Universal Reproductive Rights and Women's Empowerment

This paper aims to provide a brief summary of contemporary human rights and make the case that the right to abortion and the right to contraception gaining binding statuses under international human rights law are crucial to the progression of gender equality and women’s empowerment. Human rights have greatly progressed on the international level since the establishment of the United Nations (UN) in 1945. However, progress varies not only among the world’s countries, but also among the world’s human groupings, specifically men versus women. A significant obstacle that is preventing women’s empowerment from achieving its greatest capability is the lack of adequate access to reproductive rights worldwide. Reproductive rights—including the right to abortion and contraception—is the most controversial branch of women’s rights and human rights in general due to the cultural clash of beliefs, and the fact that most cultures view the topic as taboo. This has led to the restriction, and in some countries, the complete prohibition of abortion and contraception, endangering the rights of women by limiting their ability to maintain reproductive autonomy. This paper argues within the framework of the existing binding human rights laws, drawing upon the criteria of UN laws and entities to justify the inclusion of universal reproductive rights within that framework.