Our Bodies, Our Crimes?

I am 37 pages into "Our Bodies, Our Crimes" by Jeanne Flavin, and I am already frustrated with this book.

In the introduction, Flavin condemns everyone from abortion activists who focus too much on abortion when it comes to rape and harm of the mother all the way down to members of the judicial system who attempt to combat the problem of fathers who don't pay child support by issuing "pay up or zip up" orders. She says that "incarceration punishes women not just for their crimes but for their perceived shortcomings as women and mothers" (Flavin 4).

This frustrated me not because I completely disagree, but because, as in many sociological readings and articles we have been assigned, she presents one side of the issue with a universal look on an issue as a whole- and offers no explanation for a way that these problems could be remedied or fixed. I agree that women  who are pregnant in prison do not receive adequate care for their unborn children- but wouldn't the mother's addiction to drugs, mental instability, or violent tendencies be more than "perceived" shortcomings? Flavin addresses this by saying that the government should not have a right to limit a woman or man's reproductive rights, even when they are "perceived" to be unfit mothers or fathers. If we go with this logic, is it not the government's right to limit a person's freedom because they are "perceived" to be criminals because of rape or murder?

I do agree with Flavin on a few points. She talks about the problem of "reproductive rights" being reduced down to simply pro-choice or pro-life abortion stances. While I feel that the topic of abortion is a very important and very divisive issue that is still at the forefront of society today, reproductive rights should also include things like the right to pre- and post-natal care.