May 15 is Bloggers Unite for Human Rights Day. I hate feeling left out, so Fertility Notes has joined the charge!

In my mind, reproductive rights and women’s right to affordable and accessible health care are human rights issues. I think the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights agrees with me. Article 16 in it says:

(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.

(2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.

(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

I love this language because it is inclusive. Notice that it says men and women, but doesn’t prescribe that marriage=man+woman. Not like the horrific law that Pennsylvania is trying to push through (argh, I digress. That’s another post).

Founding a family relies on reproductive health, (a topic that I cover in my Bloggers for Choice post back in January). And when people ask for assistance with fertility, I think we are really asking for the same level of care that we expect for any other part of our bodies that aren’t functioning as they should. It is never questioned when someone asks for a broken bone to be mended, or when treatment for a disease is undertaken. Yet, fertility treatments are still seem by some as a boutique request, something that’s nice, but not necessary. Something that is created by lifestyle choices, not medical necessity.

Are there things we can do to improve our fertility by altering lifestyle choices? Sometimes, yes. Just as we can minimize our risk for cancers. Lifestyle and healthy choices always play a part in wellness. But they are not always enough.

Legislation like the Family Building Act, which would mandate insurance coverage for some fertility treatments, are trying to protect and preserve the “natural and fundamental group unit of society” – the family. And I believe being part of and trying to raise a family is a fundamental human right.

So there you have it, my two cents and then some.

What are yours?

Post from: Blisstree

Fertility Notes Joins Bloggers Unite for Human Rights