Interrogating Planned Parenthood: Reproductive Health Care Providers' Perspectives on Family Planning

• In Event: 322 - Section on Medical Sociology Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 12. Reproduction

Abstract

Nearly half of all pregnancies in the United States are considered unintended. As a result, public health efforts around pregnancy emphasize conscious planning, a narrative evident in the common phrases that describe reproductive health care, including "family planning," "planned parenthood," and "birth control." However, in this paper, I challenge pregnancy planning as an unquestionably good goal and explore the neoliberal underpinnings of family planning. According to the logic of family planning, couples, and women in particular, are expected to perfectly coordinate childbearing so they achieve peak health and economic stability before getting pregnant. I draw on semi-structured, open-ended interviews (N=24) with healthcare professionals (Nurse Practitioners, Doctors of Nurse Practitioning, Medical Doctors, and Certified Nurse Midwives) who work in diverse practices in the United States to interrogate these providers' attitudes about family planning. I find that in providers' definitions of planning, they distinguish between individual fertility intentions and normative readiness to have a baby. When judging whether a patient is planning effectively, many providers value elements of normative readiness, like completing an education, having financial security, and being in a stable relationship, over patients' individual desires for childbearing. Ultimately, I argue that public health programs which emphasize family planning can have detrimental effects when they are used to encourage women's economic self-regulation rather than as a tool for women's agency and empowerment.

Author

• Lindsay M Stevens, State University of New Jersey-Rutgers