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Abstract
This article offers a case study of the politics of reproduction present between development
programs, medical practitioners, and population policies in Mexico. It particularly
explores how these policies have shaped indigenous women's family planning choices.
It analyzes the unintended consequences that emerge from the interaction between indigenous
women, medicine, and an economic development program--Oportunidades. The study was
based on participant observation and in-depth interviews carried out between 2004
and 2007 with 53 women, as well as doctors and nurses, in northern Veracruz. Results
show that the close association of government policies with medical practitioners
serves to constrain women's reproductive decisions. Medical practitioners use this
association to promote the state's concern for family planning, unintentionally disempowering
their target population. This article uses a political economy of fertility framework
to look at broader processes affecting women's choices beyond the personal or domestic
level. Such a framework allows us to analyze these connections and place women's reproductive
rights within a larger struggle for human rights and dignity.