Politics of Women's Health : Exploring Agency and Autonomy

Examines the real world of women's health status and health-care delivery in different countries, and the assumptions behind the dominant medical model of solving problems without regard to social conditions. This book asks what feminist health-care ethics looks like if we start with women's experiences and concerns.

A collaborative exploration of the practical issues of women's empowerment in the health care system and the deep assumptions and values that underlie that system

For four years an interdisciplinary group of scholars and practitioners, including physicians, lawyers, philosophers, and social scientists, collaborated closely on the development of these essays. They also experienced many of the issues of women's health in their personal lives: three gave birth, three entered menopause, and two underwent major surgery; some provided care for their mothers and grandmothers.

The authors examine both the real world of women's health status and health care delivery in different countries and the assumptions behind the dominant medical model of solving problems without regard to social conditions. The book is not organized around types of medical interventions; instead, its thrust is to ask what feminist health care ethics looks like if we start with women's experiences and concerns. The authors unravel two key concepts of women's experiences and concerns. The authors unravel two key concepts of women's empowerment -- agency and autonomy -- that apply to all areas of concern to women.