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to their mainstream practices. Most feminist health centers did cooperate with the medical establishment somewhat, due in large part to state laws requiring physicians to be a part of clinic staff or to perform abortions. Although many feminist health centers initially sought female doctors to join their ranks, the exclusion of women from medical schools meant that most feminist health centers had male physicians on staff. However, not all clinics had a cooperative relationship with medical professionals. The
Tallahassee Feminist Women's Health Center had to recruit out-of-town doctors to perform abortions at their clinic because the center's founder had given a newspaper interview criticizing the local medical community, thereby causing their staff physicians to quit and antagonizing other area doctors.
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Centers, an organized, nationwide group of feminist health centers, published self-help books such as "How To Stay Out of the
Gynecologist's Office." These books went further than expanding women's knowledge about their own bodies by additionally enabling women to treat some common infections, such as UTIs and yeast infections, with home remedies. Health activists decried the “doctor knows best” model of care, noting that the
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offer sliding scale or reduced fees for services, and offer free health care to those who cannot afford to pay. In addition to reaching these oft-neglected populations, feminist health centers try to provide sensitive and respectful health care, recognizing health disparities in underserved groups and tailoring their services to the needs of the communities in which they operate.
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who ran the center were unwilling to rely on outside funding, feeling that outside support could coopt their mission. Unfortunately, their refusal to seek external financial support led to a short shelf life for the clinic – the Women's
Community Health Center was only open from 1974 until 1981, and was plagued by financial troubles and internal disputes throughout its existence.
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in the United States. Women were further excluded from medicine through the doctor-patient relationship, by which women were presented with minimal information or choices about the health care they received, and even their own bodies. Feminist health activists argued that the drape used by gynecologists during
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Furthermore, feminist health centers maintain a commitment to reaching underserved populations that is largely unseen in other medical providers. Feminist health centers provide services to minorities, immigrants, refugees, the LGBTQI community, and the uninsured. To meet these needs, clinics usually
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Feminist health centers also faced (and continue to face) frequent attacks, criticism, and protests, primarily relating to their role as abortion providers. Many clinics have been attacked by arsonists and subject to bombings, with some clinics undergoing multiple attacks. Clinic workers and patients
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The body of scholarship that emerged from the women's health movement underscores the fact that, historically, women had been health care providers for millennia. It was not until the mid-nineteenth century that women were pushed out of medicine by increasingly professionalized health care delivery
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in
Chicago. The philosophy of self-help was practiced in feminist health centers by the teaching of cervical self-exam, and also by creating a more collaborative relationship between the health care provider (who was not necessarily a physician) and patient. The Federation of Feminist Women's Health
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The women's health movement has succeeded in changing mainstream health care in several ways, including mandating the practice of informed consent and implementing the discussion of multiple treatment options. Thus, some practices that were once deemed radical and found primarily in feminist health
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In addition to facing internal conflicts, many feminist health centers faced external opposition to their existence. The desire of feminist health activists to alter the delivery of health services alienated many physicians, who saw feminist health centers as offering both criticism and competition
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While most clinics found ways to resolve, or at least maintain, the tension between ideals and practice, some refused to compromise. The Women's
Community Health Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts is an example of a clinic that maintained an unyielding commitment to its political values. The women
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argue, “Feminist organizations are an amalgam, a blend of institutionalized and social movement practices. A movement organization is not a contradiction in terms, but it is, by definition, in tension. It is always a compromise between the ideals by which it judges itself and the realities of its
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Although most feminist health centers are abortion providers, not all of them are. For example, the
Chicago Women's Health Center has remained committed to the principles of self-help and informed consent, and strives to provide care to underserved populations, but does not provide abortion care.
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notes, “Feminist clinics never accounted for the majority of women’s health movement groups. But they were vanguard organizations that were fertile soils for many of the movement’s innovations.” Feminist health centers were intended as a challenge to the way mainstream health care was delivered.
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come not only from advances in medicine, but also from society making inroads against injustice and inequality. Feminist health centers will not shy away from controversial topics, including abortion, which most centers are committed to providing as a critical component of comprehensive women's
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of health care, providing an alternative to mainstream health facilities, and increasing access to gynecological information and services for all women, regardless of race, class, sexual orientation, or insurance coverage.
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was bombarded with hundreds of protestors outside its doors, making it difficult to continue clinic operations. The
Operation Rescue protests in Atlanta resulted in hundreds of arrests.
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Throughout their early years, feminist health centers struggled to uphold their ideals while simultaneously meeting the needs of their clients and their employees. Feminist scholars
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centers have become routine in medical facilities throughout the country. However, feminist health centers remain distinct from their mainstream counterparts in important ways.
68:, and dissatisfaction with the delivery of women's health care. Members of the women's health movement saw health care as a highly politicized issue and wanted to challenge the
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Conversely, not all abortion providers are feminist health centers – in fact, most are not, just as most providers of women's health care are not feminist.
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daily practices.” Many clinics realized that change was necessary for their continued operations – for example, many feminist health centers began as
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was often a fixation outside of many clinics. In 1988, during the
Democratic National Convention held in Atlanta, the
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414:"Women's Community Health Center (Cambridge, Mass.) Records, 1953-1987 (inclusive), 1973-1981 (bulk): A Finding Aid"
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Feminist health centers continue to see health care as a political issue – they believe that improvements in
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in the 1970s. The women's health movement grew out of social movements of the 1960s, including the
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also faced harassment from anti-abortion protestors. During the 1980s, the anti-abortion group
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is an independent, not-for-profit, alternative medical facility that primarily provides
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of medical care had excluded women as both providers and consumers of medical care.
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Bodies of
Knowledge: Sexuality, Reproduction, and Women's Health in the Second Wave
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Into Our Own Hands: The Women's Health
Movement in the United States, 1969-1990
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131:. While many activists believed that collective decision-making promoted
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In her history of the women's health movement, feminist anthropologist
486:. The Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. December 4, 1983. p. D2
231:. Feminist Women's Health Center DBA Cedar River Clinics. January 1998
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508:. Lewiston Sun Journal. Associated Press. June 1, 2000. p. A3
43:. These centers were founded with the purposes of challenging the
599:"Falwell Supports Protestors At Anti-Abortion Rally in Atlanta"
308:. Feminist Women's Health Center of Atlanta, GA. Archived from
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557:. Evansville, Indiana. Associated Press. 1985-12-31. p. 2
578:. Miami Herald. Associated Press. October 6, 1988. p. 3
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Feminist Organizations: Harvest of the New Women's Movement
576:"Abortion clinics struggle to operate as 'siege' continues"
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to performing illegal abortions as part of the infamous
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health centers were founded in the 1970s as part of the
436:"State Policies in Brief: An Overview of Abortion Laws"
771:Ferree, Myra Marx; Patricia Yancey Martin (1995).
706:"An Interview With the Feminist Abortion Network"
56:Feminist health centers emerged as a part of the
484:"Suspicious fire damages feminist health center"
284:"Feminists Authors Offer Self-Help Health Books"
813:. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
626:. Chicago Women's Health Center. Archived from
527:United Press International (December 4, 1985).
259:N.Y. Times News Service (November 18, 1979).
88:Many in the women's health movement embraced
8:
41:women's health movement in the United States
159:Differences from mainstream health clinics
775:. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
747:"Feminist Health Center fills a key role"
674:"Life Support for Feminist Health Care?"
282:McCormack, Patricia (January 26, 1982).
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80:they saw in professionalized medicine.
351:"Medical History -- Women in Medicine"
207:"Our Bodies, Ourselves Turns 35 Today"
506:"Women's clinic reopens despite fire"
7:
745:Dalia Vidunas (September 28, 2011).
551:"Abortion clinic fires called arson"
263:. Wilmington Star-News. pp. 5–D
838:Women's health in the United States
470:"Feminist health center under fire"
441:. Guttmacher Institute. May 1, 2012
261:"Feminist health center under fire"
794:. Chicago: University of Chicago.
597:Alan S. Weiner (August 11, 1988).
531:. The Oregon Bulletin. p. A-3
25:
704:Amie Newman (December 21, 2009).
416:. Women's Community Health Center
353:. Health Guidance. Archived from
286:. Schenectady Gazette. p. 14
529:"Abortion mail bombs discovered"
92:, from reading the seminal text
672:Amie Newman (January 2, 2007).
412:Paula K. Aloisio (March 2005).
306:"History, Mission, and Values"
205:Molly M. Ginty (May 4, 2004).
153:Feminist Women's Health Center
115:symbolized a veil of secrecy.
1:
653:. Women's Health Specialists
555:Evansville Courier and Press
564:– via Newspapers.com.
229:"Jane: An Abortion Service"
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651:"Women's Health Movement"
624:"Women's Health Movement"
809:Morgen, Sandra (2002).
384:Ferree and Martin, 7-8.
58:women's health movement
18:Feminist health centers
124:Patricia Yancey Martin
29:feminist health center
790:Kline, Wendy (2010).
339:See Kline and Morgen.
95:Our Bodies, Ourselves
66:Civil Rights Movement
843:Feminism and health
105:professionalization
708:. RH Reality Check
676:. RH Reality Check
603:The New York Times
35:health care. Many
749:. Concord Monitor
349:Albert S. Lyons.
16:(Redirected from
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765:Bibliography
751:. Retrieved
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735:Morgen, 151.
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726:Morgen, 150.
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710:. Retrieved
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694:Morgen, 237.
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678:. Retrieved
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418:. Retrieved
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393:Morgen, 110.
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375:Morgen, 124.
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359:. Retrieved
355:the original
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113:pelvic exams
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459:Morgen, 92.
402:Morgen, 97.
195:Morgen, 71.
129:collectives
832:Categories
561:2023-01-17
184:References
90:self-help
74:classism
62:New Left
37:feminist
52:History
817:
798:
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753:May 6,
712:May 6,
680:May 6,
657:May 6,
634:May 6,
608:May 6,
582:May 6,
535:May 6,
512:May 6,
490:May 6,
445:May 6,
420:May 6,
361:May 6,
330:Ginty.
316:May 6,
290:May 5,
267:May 8,
235:May 6,
213:May 6,
78:sexism
76:, and
70:racism
64:, the
439:(PDF)
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