Preventable Maternal Deaths Should Be Recognized As Women's Rights Violations, Opinion Piece Says

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Article Date: 08 Jun 2009 - 0:00 PDT

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"Human rights organizations around the world are starting to demand that governments recognize preventable maternal death as a violation of women's rights," Mary Robinson and Alicia Yamin, both advisory council members of the International Initiative on Maternal Mortality and Human Rights, write in a Boston Globe opinion piece. They add that with the "United Nations Human Rights Council's June session just around the corner, governments have a chance to prove that they value women's lives by taking concrete action on this issue." According to Robinson and Yamin, "[m]ore than one woman dies every minute from preventable causes in childbirth, and for every woman who dies as many as 30 others are left with lifelong, debilitating complications."

They continue, "Moreover, when mothers die, children are at greater risk of dropping out of school, becoming malnourished and simply not surviving," adding, "Not only is maternal mortality and morbidity a global health emergency, but it triggers and aggravates cycles of poverty that cause generations of suffering and despair." The authors write, "Asserting that these preventable deaths are an issue of human rights does not mean that poor governments are going to be blamed for not doing what they cannot do." Instead, "understanding the profound injustice of disparities in maternal deaths makes it all the more urgent that donor states honor their funding commitments and that effective monitoring and accountability mechanisms are put in place to ensure that aid is going to the interventions that evidence has shown will save women's lives," they add.

According to Robinson and Yamin, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton 14 years ago at the Fourth World Conference on Women, then U.S. first lady, "declared that 'women's rights are human rights.'" They add that Clinton recently has "passionately and eloquently affirmed [the Obama] administration's commitment to women's reproductive health needs around the world, and the Obama administration has called for increased funding for global health." They conclude, "As a new member of the Human Rights Council, the United States has the chance to lead the way in promoting a woman's right to go through pregnancy and childbirth in safety and, just as important, to back up that assertion with adequate funding commitments" (Robinson/Yamin, Boston Globe, 6/4).

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