As an undergraduate student in Political Science, I always questioned where the societal pressure for women to take on domestic roles of the home has come from, and what political science could say about it. These questions inspired my research into the influence of family values on international reproductive justice policy. Under the mentorship of Professor Paul Musgrave, I began exploring how the international community downplays the importance of reproductive rights relative to other forms of human and political rights, and how that relative devaluation affects domestic access to abortion.

In my honors thesis, I attempt to answer the following puzzle: why are gendered rights not considered “core” to the liberal international order. My research has included reading, criticizing, comparing, and engaging in the following topics: international relations theory, feminist international relations theory, the history of reproductive rights abroad, and how familial units are depicted in different countries. I also compare case studies in Poland, Ireland, and the United States, as well as their international agents, toward abortion policy. Researching the impact family values have on societies, as well as their influence on policy, will allow us to determine why women’s rights are not being protected in international societies and what international bodies can do to protect these fundamental rights.