Sterilization

“For some, sterilization was a clear infringement of their reproductive autonomy. For others, it was a procedure very much desired. . . . Their actions were not simply, then, reactions to hardship. Rather, they grew out of women’s understanding of themselves as sexual beings and of their desire to shape their sexual, social, and economic lives. “Women’s choice of elective sterilization, however, was conditioned by their lack of other alternatives. . . . women’s lack of access to decent health and contraceptive services, their poverty, their race, and their gender all significantly influenced their decisions to seek sterilization. . . . Women did not based their desire for sterilization on abstract notions opf reproductive rights, although some voiced the opinion that they had a right to enjoy sexual relations without the constant threat of pregnancy” (Schoen, 137).