ABSTRACT
Feminists have critiqued biomedicine as a form of patriarchy that controls female bodies, disregarding women's inherent rights to dignity and bodily integrity. The health professions have also been criticized for their role in maintaining particular global power relations through their support of conservative money market agendas that often violate the human rights of those in the "developing" world. The great majority of South African health professionals and their institutions supported the apartheid state in its violation of the basic human rights of black people. This chapter discusses how the complementary relationship between bioethics and human rights was severely compromised by the South African health profession during apartheid, focusing specifically on reproductive agendas and policies to explore the complex interconnections between science and biomedicine, patriarchy and racist nation building. It concludes by presenting the examples of unethical practices by health professionals that led to violations of women's rights.
