Constructions of the right to family planning in Indonesian law

In this paper I discuss the construction of the right to family planning in Indonesian Law. I conclude that the right to family planning is given its content and meaning by two discourses, which each establishes the right by chains of equivalence that orient around the nodal points of ‘Health’ and ‘Prosperous Family’. I find that the relevant subject positions available to the individual through this construction of the right, are those of ‘spouse’ or ‘family member’. The right to family planning is thus not constructed as a right in relation to which the individual per se is a relevant rights-bearer. Throughout the paper, constructions of the right to family planning in discourses of international human rights law are used as a reference. The analysis in the paper is a short version, and the first step, of a larger analysis of a legal reform process whereby the international norms on the right to family planning are to be implemented in the Indonesian national system. This process of implementation is the topic of my doctoral project in international human rights law.