Women, Poverty Reproduction

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

This course will examine the social and economic costs and benefits of access to reproductive health in the United States. Specifically, our goal will be to look at current and historical case studies, and state-by-state comparisons, to examine the impact of access to reproductive health on educational prospects, employment, earning power, the gender gap in pay, marriage and motherhood, mental health, and social and racial justice. In order to do so, we will first explore the changing legal model of reproductive access in the United States today, focusing on contraception, comprehensive sex education and abortion. We will also consider the historical, social, racial and religious context of the regulation of reproduction, after which we will turn to the economic, social, racial and practical impacts of the regulations in effect today. This course is primarily focused on the United States.