ABSTRACT
One strand of the anthropology of reproduction has examined the role of states in shaping reproductive practices, as well as the centrality of reproduction to diverse state agendas. This chapter compares state provision of prenatal care, contraception, and abortion in Cuba and the United States to illustrate two dramatically different approaches to the regulation of reproduction. In Cuba, reproductive health statistics are symbols of the socialist state’s successes and moral legitimacy. State provision of universal reproductive healthcare (and healthcare more generally) is considered a social good that ensures the reproduction of healthy (socialist) citizens and reduces future economic burdens associated with chronic sickness and disability. By contrast, access to healthcare in the United States is stratified through entrenched hierarchies of race, class, and region. The effect is a patchwork and uneven system of reproductive healthcare that may optimize choices for middle-class and wealthy families but severely constrains options for the poor. This comparison of systems of state-provided reproductive healthcare underscores how reproductive policies reflect and reproduce wider cultural values and state priorities.
