. The primary concern has been on the topic of natural law from the religious point of view which emphasizes the importance of human body in reproduction, hence criminalizing abortion and other birth control methods. The nineteenth century was a period of trauma and distress for women that wanted to use birth control methods.
Different factors may have played a role in shifting views on status of women in the 19th century. According to Siegel and Siegel (2015), the negative attitude towards women in the nineteenth century was an issue created by the desire of men to control women. The English laws passed in this century coupled with the spread of Christianity that preached the subordination of women had a significant adverse impact on the status of women in society. While it is true that Americans became aware of the need to limit the number of children they were having in fear of financial burden, men were not ready to opt for productive solutions. A chauvinist society of the century chose to victimize women and give them the responsibility of regulating the family, but denied them the freedom of carrying it out. Western governments were motivated by the need to regulate women to the extent that they hardly considered the rights of women.
One of the cruelties evidenced in the enforcement of 19th century reproductive solutions is that men did not take any responsibility for their actions or society at large. Men viewed women as objects to be controlled because women were considered subordinate to men. Castuera (2017) explains that abstinence was one of the alternatives that could have been used as a birth control method, but its opponents argued that it was unhealthy for men. The general assumption from this view is that men were afraid of raising families for financial and economic burdens, but they were also not ready to support the available birth control solutions. Additionally, the chauvinistic men viewed sexual intercourse as a basic right because they were the breadwinners for their families. Any attempt to curtail this right from a woman’s point of view was considered immoral and was rejected by men.
Views on Reproductive Solutions in the 19th Century
Reproductive solutions often rely on the availability of knowledge and information in addition to materials and products for carrying out the process. However, while the methods and products of reproductive solutions have been around for centuries, knowledge and information about their use has been constricted by the chauvinist society in religious and traditional grounds that emphasize the sanctity of life. Garner and Michel (2017) write that “…Contraception originally was predominately viewed as a practice of prostitutes…” Any woman engaging in sexual activities without the intent of raising a family was viewed as a prostitute. The nineteenth century can be described as one of the hardest moments in the history of reproductive solutions and use of birth control methods. According to Billauer (2017), the major setback for women seeking reproduction solutions in this era was the religious and traditional views on abortion. Conservative men and women viewed abortion as murder and the process could attract both legal and social consequences.
The nineteenth century is considered a period when Christianity was taking root and spreading beyond the west. Christianity considers the Bible as the origin of moral law concerning morality and sanctity of life. Since the Bible teaches that life begins at conception, religious leaders and Christians argued that both the pregnancy and the mother had a moral natural right to life. . Castuera (2017, p. 121) writes “The authority of the Christian thought is based on the scripture…” As such, new converts were opposed to birth control methods because of the natural law that declared the right to life. The Bible declares that life begins at conception, and as a result, termination of the pregnancy was considered murder and could attract legal consequences. As a result, women that attempted or sought abortion services were punished or sued for murder as discussed in Garner and Michel (2016). This had a significant adverse impact on women’s health and social rights. Women had to resolve to use crude methods that endangered their lives.
There were several reproductive solutions in the 19th century and they could have helped in addressing the inequalities affecting women. In spite of several alternative birth solutions being available for men and women, the responsibility of controlling the family size was left to women. In spite of pushing this responsibility to women, men denied women freedom to exercise it freely. The growth of religion in this century escalated the issue of birth control as confusion arose between the need to control the family size and the need to meet the religious points of view that viewed abortion as murder and sin before God. Women did not have alternative but to resolve to use cruel physical surgical methods that endangered their lives and claimed lives of many women.
Historical Impact
The primary impact of the restriction to access material and information is that it translated to population increase among families that adhered to social pressure. However, one cannot ignore the adverse impacts that these restrictions had on women’s bodies and health. Women in the 19thcentury did not have access to developed methods of controlling births, in spite of scholars arguing that birth control methods have been around since the era of the Roman rule. Men used different methods to regulate access to information and materials that could have helped women in terminating pregnancies. Garner and Michel (2017) discuss how mainstream media collaborated with state governments in the U.S to intimidate women and pass laws that controlled media freedom in disseminating information that could make women aware of their rights. Press and print media play a significant role in disseminating information.
According to Garner and Michel (2016), the early press often focused on events of prison and sentencing of women who got pregnant out of marriage or the ones that were sentenced for committing the crime of abortion. Garner and Michel (2016) discuss how Comstock formed a committee to police public morality by inspecting women’s mails and arrest or seize any material that might contain lewd material or contraceptive materials (p. 189). This indicates how women in the 19th century endured a chauvinist society that policed morality in the public life. Additionally, Lahey (2014). explains how major newspapers such as the New York Times and Chicago Tribune confiscated information that could have played a crucial role in creating awareness on reproductive solutions.
Men and religious activists used every possible means to limit women’s freedom and right to use the contraceptive material. Garner and Michel (2016) states that the “Comstock Act labeled contraceptive information and materials obscene and banned their distribution…” The law did not have room to defend women. Instead, women were considered second-class citizens whose rights were dictated by men. All efforts to regulate the feminine body were cloaked in the principle of moral law and the right to life where the woman was viewed as a carrier of life. This traditional and coerced method of regulating women’s freedom was...