a. Garcia-Moreno, Claudia, Tomris Turmen. "International Perspectives on Women's Reproductive Health." Science (August 11, 1995), 790-792.
b. The article is a descriptive work brought about by the International conference on Population and Development held in Cairo in September 1994. The authors use this occasion as a springboard to talk about the state of women's reproductive health and the nature of reproductive issues on an international scale. The Cairo conference made a number of important conceptual shifts on this issue which the authors propose to analyze. the authors find that there is an old population control approach and a new one, the latter brought to the fore by the conference. they intend in this article to show how the new approach can be applied in terms of national and international programs and activities, something they state is now a subject for discussion.
c. First, the article sees reproductive health as an aspect of general health and so as part of an overall health program addressing the needs of women at different stages in their lives. This also means that there should be linkages between reproductive health programs and issues and general health programs and issues, and this further means that reproductive health should be addressed in the context of existing health services as much as possible.
Second, the issue should be addressed in terms of the autonomy of women. Reproductive health should not be something that is imposed form outside or that is administered by men without consulting those who are most affected by decisions and programs. This approach shows a respect for human rights and avoids coercion or discrimination. This is in keeping with the general desire to promote the interests of women as human beings and not as adjuncts to male power structures.
Third, The new view offered by the authors derives in part from a recognition that the existing services are beset by short...