Self-managed abortion: law, policy and medical evidence

Congratulations and thanks to Patty Skuster, Heidi Moseson and Jamila Perritt, whose article was recently published in the “Ethical and Legal Issues in Reproductive Health” section of the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Prof. Skuster holds the Beck Chair in Law at the Beasley School of Law at Temple University, Dr. Moseson is Senior Research Scientist at Ibis Reproductive Health, and Dr. Perritt is President and CEO of Physicians for Reproductive Health. We are pleased to circulate the abstract of their co-authored article, which is now freely accessible online. 

Patty Skuster, Heidi Moseson and Jamila Perritt, “Self managed abortion:  aligning law and policy with medical evidence,” International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 160.2 (February 2023): 720-725. Abstract and Article.  

ABSTRACT: People have always and will always find ways to try to end their pregnancies when necessary. Many do so safely without the involvement or direct supervision of healthcare professionals by self-managing their abortions. In 2022, the well-established safety and efficacy of abortion medications prompted WHO to fully endorse self-managed medication abortion as part of a comprehensive range of safe, effective options for abortion care. But despite robust evidence supporting the safety and effectiveness of the self-use of medications for abortion, abortion laws and policies around the world remain at odds with clinical evidence and with the realities of self-managed medication abortion in the present day. The present article considers legal issues related to self-managed abortion and addresses the role of obstetricians, gynecologists, and other healthcare professionals in promoting clinical and legal safety in abortion care through support of self-managed abortion.

RELATED RESOURCES

World Health Organization, Abortion Care Guideline, 2022. Online here.

“The WHO Abortion Care Guideline: Law and Policy–Past, Present and Future,” by Joanna N. Erdman, in International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, 162.3 (Sept 2023): 1119–1124. . Abstract and Article. 

Ethical and Legal Issues in Reproductive Health, more than 110 concise articles are online here.
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Contributed by: the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, reprohealth*law at utoronto.ca.   See Program website for our Publications,  Research resources, and Reprohealthlaw Commentaries Series.  TO JOIN THE REPROHEALTHLAW BLOG: enter your email address in the upper right corner of this blog, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

New book: “Early Medical Abortion, Equality of Access and the Telemedical Imperative”

Congratulations to Jordan A. Parsons and Elizabeth Chloe Romanis, whose new book has just been published by Oxford University Press. Jordan A. Parsons is a doctoral candidate at Bristol Medical School, and Elizabeth Chloe Romanis is Assistant Professor in Biolaw at Durham University’s Law School in the United Kingdom. We are pleased to circulate the publisher’s description and some related resources.

Jordan A. Parsons and Elizabeth Chloe Romanis, Early Medical Abortion, Equality of Access, and the Telemedical Imperative (Oxford University Press 2021) Publisher’s webpage.

Telemedicine has recently become a key focus of healthcare systems globally, heavily influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic and the increased need for remote treatment. Implementing telemedicine can bring myriad benefits for both patients and providers and has the potential to make a huge impact by improving access to abortion care.

In both the United Kingdom and United States, abortion is heavily regulated – exceptionally so when compared to other routine healthcare. This regulation has had the impact of exacerbating the social and geographical circumstances that can make access to abortion clinics difficult.

This book examines early medical abortion provided by telemedicine, alongside the access barriers created by laws in the US and UK. It critically appraises a series of developments in this rapidly evolving subject providing an up to date and well-informed analysis. In doing so, it argues that there is a moral imperative to make the necessary regulatory changes that would enable the provision of telemedical early medical abortion.
Discount code for recent launch: AMPROMD9

RELATED RESOURCES:
“Legal and Policy Responses to the Delivery of Abortion Care During COVID-19,” by Elizabeth Chloe Romanis & Jordan A Parsons. International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 151.3 (December 2020): 479-486  PDF at Wiley online. Submitted Text at SSRN.

“Early abortion care during the COVID-19 public health emergency in Ireland: implications for law, policy and service delivery” by Allison Spillane and Maeve Taylor, International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 2021;154:379–384.  PDF at Wiley online, Free access.

“Abortion by telemedicine in the European Union,” by Tamara K. Hervey and Sally Sheldon,  International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 145(2019): 125–128.   PDF at Wiley Online.  Submitted text at SSRN.
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Compiled by: the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, reprohealth*law at utoronto.ca.   See Program website for our Publications,  Research resources, and Reprohealthlaw Commentaries Series.  TO JOIN THE REPROHEALTHLAW BLOG: enter your email address in the upper right corner of our blog, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

REPROHEALTHLAW Updates – Winter 2021

SUBSCRIBE TO REPROHEALTHLAW: To receive these updates by email, enter your address in upper right corner of this webpage, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

DEVELOPMENTS
Argentina legalized abortion within 14 weeks’ gestation, Dec. 30, 2020. Newspaper report.

South Korea decriminalized abortion, effective Jan. 1 2021, by order of the Constitutional Court of Korea
Decision of 2019 explained by Prof. Hyunah Yang.

Thailand – abortion became legal on request within 12 weeks, Feb. 7, 2021, based on Constitutional Court judgment of Feb. 19, 2020 (English summary download), and legislative amendments of Jan. 25, 2021 Newspaper report.

NEW CASE SUMMARIES:
[Kenya, abortion law, rape, training healthcare professionals] Federation of Women Lawyers (Fida – Kenya) & 3 others v Attorney General & 2 others [2019] eKLR, Petition No. 266 of 2015, Decision of June 12, 2019. (High Court of Kenya at Nairobi, Constitutional and Human Rights Division) Decision online. Case Summary by Benson Chakaya (download PDF). Overview by Bernard Dickens.

[Zimbabwe, transgender, constitutional rights] Ricky Nathanson v Farai Mteliso, The Officer in Charge Bulawayo Central Police Station, Commissioner of Police and the Minister of Home Affairs, Case no.HB 176/19 HC 1873/14 [2019] ZWBHC 135( (14 November 2019);  (Zimbabwe, High Court) Decision online.   Overview on Reprohealthlaw Blog. Case Summary by Keikantse Phele (download PDF).

SCHOLARSHIP
Access to Abortion: An Annotated Bibliography of Reports and Scholarship. (Toronto: International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, 2020) 44 pages. Abortion access bibliography.

[abortion – COVID-19] “Legal and Policy Responses to the Delivery of Abortion Care During COVID-19,” by Elizabeth Chloe Romanis & Jordan A Parsons. International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 151.3 (December 2020): 479-486  PDF at Wiley online. Submitted Text at SSRN.

[abortion – Europe] “Access to Abortion in Cases of Fatal Foetal Abnormality: A New Direction for the European Court of Human Rights?” by Bríd Ní Ghráinne and Aisling McMahon, Human Rights Law Review 19.3 (November 2019, Pages 561–584, Abstract and institutional access.

[abortion laws – map] “Global Abortion laws Relating to Self-Managed Abortion,” interactive map created by Ipas with the Center for Public Health Law Research at Temple University, based on WHO Global Abortion Policies database, “displays self-managed abortion laws in 180 countries and 40 sub-national jurisdictions including Australia and Mexico, as of June 1, 2019. Self-Managed Abortion Law Map

“Bioethics training in reproductive health in Mexico,” by Gustavo Ortiz-Millán and Frances Kissling, International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 151.2 (November, 2020): 308-313  PDF at Wiley Online. Submitted Text at SSRN. 
Also forthcoming in Spanish:    Bioética y derechos reproductivos de las mujeres en México, edited by Lourdes Enríquez Rosas, María del Pilar González Barreda, and Arturo Sotelo Gutiérrez (Fonde de Cultura Económica and the Programa Universitario de Bioética of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)

[Brazil] “Confidentiality and treatment refusal: conservative shifts on reproductive rights by Brazilian medical boards,” by Juliana Cesario Alvim Gomes and Corina Helena Figueira Mendes, International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 152.3 (March 2021): 459-464.   PDF at Wiley online.   

[conscience, Argentina] “Una vuelta de tuerca a la objeción de conciencia: Una propuesta regulatoria a partir de las prácticas
del aborto legal en Argentina,” por Sonia Ariza Navarrete & Agustina Ramón Michel (Ipas, 2019) Descargar informe en PDF. Summario – Espanol y Ingles. 

[conscience – Argentina] “Re-thinking the Use of Conscientious Objection by Health Professionals: A regulatory proposal based on legal abortion practices in Argentina, 2019  Executive Summary – English and Spanish. 

“Conscience Wars in the Americas,” by Douglas NeJaime and Reva Siegel, Latin American Law Review 5 (2020): 1-26
English and Spanish on web.   Download English PDF      Spanish PDF.

Conscientious Objection / The Right to Conscience – annotated bibliography, updated Feb. 15, 2021.

Women’s Birthing Bodies and the Law: Unauthorised Intimate Examinations, Power and Vulnerability, new book edited by Camilla Pickles and Jonathan Herring. Hart Publishing, 2020. Publisher’s webpage.  

US-focused news, resources, and legal developments are available  on Repro Rights Prof Blog. View or subscribe.

JOBS
Links to employers in the field of Reproductive and Sexual Health Law are online here.
______________
Compiled by: the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, reprohealth*law at utoronto.ca.   See Program website for our Publications,  Research resources, and Reprohealthlaw Commentaries Series.  TO JOIN THE REPROHEALTHLAW BLOG: enter your email address in the upper right corner of our blog, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

REPROHEALTHLAW Updates – Autumn 2020

SUBSCRIBE TO REPROHEALTHLAW: To receive these updates by email, enter your address in upper right corner of this webpage, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

DEVELOPMENTS
Amnesty International’s new institutional policy on abortion, released Sept 28, 2020, has been endorsed by the International Federation of Gynecologists and Obstetricians (FIGO). Amnesty Abortion Policy.
Press release. Explanatory note. Key messages. FAQ.

[Poland] Constitutional Tribunal ruled that abortion on grounds of congenital fetal defects is unconstitutional. Sygn. akt K 1/20, October 22, 2020. Decision in Polish. News report in English.

[The Philippines] PINSAN (network of NGOs and individuals) released proposed text of a “decriminalization bill” and an international petition to decriminalize abortion in the Philippines, September 28, 2020.
Proposed legislation. International petition. Bill launch on Facebook with Q & A.

SCHOLARSHIP
Access to Abortion: An Annotated Bibliography of Reports and Scholarship. (Toronto: International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, 2020) 44 pages. Abortion access bibliography.

[abortion] “Why self-managed abortion is so much more than a provisional solution for times of pandemic,” by Mariana Prandini Assis & Sara Larrea, Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters, 28:1 (2020) Article online.

[Africa] “Adolescent sexual and reproductive health and universal health coverage: a comparative policy and legal analysis of Ethiopia, Malawi and Zambia,” by Godfrey Kangaude, Ernestina Coast & Tamara Fetters (2020) Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters, 28:2, 1-15. Abstract and article. Policy briefs: Ethiopia brief, Malawi brief. Zambia brief.

[Argentina] “A Case for Legal Abortion: The Human Cost of Barriers to Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Argentina,” (Human Rights Watch, 2020) 77-page report in English. Overview in English. Informe en Espanol.

[Australia] “Advancing Reproductive Rights through Legal Reform: The Example of Abortion Clinic Safe Access Zones,” by Ronli Sifris, Tania Penovic and Caroline Henckels, University of New South Wales Law Journal 43.3 (2020): 1078-1097. Abstract and Article.

[Belgium, Ireland] “Abortion law reform in Europe: The 2018 Belgian and Irish Acts on termination of pregnancy,” by Fien De Meyer – Medical Law International 20.1 (2020): 3-30. Abstract and article.

[India-abortion law] “The MTP 2020 Amendment Bill: anti-rights subjectivity,” by Alka Barua, Anubha Rastogi, V. Deepa, Dipika Jain, Manisha Gupte, and Rupsa Mallik. Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters 28.1 (2020). Commentary online.

[India] “Reimagining Reproductive Rights Jurisprudence in India: Reflections on the Recent Decisions on Privacy and Gender Equality from the Supreme Court of India,” by Dipika Jain and Payal K. Shah, Columbia Journal of Gender and Law 39.2 (2020): 1-53. Abstract and PDF access.

[Mexico] “Bioethics training in reproductive health in Mexico,” by Gustavo Ortiz-Millán and Frances Kissling, International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 151.2 (November, 2020): 308-313  PDF free access for 12 months.  Submitted Text. 

[Nigeria] “The Conflict in Northeast Nigeria’s Impact on the Sexual and Reproductive Rights of Women and Girls.” by Onyema Afulukwe and Chinonye Obianwu (Nairobi: Center for Reproductive Rights and Legal Defence and Assistance Project, 2020) 26 page report.

[Philippines] “Reasons Why We Need to Decriminalize Abortion” by Clara Rita A. Padilla (of EnGendeRights and PINSAN).
Seven reasons op-ed, 22 reasons – full report.

[Surrogacy] “Paid surrogacy abroad does not violate public policy: UK Supreme Court,” by Bernard M. Dickens, International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 150.1 (July 2020): 129-133 PDF- Free Access till July 2021.  Submitted Text.

“Transsexuality:  Legal and Ethical challenges,” by Bernard M. Dickens.  International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 151.1 (October, 2020): 163-167 PDF free access for 12 months.   Submitted Text.

US-focused news, resources, and legal developments are available  on Repro Rights Prof Blog. View or subscribe.

JOBS
Links to employers in the field of Reproductive and Sexual Health Law are online here.
______________
Compiled by: the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, reprohealth*law at utoronto.ca.   See Program website for our Publications,  Information resources, and Reprohealthlaw Commentaries Series.  TO JOIN THE REPROHEALTHLAW BLOG: enter your email address in the upper right corner of our blog, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

Access to Abortion: Annotated Bibliography of Reports and Scholarship

Many thanks to Katelyn Sheehan, LL.M., and Sierra Farr, a second-year J.D. candidate at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law, for updating our Access to Abortion Reports, the annotated bibliography founded in 2008 by Joanna Erdman, now McBain Professor of Health Law and Policy at Dalhousie University.

ACCESS TO ABORTION: An Annotated Bibliography of Reports and Scholarship. (Toronto: International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, 2020) 44 pages. Annotated Bibliography.

This annotated bibliography collates government reports, non-government reports, and secondary literature that investigate access to legal abortion services under different legal regimes around. Access reports do not document the incidence or legality of induced abortion in each country, but rather examine the implementation or effects of laws regulating access to abortion. Access reports have proven critical in some countries by strengthening the evidentiary basis upon which governments and courts rely to show how abortion laws restrict access and limit the equitable availability of induced abortion. In Canada, for example, the 1977 “Badgley Report” (online here) provided the necessary evidence to show inequitable access to abortion services, and this evidence was used by the Supreme Court of Canada in R v Morgentaler (1988) to remove abortion from the Criminal Code.

The purpose of this annotated bibliography is to improve understanding of existing gaps between the formal legal regulation of abortion and the operation of laws in practice. This second edition, current as of April 1, 2020, shows how technological advances, particularly the increased use of medical abortion and the expansion of internet access, have shifted the landscape of abortion access. Its annotations seek to extrapolate: (1) barriers to access safe and legal abortion and (2) recommendations for reform identified by each report.

ACCESS TO ABORTION: An Annotated Bibliography of Reports and Scholarship. (Toronto: International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, 2020) 44 pages. Online here.
______________
Compiled by: the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, reprohealth*law at utoronto.ca.   See Program website for our Publications,  Information resources, and Reprohealthlaw Commentaries Series.  TO JOIN THE REPROHEALTHLAW BLOG: enter your email address in the upper right corner of our blog, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

REPROHEALTHLAW Updates – April 2019

SUBSCRIBE TO REPROHEALTHLAW: To receive these updates monthly by email, enter your address in upper right corner of this webpage, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

DEVELOPMENTS:

[Australia] High Court upholds safe access zones near abortion clinics. High Court of Australia,  Kathleen Clubb v Alyce Edwards & Anor;  John Graham Preston v. Elizabeth Avery & Anor,  [2019] HCA 11,  Judgment of April 10, 2019. Decision online.    High Court Press Release.  Summary and comment by Adrianne Walters, Senior Lawyer.

[Canada] Ministry of Health ruling: Doctors can now prescribe abortion pills without preliminary ultrasound.  Health Canada press release, April 16, 2019.  Safe Abortion Campaign report.

[Rwanda]  Ministry of Health ruling: Abortion approval requirement is reduced to one medical doctor. Ministerial Order N°002/MoH/2019 issued April 8, 2019. Details of Ministerial order. Rwandan newspaper.  In addition, 367 women imprisoned for having or assisting abortion / infanticide were also released by presidential pardon, April 5, 2019.  Safe Abortion report.   Guardian news report.

[South Korea] Constitutional Court ordered government to decriminalize abortion within 20 weeks of gestation by Dec 31, 2020.  An indicted doctor had petitioned against the law.  New York Times report, April 11, 2019. Amicus curiae submission by UN Working Group.

SCHOLARSHIP:

“Abortion, the Disabilities of Pregnancy, and the Dignity of Risk,” by Mary Anne Case, U of Chicago, Public Law Working Paper No. 705 (2019)  Working paper.

[abortion] “Abortion, law reform and the context of decision-making,” by Heather Douglas and Katherine Kerr [Australia],  Griffith Law Review 25.1 (2016) 129-145
Review Essay, discusses 3 books.:
—-Abortion Law in Transnational Perspective (Cook Erdman & Dickens);
—-Law, Policy and Reproductive Autonomy (Erin Nelson) ;
—-Reproductive Freedom, Torture, and International Human Rights (Ronli Sifris)

[Australia, Northern Territory] “A Reproductive Rights Framework Supporting Law Reform on Termination of Pregnancy in the Northern Territory of Australia
by Suzanne Belton, Felicity Gerry, and Virginia Stulz, Griffith Journal of Law and Human Dignity 6.2 (2018): 25-53. Abstract and Article.

[abortion, Northern Ireland]  “Abortion in Northern Ireland and the European Convention on Human Rights: Reflections from the UK Supreme Court,” by Bríd Ní Ghráinne  and Aisling McMahon, International & Comparative Law Quarterly 68.2(Apr 2019): 477-494.  Abstract and Article.  also on SSRN.

[abortion, Uruguay] “Legal barriers to access abortion services through a human rights lens: the Uruguayan experience,” by Lucía Berro Pizzarossa, Reproductive Health Matters 26:52(2018): 151-158.  Abstract and article.

[abortion, stereotyping, Uruguay]   ‘“Women are Not in the Best Position to Make These Decisions by Themselves”: Gender Stereotypes in the Uruguayan Abortion Law’ by Lucía Berro Pizzarossa University of Oxford Human Rights Hub Journal 1 (2019): 25-54.  Abstract and article.

[conscience]  ‘Right of freedom of conscience is not absolute’, by Joan McCarthy, Nursing in General Practice, 12.1(2018): 27-28.  Abstract and article.

“Female genital mutilation/cutting in Africa: A complex legal and ethical landscape,”  by Satang Nabaneh and Adamson S. Muula, InternationalJournal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, 2019; 145: 253–257,  PDF at Wiley Online.   Submitted text at SSRN.

[human rights and criminal law] Beyond Virtue and Vice:  Rethinking Human Rights and Criminal Law, ed.  Alice M. Miller and Mindy Jane Roseman,  Pennsylvania Studies in Human Rights (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2019)  360 pages.  It includes:
——   Abortion as treason: Sexuality and Nationalism in France, by Mindy Jane Roseman, 158-170.
——   Harm Production: An Argument for Decriminalization, by Joanna N. Erdman, 248-268.    Book abstract and information.    Intro and excerpts from pp. 3-55 online.

[medical abortion access] “Realising the right to sexual and reproductive health: Access to essential medicines for medical abortion as a core obligation.” by Katrina Perehudoff, Lucía Berro Pizzarossa and Jelle Stekelenburg, BMC International Health and Human Rights, 18.1 (2018) [8 pages]. Article online.

[reproductive rights] “Here to Stay: The Evolution of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in International Human Rights Law,” by Lucía Berro Pizzarossa,  Laws 7.3 (2018): 1-17. Open Access Article.

JOBS

Links to employers in the field of Reproductive and Sexual Health Law are online here.

______________
Compiled by: the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, reprohealth*law at utoronto.ca.   See Program website for our Publications,  Information resources, and Reprohealthlaw Commentaries Series.
TO JOIN THE REPROHEALTHLAW BLOG: enter your email address in the upper right corner of our blog, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

 

 

 

 

Kenyan High Court: Anti-Counterfeit Act threatened access to generic medicines

Many thanks to Godfrey Kangaude, LL.M. (UFS), LL.M. (UCLA), an LL.D. candidate with the University of Pretoria and Executive Director of Nyale Institute for Sexual and Reproductive Health Governance in Malawi, for composing or editing dozens of analytical summaries of African court decisions for our forthcoming volume, Legal Grounds III: Reproductive and Sexual Rights in Sub-Saharan African Courts.   Earlier volumes in the series, published in 2005 and 2010 by the Center for Reproductive Rights, are freely available in print or electronic form.  Legal Grounds online.

Several recent African court decisions resolve legal issues that affect public health in many nations.  For instance, in Patricia Asero Ochieng and Two Others v. The Attorney General & Another [2012] (Petition No. 409 of 2009),  a High Court of Kenya (at Nairobi) asked the government to remove a fundamental ambiguity in new legislation, the Anti-Counterfeit Act, which jeopardized citizens’ constitutional right to health.

Godfrey Kangaude’s summary of the decision shows how the Act’s ambiguous definition of “counterfeit” threatened to restrict access to low-cost generic medicines for HIV AIDS .  As he concludes, “The Court found that the Act’s conflation of counterfeit and generic drugs creates a possibility for misinterpretation by officials, who might seize legitimate generic drugs, which would have a disastrous impact on persons who rely upon them, such as the petitioners. It emphasised that such ambiguity is not permissible, especially where any misinterpretation would impact on the constitutionally guaranteed rights of individuals.

“It further said that the protection of the rights of persons to health and access of medicines is more critical than the protection of intellectual property rights, so that the protection of the rights of the petitioners should take precedence. The Court buttressed its reasoning with General Comment No. 17 where the ESCR Committee [United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights] said that states parties should prevent the use of scientific progress for purposes contrary to human rights, for instance by excluding patentability where commercialisation of innovations would jeopardise enjoyment of human rights.” [2]

NOTES:
[1] Patricia Asero Ochieng and 2 Others v The Attorney General & Another [2012], Petition No. 409 of 2009 (High Court of Kenya at Nairobi) Decision online.
[2] Godfrey Kangaude, Case summary,  Patricia Asero Ochieng and 2 Others v The Attorney General & Another [2012], Case summary Godfrey Kangaude.

————-
Legal Grounds: Reproductive and Sexual Rights in African Commonwealth Courts   (up to 2008) Volumes I and II can be downloaded here.  Our update will be published early in 2017.  Decisions already identified for Volume III  are online here.  New case summaries are added every month.   If you can suggest other cases, please do!   How You Can Help.

 

 

 

Africa: New book on Strengthening protection of SRH through Human Rights

Congratulations to Charles Ngwena and Ebenezer Durojaye, editors of this useful 365-page book available online here!   We are delighted to provide an overview and Table of Contents below.

Strengthening the protection of sexual and reproductive health and rights in the African region through human rights, ed. Charles Ngwena and Ebenezer Durojaye (Pretoria, South Africa:  Pretoria University Law Press (PULP), 2014) 12 chapters, 365 pages.   Entire book online!

Strengthening the protection of sexual and reproductive health and rights in the African region through human rights uses rights-based frameworks to address some of the serious sexual and reproductive health challenges that the African region is currently facing. More importantly, the book provides insightful human rights approaches on how these challenges can be overcome. The book is the first of its kind. It is an important addition to the resources available to researchers, academics, policymakers, civil society organisations, human rights defenders, learners and other persons interested in the subject of sexual and reproductive health and rights as they apply to the African region. Human rights issues addressed by the book include: access to safe abortion and emergency obstetric care; HIV/AIDS; adolescent sexual health and rights; early marriage; and gender-based sexual violence.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Foreword by Commissioner Soyata Maiga   (Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa) (p. viii)

INTRODUCTION: 
1.  Strengthening the protection of sexual and reproductive health and rights in the African region through human rights: An introduction
by Charles Ngwena and Ebenezer Durojaye  (page 1)

PART I: REPRODUCTIVE AUTONOMY, ACCESS TO SAFE ABORTION AND EMERGENCY OBSTETRIC CARE:

2.  Reducing abortion-related maternal mortality in Africa:
Progress in implementing Objective 5 of the Maputo Plan of Action on Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights

          by Eunice Brookman-Amissah and Tinyade Kachika    (page 31)

3.  Access to legal abortion for rape as a reproductive health right: A commentary on the abortion

regimes of Swaziland and Ethiopia

           by Simangele Mavundla and Charles Ngwena     (page 61)

4.  Abortion and the European Convention on Human Rights: A lens for abortion advocacy in Africa

           by Christina Zampas and Jaime Todd-Gher     (page 79)

5.  Accountability for non-fulfilment of human rights obligations:
A key strategy for reducing maternal mortality and disability in sub-Saharan Africa

           by Onyema Afulukwe-Eruchalu      (page 119)

PART II: HIV/AIDS FOCUS:

6.  Adolescent girls, HIV, and state obligations under the African Women’s Rights Protocol

           by Karen Stefiszyn  (page 155)

7.  Advancing a feminist capabilities approach to HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa

           by Rebecca Amollo (page 181)

8.  The right to health and AIDS medicines in sub-Saharan Africa:
Assessing the outcomes of a human rights-based approach to medicines

           by Lisa Forman  (page 211)

PART III: SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND RIGHTS:

INTERSECTIONS WITH ADOLESCENCE, EARLY MARRIAGE, GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE AND POVERTY:

9.  Sexual health and rights of adolescents: A dialogue with sub-Saharan Africa

           by Godfrey Kangaude and Tiffany Banda  (page 251)

10.  Promoting sexual and reproductive rights through legislative interventions:
A case study of child rights legislation and early marriage in Nigeria and Ethiopia
           by Ayodele Atsenuwa (page 279)

11.  Gaps in gender-based violence jurisprudence of international and hybrid criminal courts:
Can human rights law help?

           by Susana Sácouto  (page 305)

12. Women, sexual rights and poverty: Framing the linkage under the African human rights system

           by Fana Hagos Berhane  (page 331)

COURTS, CALLS, RESOURCES & NEWS

REPROHEALTHLAW listserv
December 9, 2011

COURT DECISIONS

Canada: B.C. Polygamy — Supreme Court of British Columbia decision is a resounding affirmation of the need for a criminal prohibition on polygamy.  Reference case re Section 293 of the Criminal Code of Canada. 2011 BCSC 1588. Newspaper coverage.  Decision online. 

European Court of Human Rights: R.R. v. Poland decision (pregnant woman denied access to genetic testing of abnormal fetus) is now final.  A panel of five judges of the Grand Chamber decided not to accept the Government’s request that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber. Pursuant to Art 44 s. 2 of the Convention, the judgment of 26 May 2011 therefore became final on 28 November 2011. Decision online.

New case: European Court of Human Rights: Gauer v France: Forced sterilisation of 5 women with intellectual disabilities without informed consent and against their wishes.  News article.  Interights summary.

European Court of Justice bans patents based on embryonic stem cells  News article.    Decision online (Oct 18, 2011).   Background case: Brüstle v. Greenpeace, CJEU, Opinion of the Advocate General, 10 March 2011 

Legal commentaries on past decisions and developments are online here. 

CALLS

Gender Justice Uncovered Awards: nominations open Nov 15 2011-April 30, 2012. Submit the worst and best judicial statements on gender rights. These annual awards  reward gold, silver and bronze “gavels” to judicial pronouncements or decisions which promote gender equity, and gives gold, silver and bronze “bludgeons” to the most sexist and regressive decisions http://www.womenslinkworldwide.org/wlw/new.php?modo=detalle_prensa&dc=331 Contributions become part of the Gender Justice Observatory database, online here.

United Nations -OHCHR – Request for input – Technical guidance tools – Reducing preventable maternal mortality and morbidity, deadline Dec 15, 2011.  More info.

“Calls for Proposals re funding re sexual/repro health/rights projects offered by the European Union. E-neus ¬Nov 28 edition.  now online.

FELLOWSHIPS, EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

Canada – Health Law, Ethics and Policy Fellowships for LL.M. or doctoral study at one of 4 Canadian law schools, now accepting applications from Canadian and international LLM or doctoral applicants.  Admission info.   Brochure.   Website.

Health Rights Litigation course, Global School on Judicial Enforcement of Economic, Social, and Cultural (ESC) Rights, offered by The Health Rights of Women and Children Program at the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard University, June 18-22 2012 in Boston, MA, USA.  More info. 

 South Africa – Fellowship: Access to Justice- Past and Present: Promoting Access to Justice for the Marginalised and Vulnerable Groups. Call for Internal and External Participants. Centre for Criminal Justice, University of KwaZulu Natal, RSA Closing date: February 5, 2012.  More info

RESOURCES:

[abortion, Ireland] – U.N. Committee against Torture: Concluding observations on Ireland’s initial report – download here.
—Ireland Must Ensure Access to Lawful Abortion.  CRR press release

[abortion, Kenyan constitution, US] Foreign Assistance: Clearer Guidance Needed on Compliance Overseas with Legislation Prohibiting Abortion-Related Lobbying GAO-12-35 October 13, 2011.   SSRN article

[abortion, Latin America, book in Spanish] Aborto y Justicia Reproductiva: contextos, modelos regulatorios y argumentos para su debate, comp. Paola Bergallo. Editorial Editores del Puerto
 2011.  528 paginas.   book info in Spanish,

[abortion, personhood] On Abortion and Defining a ‘Person’ Op-ed By Gary Gutting, philosophy professor at University of Notre Dame.  health blog.

 [abortion, Poland] Stigmatisation and Commercialisation of Abortion Services in Poland: Turning Sin into Gold, Agata Chelstowska, Reproductive Health Matters, 19.37, pp. 98-106, 2011. SSRN article

[access to medicines, patents] ACTA – Risks of Third-Party Enforcement for Access to Medicines by Brook K. Baker, American University International Law Review, Vol. 26, No. 3, 2011.  SSRN article

[access to medicines, patents] Abbott, Frederick M., Intellectual Property and Public Health: Meeting the Challenge of Sustainability by Frederick M. Abbott, working paper, Nov 2011.  SSRN article 

 [assisted repro] Rethinking Sperm-Donor Anonymity: Of Changed Selves, Non-Identity, and One-Night Stands by Glenn I. Cohen, Georgetown Law Journal.  SSRN article 

 [assisted repro] Regulating Reproduction: The Problem with Best Interests, by I. Glenn Cohen. Minnesota Law Review, Vol. 96, p. 101, 2011.  Article

[assisted repro, Israel ] Egg freezing for non-medical uses: the lack of a relational approach to autonomy in the new Israeli policy and in academic discussion, Journal of Medical Ethics. Article

[cross-border] Circumvention Tourism, by I. Glenn Cohen, Cornell Law Review, Vol. 97, 2012. SSRN article

“Cross-Border Reproductive Care”  Reproductive Biomedicine Online, Vol. 23.  Symposium Issue

[assisted repro] Cross-border assisted reproduction care in Asia: implications for access, equity and regulations, by Andrea Whittaker, Reproductive Health Matters 19.37 (May 2011): abstract/press release.  Article .

[discrimination in access] Multiple Discrimination in Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health: Experiences from Latin America and the Caribbean, by Ximena Casas,  65 U. Miami L. Rev. 955.
proofs online.

[discrimination] European Commission: Compendium of practice on NonDiscrimination/Equality Mainstreaming- now in English, soon in German & French, 64 pp.   Publication

[discrimination] The Reflection of the Non-Discrimination Principle in ECHR Jurisprudence, by Roxana Alina Petraru, working paper.

[discrimination] Structures of Discrimination, by Rebecca J. Cook Macalester International Journal, Vol. 28, pp. 33-60, Spring 2011.  Article.

European Portal for Action on Health Inequalities.  Portal.

Gender Stereotyping: Transnational Legal Perspectives, by Rebecca Cook and Simone Cusack, U Penn Press, 2010. English paperback edition -cite 20% discount code: 0B1.  Now available:  Spanish edition (2011)

HIV Testing of Pregnant Women: An Ethical Analysis, by Kjell Arne Johansson et al. 11.3 Developing World Bioethics 109-119 (Dec 2011)  Article

[India – surrogacy] ‘You Can Use My Uterus’- New Horizons of Law Relating to Surrogacy, by Preeti Chaturvedi, Preeti et al.  Working paper

[infanticide] Murder, Medicine and Motherhood, by Emma Cunliffe. Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2011. Book info 

[Latin America] Sexual and reproductive health and rights in Latin America: an analysis of trends, commitments and achievements, by Emma Richardson & Anne-Emanuelle Birn, Reproductive Health Matters. 2011 Nov;19.38:183-96.  Article.   

Litigating Health Rights: Can Courts Bring More Justice to Health? Ed. Alicia Ely Yamin & Siri Gloppen, Contributors: Paola Bergallo, Octavio Luiz Motta Ferraz, Roberto Gargarella, Ottar Maestad, Ole Fritjof Norheim, Sharanjeet Parmar, Oscar Parra-Vera, Lise Rakner, Mindy Jane Roseman, Namita Wahi, Bruce M. Wilson Harvard University Press, Sept 2011.   Book info

Marriage and Divorce in a Multicultural Context: Multi-Tiered Marriage and the Boundaries of Civil Law and Religion, ed. Joel A. Nichols, Cambridge University Press, 2012; [interdisciplinary and international in scope] Table of Contents and Introduction online at SSRN

Maternal Pedagogies: In and Outside the Classroom edited by Deborah L. Byrd and Fiona J. Green.Demeter Press, 2011 15 North American scholars theorize about how cultural views of motherhood and personal experiences of mothering affect the processes of teaching and learning.  Book info

[prostitution, sex work] How to Argue About Prostitution, by Michelle Madden Dempsey. Criminal Law & Philosophy, 2011.  SSRN article

Repoliticizing sexual and reproductive health and rights.  Report of a global meeting, Langkawi, Malaysia, 3-6 August 2010, (published by Reproductive Health Matters and ARROW, 2011).  Report covers macroeconomic influences on health, public health education, essential medicines for SRH, human rights, funding policies and influences on the global agenda on the part of those in power. 74 pages.  Report online
or email Pathika Martin for a print copy.

Reproductive Health Matters, Nov 2011  issue, “Repoliticising sexual and reproductive health and rights”  is now online.  Table of Contents

[Russia] Jon O’Brien comments on recent erosion of reproductive rights for Russians   Op-ed article

[same-sex marriage] The Impacts on Education and Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage and Lessons from Abortion Jurisprudence, by Lynn D. Wardle. Brigham Young University Education and Law Journal, Vol. 2011, No. 2.  SSRN online

Sex Selection Abortion in Kazakhstan: Understanding a Cultural Justification. Developing World Bioethics 11 (3):154-160.   Article

[sex-trafficking] Labelling the Victims of Sex Trafficking: Exploring the Borderland between Rhetoric and Reality, by Michelle Madden Dempsey et al. Social & Legal Studies, Vol. 20, No. 3, p. 313, 2011.  SSRN online here 

[sex-trafficking] Researching Trafficked Women: On Institutional Resistance and the Limits to Feminist Reflexivity by Michelle Madden Dempsey et al., Qualitative Inquiry, Vol. 17, p. 769, 2011.  SSRN online here

[sex-trafficking] Widening Our Lens: Incorporating Essential Perspectives in the Fight Against Human Trafficking, by Jonathan Todres, Michigan Journal of International Law, Vol. 33, pp. 53-76, 2011. SSRN online here

Sexual and Reproductive Health: A Public Health Perspective, edited by Paul F.A. Van Look, H. Kristian Heggenhougen and Stella R. Quah. Academic Press, 2011. Includes article on Reproductive Rights by Joanna Erdman and Rebecca Cook.  Book info.

Surrogacy for the Single, Gay Man, by Tawia B. Ansah & Sharona Hoffman. Health Matrix: Journal of Law-Medicine, 22.1, 2012. SSRN abstract article

US: Reproductive Rights Prof Blog provides US-focused scholarship and news.  Subscribe here:
NEWS

Africa: New “Integration” Partnership Merges Education, HIV, Reproductive Health for Young in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania аnd Zambia. IPPF news item.

[Argentina, update on campaign] For The Right To Legal, Safe And Free Abortion. AWID news analysis 

[Chile] Constitutional Court rejects gay marriage appeal However bill now moving through legislature that regulates de facto unions, including same-sex.  News article

[homosexuality] Global campaign to decriminalise homosexuality to kick off in Belize court. News article

[Mexico, abortion] Mifepristone registered in Mexico.  Ipas news

Nigeria: ‘Same Gender’ Marriage Ban Would Attack Rights Bill Would Invade Privacy, Threaten Broad Range of Activists – Human Rights Watch news 

Pakistan – “Anti-Women Practices Bill” passes Lower House – (to protect women against forced marriage, denial of inheritance).  video report

[surrogacy] South African court sets out guidelines for surrogacy arrangements.  News article

UK: Chair of British HIV Association criticizes law stopping visitors and asylum seekers from getting HIV drugs. News article  

UK pledges £35m for family planning for poor countries.  News article

UK Supreme Court upholds gene patent –for no specific use.  Bionews item.   AMRC policy blog

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Compiled by the Coordinator of the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Programme more info
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COURTS, CALLS, COURSES & RESOURCES

REPROHEALTHLAW-L
November 10, 2011

DECISIONS:

ECtHR: Case of S.H. and Others v. Austria [sperm/ova donation] application no. 57713/00, European Court of Human Rights- Grand Chamber, final judgment 3 November 2011 Austrian ban on sperm/ova donation does not violate European Convention on Human Rights.  Press release   Judgment

ECtHR: VC v Slovakia (forced sterilization- Roma) Slovakia was found in violation of inhumane and degrading treatment and the right to private life for the coerced sterilization of a Roma woman.
Press Release    Judgment   Further reading:  CRR Report: Body and Soul: Forced sterilization and other assaults on Roma reproductive freedom.
 
European Court of Justice bans patents on embryonic stem cells. News article

UN – CEDAW – LC v. Peru decision [abortion in case of rape]:   Peru must relax restrictions on abortion.  Decision forthcoming online.   CRR press release

CALLS

Call for abstracts on Reproductive Health History (any aspect), Canadian Society for the History of Medicine Annual Meeting, University of Waterloo, Ontario,  250-300 word abstract and 1-page CV due Nov. 30, 2011. More info

Call for volunteers, Resisting & Challenging Religious Fundamentalisms initiative at AWID. More info

Call for papers: Women, the Charter, and CEDAW in the 21st Century: Taking Stock and Moving Forward.  Queen’s University Feminist Legal Studies   March 2-4, 2012, Kingston Ont., Canada.   More info

Reproducing Normality: Disability, prenatal testing and bioethics Workshop, University of Sydney, Australia, Wed. Dec 7, 2011  Event info

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

“Global Health Law and Governance”  Summer Program at Georgetown Law School, June 18-22, 2012,  Washington DC.  USA.  More info

“Health Rights Litigation” course, Global School on Judicial Enforcement of Economic, Social, and Cultural (ESC) Rights, offered by The Health Rights of Women and Children Program at the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard University, June 18-22 2012 in Boston, MA, USA  Save the dates.

FUNDING

Calls for Proposals re funding re sexual/repro health/rights projects offered by the European Union.  E-nEUs  Oct 28th edition now online here.

Postdoctoral fellowships Women & Gender Studies, 2012-2014  Rice University.  More info

RESOURCES

[abortion, Brazil]  Negative Impacts of Abortion Criminalization in Brazil: Systematic Denial of Women’s Reproductive Autonomy and Human Rights, by Maria Beatriz Galli Bevilacqua, University of Miami Law Review 2011, 65: 969.  article

[abortion, counseling, informed consent] Abortion and Informed Consent: How Biased Counseling Laws Mandate Violations of Medical Ethics, by Ian Vandewalker, forthcoming in Michigan Journal of Gender & Law. article

[abortion, counseling, informed consent] Abortion Counselling and the Informed Consent Dilemma, by Scott Woodcock in Bioethics 25.9 (Nov 2011), pp 495-504 article

[abortion, counseling, informed consent] Sawicki, Nadia N., The Abortion Informed Consent Debate: More Light, Less Heat by Nadia N. Sawicki. Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy, Vol. 21, p. 1, 2011. article
  
[abortion, Mexico] Abortion Legalization in Mexico City – 7 articles in special section in Studies in Family Planning, 42.3 (Sept 2011). table of contents with links

[abortion, Morocco] Government plans to legalize abortion in cases of rape or incest, currently allowed to save mother’s life. News article

[abortion, telemedicine] Effectiveness and Acceptability of Medical Abortion Provided Through Telemedicine, D. Grossman et al.,  Obstetrics & Gynecology 18.2, pt 1, Aug 2011, pp 296-303. article

[abortion] Russia’s parliament adopted a law limiting abortions but rejected tougher restrictions backed by the country’s conservative Orthodox Church.  news article

[abortion] The Criminalization of Abortion is an Abuse of State Power, by Meghan Doherty, Action Canada for Population and Development (ACPD), October 25, 2011 – RH Reality Check blog
 
[abortion] The World’s Abortion Laws  poster and new interactive format here.

[abortion] Amicus curiae brief to tje Mexican Supreme Court, 2009 written comments by the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Programme, Faculty of Law, Univesity of Toronto, re unconstitutionality claim for Article 7 amendment by the state of Baja California, contends that the Right to Life, as protected under Article 4(1) of the American Convention on Human Rights, permits legal abortion.  Now online in English and Spanish.

[access to medicines, patents] Intellectual Property and Public Health: Two Sides of the Same Coin by Yahong Li,  AJWH, Vol. 6, No. 389, 2011; article.

[anti-abortion] “San Jose articles” against abortion being promoted by celebrity signatories. Online here.
—Critique by Global Rights Watch, PPFA, online here.

[Argentina]  Women’s Rights at the Argentine Supreme Court: Innovative Non-Jurisdictional Offices for Women and a Conservative Jurisprudence on Reproductive Rights, by Alba Ruibal working paper

ASEAN: Making the fair choice: Key steps to improve maternal health in ASEAN, based on case studies in Indonesia and the Philippines. 13 page Amnesty International report, download here

[assisted repro]  Synthetic Cells, Synthetic Life, and Inheritance by Kristine S. Knaplund, Valparaiso University Law Review, Vol. 45, 2011.  article

[assisted repro, cross-border]  Assisted Reproduction on Treacherous Terrain: The Legal Hazards of Cross-Border Reproductive Travel, by Richard F. Storrow, Reproductive Biomedicine Online, Vol. 23, pp. 538-545, 2011.  article.

[assisted repro]  “Legislation for assisted reproductive technologies,” by Bernard Dickens,  in Joseph G. Schenker, ed.  Ethical Dilemmas in Assisted Reproductive Technologies (Germany: De Gruyter,  2011)  15-28.  Book info

[assisted repro] Capacity and Autonomy: A Thought Experiment on Minors’ Access to Assisted Reproductive Technology by Michele Goodwin & Naomi Duke, Harvard Journal of Law and Gender, Vol. 34, 2011. article

[assisted repro]  Psycho-Social, Ethical and Legal Arguments for and Against the Retrospective Release of Information About Donors to Donor-Conceived Individuals in Australia, by Sonia Allan, Journal of Law and Medicine, Vol. 19, No. 2, 2011.  article
 
Austria – Court of Appeal confirms fines for 4 anti-choice activists who bullied abortion doctor. Article in German

[contraception, Africa] Access to Contraception for Adolescents in Africa: A Human Rights Challenge, by Ebenezer Tope Durojaye, Comparative International Law Journal of Southern Africa, Vol. 44, No. 1, pp. 1-29, 2011. article

[consent, pregnant women] Recalcitrant Vessels: In Search of the Justifications for Compelled Medical Care of Pregnant Women (December 20, 2010)  by Carolyn Anne McConnell working paper

[emergency contraception (EC)]  How Do Emergency Contraceptive Pills Work to Prevent Pregnancy?  Mechanism of Action –  3 page explanation endorsed by FIGO and ICEC, in English – Spanish – French – German – Portuguese
Access to fact sheets and related policy papers here.
 
[EC, Hungary] No over-the-counter emergency contraception for Hungary. news article

Emergency Contraception: Catholics in Favor, Bishops Opposed (ICEC/CFC)  (8 page fact sheet) English & Spanish

[gender equality] Is the Right to Health a Necessary Precondition for Gender Equality? By Hilary Hammell,  New York University Review of Law & Social Change, Vol. 35, No. 1, 2011.  article

[gender equality] Gender Justice and CEDAW: The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, by Sally Engle Merry,  Journal of Women of the Middle East and the Islamic World 9 (2011) 49-75, not online.

[HIV, Canada] Criminalization of Non-Disclosure of HIV Status to Sexual Partners, special section in McGill Journal of Law and Health 5.1 (Sept 2011), table of contents  links to:
— HIV/AIDS Introduction, by David Parry
— Prosecution of Non-Disclosure of HIV in Canada: Time to Rethink Cuerrier, by Isabel Grant
— Criminalization of the Intended Transmission or Knowing Non-Disclosure of HIV in Canada by Matthew Cornell

[HIV, family planning] What does family planning have to do with HIV? 2 page fact sheet

[HIV, India]  Rights of Persons Living with HIV/AIDS and Article 21 of the Indian Constitution by Sameer Boray, working paper

[HIV, patents]   Driving a decade of change: HIV/AIDS, patents and access to medicines for all [including low income countries.  Discusses “patent pools” among other tools.  by Ellen ‘t Hoen, Jonathan Berger, Alexandra Calmy and Suerie Moon. Journal of the International AIDS Society 2-11. 14:15  article

[HIV, patents] The Global Governance of HIV/AIDS and the Rugged Road Ahead: An Epilogue, by Peter K. Yu.  In: The Global Governance of HIV/ AIDS: Intellectual Property and access to essential medicines, by Obijiofor Aginam, et al, eds., Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012. article

[HIV, Uganda] Proposed HIV And AIDS Legislation Is A Setback To The Fight Against The Pandemic In Uganda.  AWID analysis

Ireland – contraception for adolescents – ambiguous laws  news article

Marriage as Punishment [for seduction. Historical analysis of state regulation of sex and sexuality] by Melissa E. Murray. Columbia Law Review, Vol. 100, No. 2, 2012. article.

[MSM] Sex in Your city (IPPF, 36 page report)   MSM case studies re Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taipei, Seoul & Busan.  Survey results and gaps re sexual health.  IPPF report

[patents, stem cell] The European Court of Justice bans stem cell patents. news article

[rape of child- fatal]  “Idowu: The Nigerian Supreme Court Erred!”  by Chinua Asuzu.  working paper.

Reproductive Health and Human Rights: Integrating Medicine, Ethics and Law – book by R. Cook, B Dickens & M. Fathalla (Oxford University Press, 2003).  Full text now available online, to institutional subscribers only:  link

The Right to Health in International Law [book], by John Tobin, Oxford University Press, 2011; U of Melbourne Legal Studies Research Paper No. 562. Introduction

[rights-based] UN OHCHR  Report on Good and Effective Practices in Using a Human Rights Based Approach to preventable Maternal Mortality & Morbidity [following up on UN HRC second resolution.] Report.

[sex work & trafficking laws, Spain] Iglesias Skulj, Agustina, El Control Penal De Las Trabajadoras Del Sexo En El Ambito De Las Politicas Contra La Trata De Mujeres Con Fines De Explotaci�n Sexual (El Caso Espanol) (Law Enforcement and Control of Sex Workers in the Field of Policies Against Trafficking in Women for Sexual Exploitation (Special Reference to Spanish Criminal Policy))  by Agustina Iglesias Skulj. Derecho Penal y Criminologia, 32(2011)  92.  article in Spanish

[sex work, Canada] Sex Work By Law: Bedford’s Impact on the Municipal Regulation of the Sex Trade , by Elaine Craig, Review of Constitutional Studies, Vol. 16, No. 1, 2011. article

[sex work, Canada] Why anti-john laws don’t work [ineffective in Sweden], by Lisa Kelly & Katrina Pacey newspaper op-ed

[sex work, UK, London] Most migrant sex workers are not forced to sell sex, ESRC study by Dr. Nick Mai, London Metropolitan University press release

[sterilization] Conceptualising Involuntary Sterilisation as “Severe Pain or Suffering” for the Purposes of Torture Disclosure, by Ronli Sifris (2010). 28 Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights 523 article

[surrogacy, Australia]  The New Surrogacy Parentage Laws in Australia: Cautious Regulation or “25 Brick Walls”  by Jenni Millbank, Melbourne University Law Review, 35.1 (2011) article

[surrogacy] A Tale of Many Cities: Using Bioethics to Deconstruct Baby Stories from the Wild World of Commercial Surrogacy, by Seema Mohapatra,  Berkeley Journal of International Law (BJIL) article

US:   Reproductive Rights Prof Blog provides US-focused scholarship and news. Subscribe here:

—————
Compiled by the Coordinator of the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Programme,
For Programme publications and resources, see our website.