Medical Sexism: Contraception Access, Reproductive Medicine, and Health Care

Doctors deny patients access to medicines related to hormonal contraception, an issue that is widely linked to feminism, biomedical ethics and applied ethics in general. Medical sexism argues that such practices violate a variety of legal and moral standards, including medical malpractice, informed consent and human rights. Jill B. Delston argues that medical sexism is a major cause of these systemic and persistent violations. Delston also considers other common medical abuses, such as abortion access policies and treatment at birth. Delston argues that sexism is an explanation for the widespread abuse of patient autonomy in reproductive health and healthcare in general.