Women's reproductive health in the United States refers to the set of physical, mental, and social issues related to the health of women in the United States. It includes the rights of women in the United States to adequate sexual health, available contraception methods, and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases. The prevalence of women's health issues in American culture is inspired by second-wave feminism in the United States. As a result of this movement, women of the United States began to question the largely male-dominated health care system and demanded a right to information on issues regarding their physiology and anatomy. The U.S. government has made significant strides to propose solutions, like creating the Women's Health Initiative through the Office of Research on Women's Health in 1991. However, many issues still exist related to the accessibility of reproductive healthcare as well as the stigma and controversy attached to sexual health, contraception, and sexually transmitted diseases.
Sexual health
The Department of Health and Human Services has developed a definition for sexual health in the United States based on the World Health Organization’s definition of sexual health.
“Sexual health is a state of well-being in relation to sexuality across the life span that involves physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual dimensions. Sexual health is an intrinsic element of human health and is based on positive, equitable, and respectful approach to sexuality, relationships, and reproduction, that is free of coercion, fear, discrimination, stigma, shame, and violence.
The United States government recognizes that gender is a factor which plays a significant role in sexual health.
With this being said, there is a war on women's rights in the United States. It is based on politics in the United States and for candidates to be able to get votes or funding for certain area agendas. With this being said, one of the first pushes with making laws tighter for agendas would be the law in Louisiana. This allowed women who have had abortions in the past to be able to sue the doctor who did the procedure for up to ten years past the abortion date. The law stated that they could sue for damages not only done to the women, but also to the emotional damages of the fetus. This was a political move that has gotten the ball rolling for more states to put laws into place against abortions or for abortions depending on the political agenda they are pushing in each state.
Race and reproductive health
In the United States, reproductive health disparities exist between white and minority women. Historical abuses and experimentation on Black women by medical professionals has led to greater distrust of the medical community. Additionally, current racial biases held by medical personnel affect medical care of Black and minority women. Compared to white women, the rate of HIV infection is disproportionately high in Black and Hispanic women. These groups account for 75% of infection among women. There is also a gap in contraceptive use between white and Black women. These disparities are partly due to lack of health insurance and financial costs. Comprehensive gynecological care can also help reduce the rates of HIV in minority women and increase contraceptive use. The lack of reproductive health is a contributing factor in higher rates of maternal mortality in the United States among minority women, especially among Black women. Black women are 3.3 times more likely than white women to die from pregnancy-related causes. This is partly due to lack of insurance before pregnancy and higher rates of chronic conditions, such as obesity and diabetes. Furthermore, there are disparities in the use and success of ART among racial and socio-economic groups given the high costs, limited access, and varied utilization. A review of all U.S. studies that considered race and ethnicity when reporting success rates for ART, found white women consistently had the highest success rates, followed by Hispanic and Asian women, and African American women.