ABSTRACT
Perhaps one of the most publicized political and social issues of this decade is the issue of women’s reproductive rights. A number of social and political phenomena have played a catalytic role in the emergence and current visibility of women’s reproductive rights. The most noteworthy among them is the political prominence of humans rights groups and organizations. Since the establishment of the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women (CS W) in 1946, the international community has adopted treaties and recommendations to promote women’s rights in political, economic, civil, and social fields. It was not until the recent decades that the right to make reproductive decisions was recognized as a fundamental human right. The population control movements in some developing countries have contributed to the current visibility of women’s reproductive rights as a social issue. Reproductive rights include the rights such as the right to decide on the starting, spacing, and stopping of fertility. The basic right to decide on the spacing and number of children may not be taken for granted universally even today. The control over resources to make these reproductive decisions is a key aspect of reproductive rights.
