Regardless of where you stand on this issue, everyone agrees that motherhood is not a job to be taken lightly.  However, while anti-abortion groups are much more likely to say that it is the hardest job in the world, they are forcing it on unwilling women.  Therefore, women are being persecuted for acknowledging that they are not ready to undertake such a difficult and important task (Marcotte).  Logically, it should be considered good planning to prevent a situation in which a woman is in no way prepared to handle. 

However, this is not to say that a woman can't be a feminist and a loving mother as well.  When discussing reproductive justice, it's important to remember to include topics such as birth choices, fertility treatments, and breast feeding.  Reproductive justice means that a woman has the ability to make decisions about her reproductive health, whether that is abortion or motherhood.  Many people wonder how motherhood and feminism can go hand in hand, but they actually do so very well.  Feminism promotes the idea that a woman should make the decision about children and motherhood on the basis of what she wants.  If she wants to be a stay-at-home-mom, then let her do so without criticizing her.  Women should be free to express their reproductive decisions without repercussions.  If she wants to be a mother, then she shouldn't be labeled as anti-feminist.  If a woman decides she doesn't want to be a mother-or at least not yet-she shouldn't be labeled a slut for having sexual relationships.  Motherhood and parenting become misogynistic if a woman is expected to be a mother, regardless of her wants.  When she is forced into that role even if she doesn't want to be, that is anti-feminist (O'Reilly).

If a woman does choose to have children, she can essentially be punished for doing so.  In a study done over 173 countries, the United States is one of five countries that do not guarantee paid maternity or parental leave.  The other four are Lesotho, Liberia, Swaziland, and Papua New Guinea.  45 of those countries even offer paid paternity or parental leave.  On the Brightside, the United States does at least mandate unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, but only for companies with 50 employees of more.  However, the majority of women can't afford to take all that time off because they need to make money in order to support their newly grown family.  This amount of time also doesn't take breastfeeding into account.  Breastfeeding can be labeled as a choice and is, therefore, not protected under the law (Eichner).   

Having children is not something that ends after childbirth.  It is a process that never ends.  By providing women with a less than ideal environment to rear children, the United States is further widening the gap between sexual inequalities.  We must work to advance policies that support all reproductive options, be it to parent or not parent and to do so in health and with dignity. 

Sources:

Who Actually Takes Motherhood Seriously?

Would you protest forced motherhood and female enslavement?

On Maternal Desire

Feminist Mothers

NIH

news.cornell.edu

earlylearning.seiu.org