Abortion in the United States' Bible Belt: organizing for power and empowerment

Over the last 30 years, conservative power in the United States, financed and organized by Christian fundamentalist sects, the Catholic Church, and conservative corporate and political leadership, has become more threatening and potentially destabilizing of progressive democratic principles and prac...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Reproductive health 2011-01, Vol.8 (1), p.1-1, Article 1
Main Author: Castle, Mary Ann
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abortion
Abortion services
Abortion, Legal - ethics
Abortion, Legal - legislation & jurisprudence
Christianity
Community Networks - organization & administration
Female
Feminism
Foundations
Health aspects
Health Services Accessibility
Humans
Ideology
Legislators
Morality
Organizational change
Philanthropy
Political activism
Political alliances
Political aspects
Politics
Power, Psychological
Pregnancy
Public policy
Religion
Religion and Medicine
Reproductive Health
Reproductive Health Services - supply & distribution
Social aspects
United States
Women
Women's Rights
Womens health
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Over the last 30 years, conservative power in the United States, financed and organized by Christian fundamentalist sects, the Catholic Church, and conservative corporate and political leadership, has become more threatening and potentially destabilizing of progressive democratic principles and practices. Powerful interlocking political, financial and social forces are arrayed against women in many Southern and Western states. They are having destructive effects on women's ability to control their fertility and maintain bodily integrity and health. Poor women and women of color are disproportionately affected by restrictions on abortion services. Strategically developed interventions must be initiated and managed at every level in these localities. It is urgent to coordinate and empower individuals, multiple organizations and communities to engender effective changes in attitudes, norms, behavior and policies that will enable women to obtain reproductive health services, including abortion care. This paper describes contextual factors that continue to decimate U.S. women's right to health and, then, describes a community organizing-social action project in a number of US' states aimed at reversing the erosion of women's right to have or not to have children.
ISSN:1742-4755
1742-4755
DOI:10.1186/1742-4755-8-1