REPROHEALTHLAW Updates – April 2019

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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.

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Australia’s highest court upholds safe access zones near abortion clinics

Congratulations and thanks to Adrianne Walters, a Senior Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre in Australia, which intervened in the High Court of Australia in support of Victoria’s safe access zone laws. We thank her for submitting this summary and comment about this useful decision:

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.    Press Release.

Last week, the High Court of Australia upheld laws that protect the safety, privacy and well-being of women seeking access to abortion services.  [The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia.]

Background to safe access zones
Safe access zones have been introduced in most states in Australia since 2013 and have ended decades of harmful anti-choice harassment and abuse outside abortion clinics. Only two states have not yet introduced them.

Most safe access zone laws in Australia create a 150-metre buffer zone outside abortion clinics in which certain behaviours are prohibited, including harassing, obstructing, intimidating and filming patients and staff.

The constitutional challenge
The safe access zone laws of two states, Victoria and Tasmania, were challenged in the High Court.

In Victoria, Mrs Kathleen Clubb was charged and convicted of engaging in prohibited behaviour in a zone; specifically, communicating about abortion in a manner “reasonably likely to cause distress or anxiety” to a couple trying to enter a clinic in Melbourne.

In Tasmania, Mr Graham Preston, was also charged and convicted with engaging in prohibited behaviour in a zone. In his case the prohibited conduct involved “a protest” about abortion that was able to be seen or heard by a person accessing a clinic.

Both Mrs Clubb and Mr Preston appealed to the High Court. They argued that the laws they were convicted under were invalid because they impermissibly burdened the freedom of political communication, which is implied in the Australian Constitution.

The High Court’s decision:
The High Court dismissed the appeals of Mrs Clubb and Mr Preston. A majority of judges upheld the validity of Victoria’s safe access zone laws (three judges declined to determine the validity question because it was not established that Mrs Clubb’s conduct involved political communication). All seven judges determined and upheld the validity of Tasmania’s laws.

In upholding the laws, the High Court recognised that while they do burden the freedom of political communication, the laws serve a critical purpose in making sure women can access the healthcare they need, and staff can carry out their work, without being harassed and abused. As one of the judges noted “women seeking an abortion and those involved in assisting or supporting them are entitled to do so safely, privately and with dignity, without haranguing”.

The High Court also found that the challenged parts of the laws were reasonably appropriate and adapted to achieving that critical purpose. In a joint judgment, three judges noted that “a measure that seeks to ensure that women seeking a safe termination are not driven to less safe procedures by being subjected to shaming behaviour or by the fear of the loss of privacy is a rational response to a serious public health issue.”

It was noted that the freedom of political communication “is not a licence to accost persons with ideas which they do not wish to hear, still less to harangue vulnerable persons entering or leaving a medical establishment for the intensely personal, private purpose of seeking lawful medical advice and assistance.”  The majority acknowledged the unique challenges faced by pregnant women confronted by extreme anti-choice activists outside clinics, noting that “it is no part of the implied freedom to guarantee a speaker an audience, much less a captive audience.”

The High Court’s decision is a big win for women’s rights in Australia. The decision confirms our right to access the healthcare we need without having to forgo our safety, privacy and dignity to get there. It means safe access zone laws are here to stay.

Related Resources:

The Human Rights Law Centre intervened in the High Court in support of Victoria’s safe access zone laws. Amicus Curiae brief.

Adrianne Walters, “Big win for women’s reproductive freedom, but still a long way to go,” Sydney Morning Herald, April 11, 2019.  Australian newspaper article.

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.    Press Release.

Abortion Law Decisions webpage:  links to domestic, regional and international decisions, maintained by the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto    English and Spanish online.
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Compiled by the Coordinator of the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, reprohealth*law at utoronto.ca For Program publications and resources, see our website, online here. TO JOIN THIS BLOG: enter your email address in upper right corner of this webpage, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

 

 

Abortion Across Borders: Transnational Travel and Access to Abortion Services

Congratulations to the editors and authors of a new book, Abortion across Borders Transnational Travel and Access to Abortion Services, who examine how restrictive policies force women to move both within and across national borders in order to reach abortion providers, often at great expense, over long distances and with significant safety risks.  Taking historical and contemporary perspectives, contributors examine the situation in regions that include Texas, Prince Edward Island, Ireland, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Eastern Europe.  Throughout the book, they take a feminist intersectional approach to transnational travel and access to abortion services that is sensitive to inequalities of gender, race, and class in reproductive health care. This multidisciplinary volume raises challenging logistical, legal, and ethical questions while exploring the gendered aspects of medical tourism.   To request an examination or review copy,  see online here.  We are pleased to circulate the full Table of Contents:

Christabelle Sethna and Gayle Davis, eds., Abortion across Borders:  Transnational Travel and Access to Abortion Services,  Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019.  360 pages.  Detailed overview, Author bios, Reviews, and Contents.

Table Of Contents

Introduction:
Christabelle Sethna

Part I. Flight Risks

1. Sherri Finkbine Flew to Sweden: Abortion and Disability in the Early 1960s
Lena Lennerhed

2. From Heathrow Airport to Harley Street: The ALRA and the Travel of Nonresident Women for Abortion Services in Britain
Christabelle Sethna

3. The Trans-Tasman Abortion Travel Service: Abortion Services for New Zealand Women in the 1970s
Hayley Brown

Part II. Domestic Transgressions

4. All Aboard the “Abortion Express”: Geographic Variability, Domestic Travel, and the 1967 British Abortion Act
Gayle Davis, Jane O’Neill, Clare Parker, and Sally Sheldon

5. A Double Movement: The Politics of Reproductive Mobility in Ireland
Mary Gilmartin and Sinéad Kennedy

6. Tales of Mobility: Women’s Travel and Abortion Services in a Globalized Australia
Barbara Baird

7. Don’t Mess with Texas: Abortion Policy, Texas Style
Lori A. Brown

8. Trials and Trails: The Emergence of Canada’s Abortion Refugees in Prince Edward Island
Cathrine Chambers, Colleen MacQuarrie, and Jo-Ann MacDonald

Part III. Democratic Transitions

9. Abortion Travel and the Cost of Reproductive Choice in Spain
Agata Ignaciuk

10. “The Import Problem”: The Travels of Our Bodies, Ourselves to Eastern Europe
Anna Bogic

11. Abortion and the Catholic Church in Poland
Ewelina Ciaputa

12.  Beyond the Borders of Brexit: Traveling for Abortion Access to a Post-EU Britain
Niklas Barke

Abortion across Borders:  Transnational Travel and Access to Abortion Services, 

Book Overview, Author bios, Reviews, and Contents.

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Compiled by the Coordinator of the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, reprohealth*law at utoronto.ca For Program publications and resources, see our website, online here. TO JOIN THIS BLOG: enter your email address in upper right corner of this webpage, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

REPROHEALTHLAW Updates – April 2017

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.

DEVELOPMENT

[Croatia, abortion] Constitutional Court reaffirmed that women’s access to abortion is protected under their constitutional rights to liberty, personality, and privacy.  Rješenje Ustavnog Suda Republike Hrvatske, broj: U-I-60/1991 i dr. od 21.veljace 2017.
Decision online in Croatian     Amicus brief in English by CRR

CALLS FOR PAPERS:

“Women’s Human Rights” including theory and activism, for special issue of Canadian Woman Studies/Les cahiers de la femme, guest edited by: Jeannette Corbiere Lavell, Alda Facio, Angela Lytle, Angela Miles, and Patricia Nyaundi.  Submit by April 30, 2017    Detailed call for papers.   Submission guide.

Anti-Discrimination Law Review, newly launched, peer reviewed journal.  Submit papers 6,000-10,000 words. Information for authors.

Call for abstracts  “1997-2017: 20 years after the Oviedo Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine: What are the achieved gains and its potential?” international conference at European University (December 8-9, Nicosia, Cyprus)  Submit 300 word abstract by July 1, 2017.  Flyer with Call for abstracts.    Conference details.

Conference:  “Difficult Conversations: Thinking and talking About Women, Genders and Sexualities Inside and Outside the Academy”  The Seventeenth Berkshire Conference on the History of Women, Genders and Sexualities.  Hofstra University, Hempstead, N.Y., U.S.A.,  June 1-4, 2017

COURSES:

Summer “Program of Advanced Studies on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law,”
Academy of Human Rights, Washington College of Law, American University, Washington D.C.  Classes start May 30, 2017.  Apply by May 1, 2017.  Details.  Choose from 20 Courses, 9 in English and 11 in Spanish.  Course list.

Summer school on Health Law and Ethics (1 or 2 weeks) The Erasmus Observatory on Health Law / Institute of Health Policy & Management (Erasmus University Rotterdam)  Course details and registration.

RESOURCES

[abortion] “Taking Abortion Rights Seriously: Whole Woman’s Health v Hellerstedt” by Kate Greasley,  The Modern Law Review 80.2 (March 2017): 325-338.  Open access article.

[abortion law – Australia] Children by Choice website highlights Australian abortion law and practice –  Links to recent legal reform bills

Abortion Law in Transnational Perspective: Cases and Controversies, ed. Rebecca J. Cook, Joanna N. Erdman and Bernard M. Dickens (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014), now also in paperback, 20% discount code PH70.  Available from U Penn Press.

[abortion law – Spanish]    El aborto en el derecho transnacional: casos y controversias,  ed. Rebecca J. Cook, Joanna N. Erdman y Bernard M. Dickens (Mexico: FCE/CIDE, 2016)   De venta: Fondo de Cultura Económica y  Libreria CIDE.

[abortion policy] “Towards a non-ethics-based consensual public policy on abortion,” by David Alvargonzález, (philosophy professor in Spain).  The International Journal of Health Planning and Management 32.1 (Jan-Mar 2017): e39-46. Article or Abstract.

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

NEWS

[abortion, Brazil] Petition to Supreme Court of Brazil March 7, 2017, seeks decriminalization of abortion on request up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. The petition was filed by the Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL), with support from Anis – Institute of Bioethics.  Press release.

[abortion, Canada – coverage]  Expert panel endorses public coverage for abortion pill (mifepristone + misoprostol), under brand name “Mifegymiso”.  Newspaper report.  Expert recommendations and reasoning

[abortion – Kenya]  Recent cases of women dying while procuring abortion, clinic proprietor arrested. Safe Abortion update.

[abortion, Uruguay]  Judge denies termination of 10-week pregnancy, siding with ex-boyfriend.  Woman miscarried due to stress, mistreatment and public exposure; she plans to sue judge.  News media.    Update from Safe Abortion campaign.

[conscience, Canada]  Doctors, pharmacists push back on medical abortion rules    Colleges of physicians and pharmacists suggest off-label workaround for Health Canada’s restrictions on dispensing the abortion drug Mifegymiso   CMAJ News

[conscience, Canada]  Christian Medical and Dental Society v. College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO). objecting to rules requiring Ontario doctors to refer patients seeking abortions, etc.  Hearings scheduled June 13-15, 2017   Newspaper report.

[conscience, Ghana] Provider obstruction: a major threat to critical maternal health services in Northern Ghana, Global Doctors for Choice-Ghana study results.

[conscience, Italy]:  UN Human Rights Committee Concluding Observations CCPR/C/ITA/CO/6 criticizes Italy for lack of non-objecting doctors.  HRC report in English.
Parliamentary study found that 70% object.  Hospital in Rome advertises for non-objecting doctors. CRUX Catholic newsletter

[conscience, Sweden]: Swedish court upholds ruling against midwife (Grimmark) claiming conscientious objection.  Midwife is funded by wealthy US prochoice alliance  Article by Safe Abortion Women’s Right

JOBS

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

______________
Compiled by the Coordinator of the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, reprohealth*law at utoronto.ca For Program publications and resources, see our website, online here. TO JOIN THIS BLOG: enter your email address in upper right corner of this webpage, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

REPROHEALTHLAW Updates: Decisions, Publications, News and Opportunities

REPROHEALTHLAW-L
November 5, 2015

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.

COURT DECISIONS:

KENYA:   High Court: Maternity Hospital Illegally Imprisoned Women, Violated Human Rights.
Millicent Awuor Omuya alias Maimuna Awuor & Another v The Attorney General & 4 Others [2015], Petition No. 562 of 2012, (High Court of Kenya at Nairobi (Constitutional and Human Rights Division).    Court orders Ministry of Health to address discrimination in public hospitals and award compensation to women who were unlawfully detained, CRR Press release.  ‘When Does a Hospital Become a Jail? When You Can’t Afford the Bill”  Open Society comment.  CRR Fact-finding report: “Failure to deliver…”.

UGANDA:  Supreme Court strikes down evasive 2012 Constitutional Court decision and orders it to hear maternal health petition.
The Centre for Health, Human Rights and Development CEHURD  and 3 Others v Attorney General [2015], Constitutional Appeal No. 01 of 2013 (Supreme Court of Uganda at Kampala), Judgments by Kisaakye, JSC and Katureebe, CJ.   Decision and CEHURD comments online,.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS/PARTICIPATION

[abortion] International Seminar on Medication Abortion, Dakar, Senegal, July 12-14, 2016, organized by the IUSSP Scientific Panel on Abortion Research, the STEP UP Research Programme Consortium, and the Population Council Senegal.  Submit abstracts or unpublished papers by November 30, 2015  in English, French or Spanish (working language of meeting will be English). For details, contact seminar organizer Susheela Singh {ssingh} by email at Guttmacher . org

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES, EVENTS

[abortion symposium]  “Comment progresse l’accès à l’avortement dans des contextes restrictifs ? Perspectives historiques et internationals,” Journée scientifique Pôle Suds-Ceped-Unige,  Mardi 8 décembre 2015, INED, 133, boulevard Davout  (Salle Sauvy), 75020 Paris, France,      Details online.

[Canada]”The Future of Health Law,”  National Health Law Conference,  University of Ottawa, November 19-21, 2015.  Details online.   Schedule.

Global School of Health Rights Litigation (at national, regional and international levels), intensive course June 13 – 17, 2016 at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, DC.  hosted by The O’Neill Institute and Harvard FXB.  Course details.

New J.D./LL.M. Program in Global Health Law at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, DC.  JD/LLM Georgetown.

Summer 2016 Legal Internships in Oakland, CA, USA,  10 week summer program for law students, 2 paid positions available, Law Students for Reproductive Justice (USA)  Summer internship info.

PUBLICATIONS

“Abortion law in Australia: it’s time for national consistency and decriminalization,”  by Caroline M de Costa and Heather Douglas,  Medical Journal of Australia  2015;203(9).  Article online.

Abortion Law in Transnational Perspective:  Cases and Controversies, ed. Rebecca J. Cook, Joanna N. Erdman and Bernard M. Dickens, 16 chapters.  University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014, 482 pages. Introduction by the editors. Table of Cases online  Table of Contents.  Purchase from U Penn Press. A Spanish edition was published in August, 2016.  Ahora disponible en español.

[abortion – mifepristone – Canada]   What is RU 486 (mifepristone) and how does it work? Overview 

[abortion – United Kingdom)  “The decriminalisation of abortion: an argument for modernisation,” by Sally Sheldon, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 2015;35(3):1-32.   Early access.

[CEDAW, human rights] “Why do national court judges refer to human rights treaties? : A comparative international law analysis of CEDAW,” by Christopher McCrudden, American Journal of International Law, forthcoming. Abstract and article online.

[conscience] “Drawing the Line: Tackling tensions between religious freedom and equality.” International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations, 2015. 56-page report

[conscience] “A multinational review of efforts to regulate conscience-based objection to abortion,” by B. Kumar Aksel and W. Chavkin,  Contraception 92 (2015), page 402, broad abstract of study results from 22 countries where abortion legalized.  Available to subscriber institutions.

[El Salvador]  Independent analysis of systematic gender discrimination in the El Salvador Judicial process against 17 women accused of the aggravated homicide of their newborns, by Jocelyn Viterna, Associate Professor Sociology, Harvard University / José Santos Guardado Bautista, Lawyer, El Salvador  Full Report.

[Mexico]  Women and girls without justice: reproductive rights in Mexico:  Advances, unfufilled commitments, setbacks, by Grupo de Información en Reproducción Elegida (GIRE) / Red de Abogados poe la Defensa de Reproducción Elegida (RADAR)    Español.   English.

[adolescents, Nigeria] “Ethical Issues in Adolescents’ Sexual and Reproductive Health Research in Nigeria”
by Morenike Oluwatoyin Folayan, Bridget Haire, Abigail Harrison, Morolake Odetoyingbo, Olawunmi Fatusi and Brandon Brown,  Developing World Bioethics 15.3 (December 2015), pp. 191–198)  Online for institutional subscribers

World Report on Women’s Health 2015: The unfinished agenda of women’s reproductive health.  International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics 131 (Oct 2015):  Supplement 1, online here.   Includes:
—[editorial:] The unfinished agenda of women’s reproductive health, by Chittaranjan Narahari Purandare, Richard M.K. Adanu , Pages S1-S2
—Strengthening accountability to end preventable maternal deaths, by Matthews Mathai, Thandassery R. Dilip, Issrah Jawad, Sachiyo Yoshida, Pages S3-S5
—Adolescent sexual and reproductive health: The global challenges, by Jessica L. Morris, Hamid Rushwan   Pages S40-S42
—What can obstetrician/gynecologists do to support abortion access? by Alice G. Mark, Merrill Wolf, Alison Edelman, Laura Castleman, Pages S53-S55
—Evidence supporting broader access to safe legal abortion, by Anibal Faúndes, Iqbal H. Shah, Pages S56-S59

NEWS:

Brazil:  Brazil: Feminists take the streets against Cunha and Bill 5069/2013, tightening criminal abortion law.   Article online.

International Campaign for Women’s Right to Safe Abortion issues great e-newsletters monthly, with abstracts of publications for members.   Website online.

[Ireland] “Abortion Pill Bus” on 409-mile tour of Ireland.  newspaper report, another report

[Latin America]  Recently appointed Secretary General of the Organization of American States, Luis Almagro calls for safe, legal abortion in Latin America.  Ipas Press release.

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

JOBS

Advocacy Adviser for Latin America and the Caribbean, Global Legal Program, :The Center for Reproductive Rights | Deadline: Open until filled.  Position will be based in Washington DC
Apply as soon as possible.  Job details.

Summer Legal Internships in California, see “Educational” category above.

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

Compiled by the Coordinator of the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, reprohealth*law at utoronto.ca For Program publications and resources, see our website, online here.
TO JOIN THIS BLOG: enter your email address in upper right corner of this webpage, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

REPROHEALTHLAW: Decisions, Calls, Resources and News

 DECISIONS

United Kingdom, Supreme Court ruling in “Scottish midwives” case:
Greater Glasgow Health Board v Doogan & Anor decision of December 17, 2014. [2014] UKSC 68, [2015] SLT 25.
Indirect participants cannot invoke conscientious objection.   17-page decision.  Abstract by law student.

Canada:  College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario – Human Rights policy clarified.  Doctors who object to treatments (abortion, assisted suicide) have duty to refer to non-objecting practitioner.  Policy and FAQ .     Newspaper article

CALLS FOR PAPERS

“Sexuality, Sexual Rights, Sexual Politics”  for Reproductive Health Matters vol. 46, Nov. 2015.  Submit by May 31, 2015. Call for papers .

“Equity in the 21st Century: Problems and Perspectives.” Canadian Journal of Comparative and Contemporary Law, Jan 2016 edition.  Submission information.

RESOURCES

Abortion Law in Transnational Perspective:  Cases and Controversies, ed. Rebecca J. Cook, Joanna N. Erdman and Bernard M. Dickens, 16 chapters.  University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014, 482 pages. Introduction by the editors: online through SSRN. Book reviewers should contact Gigi Lamm (glamm {a} pobox. upenn. edu) Includes 16 chapters, Table of Legislation, Table of Cases, also online here, with links to abortion-related decisions in English and/or other languages). Table of Contents online here. Purchase info: link to U Penn Press.

[abortion ban, Nicaragua]  “A Quiet Inquisition”  [documentary film re effects of Nicaragua’s abortion law on women and doctors]directed and produced by Alessandra Zeka and Holen Sabrina Kahn,  Adrenaline Films, 2014.  Review in The Lancet.

[conscience- Australia]  ‘Conscience’ or Discrimination?: Healthcare Providers, Abortion and Moral Obligation, by Former Victorian health services commissioner Beth Wilson. Speech online.

[conscience] Ethical guidelines on conscientious objection in training. International Journal of Gynaecology and Obstetrics  128(1):89-90.  Jan 2015. abstract and guidelines.

“Health Law and Human Rights”  First issue of open access and peer reviewed journal  Canadian Journal of Comparative and Contemporary Law (CJCCL) — entire issue 414 pages PDF   includes:
—-[sexual autonomy of persons with psychosocial and intellectual disabilities]“Love is Just a Four-Letter Word”:   Sexuality, International Human Rights, and Therapeutic Jurisprudence, by Michael L Perlin & Alison J Lynch –abstract.   article online.

—-“Putting Health to Rights: A Canadian View on Global Trends in Litigating Health Care Rights” by Bryan Thomas & Colleen M Flood,   – article online.

—-“Notions of Reproductive Harm in Canadian Law: Addressing Exposures to Household Chemicals as Reproductive Torts” by Alana Cattapan, Roxanne Mykitiuk & Mark Pioro-  article online.

—-“Medical Tourism, Access to Health Care, and Global Justice,” by Glenn Cohen – article online.

—-[polygamy] A Cruel Arithmetic: Inside the Case Against Polygamy, by Craig  Jones, book reviewed by Anne Cochrane, book review online.

  —-“Law, Policy, and Reproductive Autonomy, by Erin Nelson:  book note by Leah Seneviratne – book note online.

Reproductive Health Matters issues and translations now 95% free to download online!
—-“Using Law and the Courts” RHM 44 (Nov 2014) online here.
—-“Expanding Access to Medical Abortion” RHM 44 Supplement(Dec 2014)  online here.
—-“Translations of past issues in Arabic, Chinese, French, Hindi, Portuguese, Spanish and Russian
Free translations of RHM.
  —-Supported (Free) subscriptions and free copies of back issues are available to people working in the SRHR field in low and middle-income countries (usually in the Global South) who would otherwise not be able to subscribe.  Free subscriptions,  Free back-issues

[sterilization, HIV]  Involuntary Sterilization of HIV-Positive Women: An Example of Intersectional Discrimination, by Ronli Sifris, (2015) 37(2) Human Rights Quarterly (in press).  Abstract and article online.

NEWS

[Africa] Mozambique decriminalizes abortion to stem maternal deaths. Newspaper report

[Chile] President proposes law to relax abortion restrictions.  Newspaper article.

[El Salvador] Woman released from prison after pardon for miscarriage.  Newspaper article.

[Ireland]  Ruling on brain-dead pregnant woman could clarify Ireland’s abortion laws.  Newspaper article.

[Spain]  Report of the Trial of Dr. Carlos Morin.  Report online.

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

Compiled by the Coordinator of the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, reprohealth*law at utoronto.ca For Program publications and resources, see our website, online here.
TO JOIN THIS BLOG: enter your email address in upper right corner of this webpage, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

 

Developments, Calls, Resources, News & Jobs

REPROHEALTHLAW BLOG – February, 2014

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:

[Argentina – abortion case] A Supreme Court in Argentina reversed a lower court ruling that had prevented a 14-year-old rape victim from seeking an abortion. News report.

[Bolivia – abortion law] Plurinacional Constitutional Court (TCP) of Bolivia eliminates requirement of judicial authorization for women seeking legal abortion in cases of rape or danger to life or health. Court used human rights arguments based on international human rights law.   Comment from Ipas.   Feb. 5, 2014 decision online (22MB) 62-page decision in Spanish.

[Europe – repro health] PACE adopts progressive Resolution on MDGs ,  January 30, 2014.   The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly unanimously adopted Resolution 1975 (2014) “Stepping up action against global inequalities: Europe’s contribution to the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) process”. includes “the guarantee of sexual and reproductive health and rights for women and girls”.  Resolution online.     Debate and speeches.

[Europe  – Moldova] Eremia v. Moldova – The European Court of Human Rights ruled that the State of Moldova‘s failure to protect a woman in a domestic violence case violated the victim’s rights to be protected from torture and inhuman treatment.  Decision online.  Court press release.

CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS:

“Using Law and the Courts” Reproductive Health Matters 22.44 (Nov. 2014). Submissions due  May 2014.  Call for Papers online.

Gender Justice Uncovered Awards – Call for Nominations , Deadline April 30, 2014.  Winners will be announced in June 2014.   Anyone from anywhere in the world may nominate a good, bad, or ugly decision on the Awards’ web site. Submit your nomination by April 30, 2014.  More information.

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

Abortion Abroad Webinar Series, sponsored by Law Students for Reproductive Justice, Center for Reproductive Rights, and Ipas.  Webinar Series Overview.

—- The Helms Amendment, how it affects women on the ground, and legal issues. Featuring Jamila Taylor, Senior Policy Advisor, Ipas and Aram Schvey, Policy Counsel for Foreign Policy and Human Rights at the Center for Reproductive Rights.  March 4, 2014 Register Helms webinar:

—- “Stigma in the international context” Featuring Kristen Shellenberg, Senior Research and Evaluation Associate at Ipas and Payal Shah, Legal Advisor at the Center for Reproductive Rights March 25, 2014. Register Stigma webinar.

RESOURCES

[abortion – Argentina]  Report from La Asociación por los Derechos Civiles (ADC) on the state of enforcement of the Supreme Court’s “F,A.L.” judgement of March 13, 2012 legalizing abortion after rape.  Two years later, eight jurisdictions comply, eight include regulations that may hinder access, and eight do not comply. that “nearly two years after the ruling “F., A.L.”  many jurisdictions still have not created protocols, and many others were given faulty protocols, which generates a situation of intolerable inequality in which access to this right depends on the place of residence.  Detailed summary in Spanish.   Report in Spanish includes comparison chart (53 page Report)

[abortion – Australia] “Manufacturing Mental Illness (and Lawful Abortion): Doctors’ Attitudes to Abortion Law and Practice in New South Wales and Queensland” by Heather Douglas, Kirsten Black, Caroline deCosta,  (2013) 20.3 Journal of Law and Medicine 560-576.  Article online.

[abortion – Ireland] Revised guidelines for doctors in response to new “Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act”.  Revised paragraph #21 on Abortion (page 21) can be read in conjunction with #11 and # 39 on Emergencies and Emergency Situations, #34 on Capacity to Consent and #10 on Conscientious Objection.  Revised Irish medical guidelines.

[abortion – Ireland]  “Peripheral Governance: Administering Transnational Health Care Flows, by Ruth Fletcher, provides “a critical reading of the strategies that the Irish Crisis Pregnancy Agency has adopted in response to women’s practices of travelling for abortion care.”  (2013) 9 International Journal of Law in Context 161-190.  Full text of article now online.

Abortion Law in Transnational Perspective:  Cases and Controversies, ed. Rebecca J. Cook, Joanna N. Erdman and Bernard M. Dickens, 16 chapters.  Forthcoming, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014.  To receive details when it is published, email reprohealth. law\at/ utoronto. ca with subject “abortion book flyer”.

[abortion stigma] new “Sea Change Program” is leading a new approach to culture change around abortion and other reproductive experiences, conducting social science research, developing tools to measure stigma, try new strategies for transforming stigma, partner with advocates and organizations, raise awareness about stigma and increase visibility, connection and support around abortion.   Stigma website.

[Nigeria] Women and Reproductive Health Rights in Nigeria, by Oluwakemi Amudat Ayanleye, OIDA International Journal of Sustainable Development  6.5(2013), 127-140. Article online.

NEWS

[abortion – Israel]  Abortion added to healthcare basket in Israel.  The 2014 basket includes abortion for women aged 20-33 without a medical reason for terminating pregnancy.  News report.

[abortion – Spain] Spain’s tough new abortion law advances after secret vote, Proposed law outlawing abortions except in rape cases or where the mother’s health is in danger has been widely criticized.   Guardian: “serious step backwards.”

[contraception]  new World Health Organization guidance on Ensuring human rights in the provision of contraceptive information and services. These guidelines provide recommendations for programmes as to how they can ensure that human rights are respected, protected and fulfilled, while services are scaled up to reduce unmet need for contraception. WHO Contraception Guidance.

[contraception] Scientist Malcolm Potts emphasizes birth control pills’ therapeutic properties. He notes that the Catholic church nearly approved them for contraception on theological grounds.  Op-ed online.

Homosexuality is now legal throughout Europe.  Northern Cyprus becomes last European territory to decriminalize gay sex.  News report.

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

JOBS

Program Officer, Global Development and Population Program, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Menlo Park Calif.  USA.  Hewlett job details.

Program Officer, Safe Abortion Advocacy, Latin America and Caribbean Countries, International Planned Parenthood Federation, IPPF job details.

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

Compiled by the Coordinator of the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, reprohealth*law at utoronto.ca.
For Program publications and resources, see our website, online here.
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