I chose this research question because I am very interested in women's health rights and the lack thereof in other parts of the world. I am very fortunate to live in a country where I have access to health services whenever I need them and I wanted to research another part of the world where women are less fortunate. I picked Iran because this issue has a lot of controversy and well known that women are seen as second-class citizens in Iran. This research question relates to my values as a feminist for equality but doesn't directly affect me since I am not from Iran. I have personal experience regarding access to things such as contraception and many presidential candidates talk about defunding Planned Parenthood as one of their platforms for the upcoming election, which would lead to the loss of available contraception. As a woman, I am qualified to write about this issue because I take advantage of the health rights offered to me. 


Report: Propose Laws Could Restrict Women's Reproductive and Divorce Rights claims Iranian women are in jeopardy of losing their fundamental freedoms regarding sexual and reproductive health. Two new proposed laws would outlaw sterilization and restrict access to contraception along with making it difficult for women to get divorced in Iran. The Bill to Increase Fertility Rates and Prevent Population Decline threatens women's use of modern contraceptives, outlaws voluntary sterilization, and defunds family planning programs. The article discusses women's right to choose if and when they have a child and that it is their fundamental right as a human to make the decision for themselves. Though the author of the article is unknown, the article is credible because it is from the book The Iran Primer that provides an overview of Iran's politics, economy, military, foreign policy, and nuclear programs (United States Institute of Peace). Slight bias is evident because the article is almost a year old and might not be up to date. 


Women's Reproductive Health in the Middle East and North Africa focuses on the illness and complications that are related to giving birth in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Complications with the birth not only affect the mother but can also affect the child and other family members. Only 75% of urban Iranian women are able to deliver babies in health facilities. Family planning was reintroduced in Iran in the late 1980s and has the highest percentage of married women who use family planning at 74%; with this many women using family planning a defunding would be detrimental. Roudi is credible because she is the program director for the Middle East and North Africa and has a Bachelors Degree in Sociology from the national University in Iran. There is bias in this article because it focuses on the Middle East and North Africa as a whole and compares Iran to surrounding nations.  


You Shall Procreate: Attacks on Women's Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Iran is an article that discusses the threat to women's sexual and reproductive rights in Iran. Bill 446 would deny and limit women's access to contraception, which is used to ensure adolescent girls freedom, and Bill 446 is "heightened by the cuts made to Iran's Family and Population Planning Programme" (Amnesty International). The first article of Bill 446 prohibits all surgical procedures pertaining to contraception except cases dealing with threats to ones physical health. The Bill also states to ban information regarding contraception and childbearing, which permits to education material regarding "prevention of threats to the physical and mental health of the mother and child" (Amnesty International). This would take away the ability to inform women about their bodies and childbearing. Amnesty International is the source of this article and though the author is not cited, there are many different sources cited under the article, which adds to their credibility. 

This research question is arguable because many Iranian women are treated as second-class citizens and do not have the same reproductive rights as men. New proposed laws are trying to take away the limited rights women currently have until they are left with almost nothing. I haven't seen many disagreements amongst the sources I have found so far but many of the agreements are access to contraception for women, sexual and reproductive education, and quality health care for women. I hold many of the same perspectives of the sources I have looked for which makes me want to find sources that disagree with the points I have agreed with in the previously states articles. I revised my research question before starting the exploratory analysis and was able to choose a part of the world that I would like to focus on for my essay.         
