Ob-Gyn duties to Refugees and migrants

Congratulations to Prof. Margit Endler and colleagues on the Committee for Human Rights, Refugees and Violence Against Women of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO), who recently published an article in the “Ethical and Legal Issues in Reproductive Health” section of the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics.

“Sexual and reproductive health and rights of refugee and migrant women: gynecologists’ and obstetricians’ responsibilities,” by Margit Endler, Taghreed Al Haidari, Sameena Chowdhury, Jan Christilaw, Faysal El Kak, Diana Galimberti, Miguel Gutierrez, Atziri Ramirez‐Negrin, Hemantha Senanayake, Rubina Sohail, Marleen Temmerman, and Kristina Gemzell Danielsson, for the FIGO Committee for Human Rights, Refugees and Violence Against Women, International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 149.1 (April 2020): 113–119. PDF at Wiley Online.   Abstract and Submitted Text.

Abstract:
Ensuring universal access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services is Target 3.7 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Refugee and migrant women and children are at particular risk of being forgotten in the global momentum to achieve this target. In this article, we discuss the violations of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of particular relevance to the refugee and migrant reality. We give context‐specific examples of denial of health services to vulnerable groups; lack of dignity as a barrier to care; the vulnerability of adolescents; child marriage; weaponized rape; gender‐based violence; and sexual trafficking. We discuss rights frameworks and models that are being used in response to these situations, as well as what remains to be done. Specifically, we call for obstetricians and gynecologists to act as individual providers and through their FIGO member societies to protect women’s health and rights in these exposed settings.

The full text of this article can be freely downloaded by anyone for one year: PDF at Wiley Online. 
After that year, researchers who lack institutional access can download:
Submitted Text through SSRN.

Related Resources
Ethical and Legal Issues in Reproductive Health: 90+ concise articles online. _____________
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 – Oct 2019

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DEVELOPMENTS:

Australia – Abortion decriminalized September 26, 2019. New South Wales (NSW), the last remaining state where it was illegal, legalized abortion up to 22 weeks for any reason, and up to birth with medical committee review. BBC Report.

[homosexuality] “Botswana High Court decriminalizes homosexuality. Letsweletse Motshidiemang v Attorney General,” [2019] MAHGB-000591-16, Decision of June 11, 2019. (High Court of Botswana). Decision online.   Case comment by Kutlwano Pearl Magashula, Other African court cases from our “Legal Grounds” series.

Mexico: Supreme Court abortion ruling upholds human right to health in the case of “Marisa”/”Jane Doe”:  Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación, Primera Sala, Amparo en Revisión 1388/2015  May 15, 2019. Decision in Spanish.   English translation. Videos from Harvard conference with 2 Mexican SC judges. Expert blogposts by Court clerks: Adriana Ortega on “risk to health” in the decision; David García Sarubbi: on Fundamental right to health and judicial review; Patricia del Arenal Urueta, on “Rights” discourse in Mexico. Estefanía Vela Barba, LL.M., comments on gender perspective, international law, and a path to decriminalization. Overview of these resources.

[Northern Ireland] Sarah Ewart v  NI Departments of Justice and Health, October 3, 2019. (High Court of Belfast)  Court followed the ruling of the UK Supreme Court  that  Northern Ireland  abortion law is incompatible with ECHR Article 8 in relation to fatal foetal abnormality (“FFA”).  Court also ruled that applicant Ms Ewart has standing to bring a challenge to the current legislation.  Official summary. 

[Northern Ireland] Abortion decriminalized by the United Kingdom, October 22, 2019, in absence of devolved Northern Irish government. Regulations for abortion provision must be in place by March 2020. Same sex weddings also legalized. First weddings in February 2020. BBC report.

[Tanzania, child marriage] Attorney General vs Rebeca Z. Gyumi (Civil Appeal No.204 of 2017) [2019] TZCA 348; (23 October 2019) High Court of Appeals upheld 2016 decision that Third party consent to marriage of girls under 18 is unconstitutional.] 52-page Decision online.  Blog about 2016 decision. Article about 2016 decision.

SCHOLARSHIP

[abortion and human rights] “Extending the Right to Life Under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: General Comment 36,” by Sarah Joseph, Human Rights Law Review 19.2 (June 2019): 347–368. Institutional access.

[abortion law, Ireland] “The Last Holdout: Ireland, the Right to Abortion and the European Federal Human Rights System” by Federico Fabbrini. iCourts Working Paper Series, No. 142, 2018. Abstract and article.

[abortion law, Ireland] “‘The Only Lawyer on the Panel’: Anti-Choice Lawfare in the Battle for Abortion Law Reform,” by Fiona de Londras and Máiréad Enright. Forthcoming in Kath Browne & Sydney Calkin, “After Repeal: The Future of Women’s Reproductive Rights” (Zed Books, 2019) Submitted text.

[abortion law, Mexico] “The Mexican Supreme Court’s latest abortion ruling:  In between formalities, a path to decriminalization.” by Estefanía Vela Barba, Reprohealthlaw Commentaries Series, October 31, 2019.  Full comment

[abortion law, Mexico and Latin America] “Abortion Battles in Mexico and Beyond: The Role of Law and the Courts,” proceedings of conference by the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School, held October 4, 2019, Videos of all presentations

[African sexual, racial and cultural diversity] Charles Ngwena interviewed on Africa Rights Talk: Aug. 19, 2019: (26-min. podcast) about his book, What is Africanness? : Contesting nativism in culture, race and sexualities (Pretoria University Law Press (PULP), 2018) 306 pages. Download Free PDF or order paperback.

[child marriage, Tanzania] “The analysis of child marriage and third party consent in the case of Rebeca Z. Gyumi v Attorney General Miscellaneous Civil Case no 5 of 2016 Tanzania High Court at Dar es Salaam,” by Norah Hashim Msuya, Ph.D, [2019] De Jure Law Journal 52 (2019): 295-315 Article online.

[conscience] “Selective Conscientious Objection in Healthcare, by Christopher Cowley in The New Bioethics 25.3 (2019): 236-247 ( Part of a special issue on Conscience in Healthcare) Abstract and Article.

“Post-abortion care:  Ethical and Legal Duties,” by Bernard M. Dickens, International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 2019; 147: 273–278.   PDF at Wiley Online.    Submitted text at SSRN. FIGO guidelines and other resources.

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.

REPROHEALTHLAW Updates – Sept 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:

[Africa, Mali] APDF & IHRDA v Republic of Mali (Association pour le Progrés et la Défense des Droits des Femmes Maliennes (APDF) and The Institute For Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA) v. Republic Of Mali, Application No. 046/2016, African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. (2018) Decision of May 11, 2018  PDF.  Decision online .
Case Summary and Comment by LL.M. student George Sakyi Asumadu

SCHOLARSHIP:

[abortion] “The Moral Agency of Abortion Providers: Conscientious Provision, Dangertalk, and the Lived Experience of Doing Stigmatized Work,” by Lisa Harris, in: Ethical Issues in Women’s Healthcare: Practice and Policy, ed. Lori d’Agincourt-Canning and Carolyn Ells (New York: Oxford University Press, 2019). Abstracts and Table of Contents of Book. Publisher’s abstract of book.

[abortion, Northern Ireland] “Evaluating the Need to Reform Northern Ireland’s Abortion Law from a Human Rights Perspective,” by Zoe Louise Tongue, Cambridge Law Review 4 (2019): 121-150. Institutional access.

[conscience, Australia] “Medical Referral for Abortion and Freedom of Conscience in Australian Law,” by Joanne Howe and Suzanne Le Mire, 34 Journal of Law & Religion 85 (2019) Institutional access.

Conscientious Objection / The Right to Conscience – annotated bibliography, International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, updated May 9 2019 Annotated bibliography

[Malawi] Woes of the Womb: An Investigation into allegations of medical malpractices resulting in removal of uteruses from expectant women in public health facilities, SYS/INV/2/2019 (Republic of Malawi: Office of the Ombudsman, August 2019) includes preventable deaths of mothers and infants. 37-page Ombudsman report. Overview by G. Kangaude and C. Sibande.

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.

African Court ruling: Mali’s child marriage laws violate human rights

Many thanks to George Sakyi Asumadu, an LL.M student in Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Africa at the Centre for Human Rights in the University of Pretoria’s Faculty of Law, for summarizing and commenting on the significance of this landmark decision on age of marriage, gender discrimination, and violations of rights through customary law. We are pleased to excerpt this overview of the Court ruling and provide links to the full Case Comment.

APDF & IHRDA v Republic of Mali (Association pour le Progrés et la Défense des Droits des Femmes Maliennes (APDF) and The Institute For Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA) v. Republic Of Mali), Application No. 046/2016, African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. (2018)  Decision of May 11, 2018  PDF.  Decision online . Case Comment by George Sakyi Asumadu.

COURT HOLDING: The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (The Court) held that it had jurisdiction over the case, since Mali had ratified the treaties under contention. The case was also admissible before it because it conformed with Article 6(2) of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and Rule 40(6) of the Court.

 The Court further held that the Persons and Family Code  (Family Code)  violated Articles 1(3), 2, 3, 4 and 21  of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of Children (Children’s African Charter); Articles 2(2), 6(a) and (b), and 21(2) of the  Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa  (Maputo Protocol); and  Articles 5(a), 16(a) and (b) of The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women  (CEDAW) which the state has ratified. These violations were in relation to child marriage, consent to marriage, discriminatory inheritance and marriage practices. The Court held Mali culpable of these violations, proposing amendments and other revisions to the Family Code. [. . . ]

Read more: APDF & IHRDA v Republic of Mali, 2018: Case Comment by George Sakyi Asumadu.
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See also: Domestic decisions on child marriage, summarized in Legal Grounds III: Reproductive and Sexual Rights in Sub-Saharan African Courts (Pretoria: Pretoria University Law Press, 2017)  
Online edition with updates.     Earlier volumes online.

Mudzuru & Another v Ministry of Justice, Legal & Parliamentary Affairs (N.O.) & Others (Const. Application No. 79/14) [2015] ZWCC 12 (20 January 2016);  [Constitutional Court of Zimbabwe outlawed child marriage under 18 years old.]  Decision online. 

Nvumeleni Jezile v The State and 7 Others [2015], High Court Case No. A 127/2014 (High Court of South Africa, Western Cape Division, Cape Town).  [Customary marriage practices are not justification for abduction and rape of a girl of 14.]   Decision online.  Decision PDF.

Rebeca Z. Gyumi v The Attorney General, Miscellaneous Civil Cause No. 5 of 2016, High Court of Tanzania.  Date of Judgment: 8/7/2016,  [Third-party consent to marriage of girls under 18 is unconstitutional] Decision online. 

“Child Marriage: Legal and Socio-Cultural Aspects” thematic highlight by Godfrey Kangaude.
________________
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 – August 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.

COLLOQUIUM:

Overcoming Barriers to Safe Abortion in the African Region, 16-17 January 2020, at the University of Pretoria’s Centre for Human Rights. Details, funding, topics, and Call for Abstracts

DEVELOPMENTS:

El Salvador – Young woman acquitted of aggravated homicide after miscarriage in 2016. Evelyn Hernandez Cruz was released on appeal, July 10, 2019. News report.

Germany: Higher court overturns doctor’s conviction for “advertising” abortion among other health services, in light of recent legal reform. News report, July 3, 2019.

Kenya – Case of “JMM,” a teenager who died in 2015 after botched illegal abortion.  The High Court of Kenya at Nairobi, Constitutional and Human Rights Division, declared that abortion is permitted for rape victims. It also ruled that the Ministry of Health’s 2014 withdrawal of abortion “Standards and Guidelines” and abortion trainings for healthcare professionals, were arbitrary and unlawful. Federation of Women Lawyers (Fida – Kenya) & 3 others v Attorney General & 2 others; East Africa Center for Law & Justice & 6 others (Interested Party) & Women’s Link Worldwide & 2 others (Amicus Curiae) [2019] eKLR, Petition No. 266 of 2015.   Decision of June 11, 2019.   News report.    Press release by Center for Reproductive Rights.

Northern Ireland – U.K. bill to maintain Northern Ireland’s public services during governmental hiatus includes decriminalized abortion and same-sex marriage. Bill was signed into law July 24, 2019, to take effect October 22, 2019. Time Magazine: “After 158 Years.”

United Kingdom: Court of Appeal upholds legality of a buffer zone around a London abortion clinic.  Dulgheriu and Orthova v. the London Borough for Civil Liberties and The National Council for Civil Liberties [2019] EWCA Civ 1490, Case No: C1/2018/1699 Court of Appeal (Civil Division). (Decision of August 21, 2019)  Report by Safe Abortion.

United Nations, International Law Commission, UN 71st session, A/CN.4/L.935 May 15, 2019, adopted new edition of “Crimes against Humanity” treaty, which “removed the outdated definition of gender … [It] affirmed that the rights of women, LGBTIQ persons, and other marginalized groups are protected in international criminal law, which will have ripple effects across national laws and future legal mechanisms for years to come,” according to Jessica Stern et al. New edition of Treaty.

SCHOLARSHIP:

[abortion law, Brazil] “Why is decriminalization necessary?  by the Anis Bioethical Institute (Brasilia, 2019).  The booklet is now available in English, Spanish and Portuguese : scroll down on this webpage.

[abortion law, Chile ] “Criminalisation under scrutiny: how constitutional courts are changing their narrative by using public health evidence in abortion cases,” by Verónica Undurraga, Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters 2019;27(1) DOI: 10.1080/26410397.2019.1620552 Article and abstract

[abortion law, Mexico] “Motherhood or Punishment: The criminalization of abortion in Mexico.” English 57-page report, 2019, English executive summary. Based on “Maternidad o Castigo:  La criminalización del aborto en Mexico,”  (Mexico, GIRE, 2018)  Informe de 72 paginas. 

[abortion law – United Kingdom] “Female Autonomy, Foetal Personhood and the English Legal Stance on Abortion Practice,” by Sahra Paula Thomet, Queen Mary Law Journal 10 (2019): 27-50. Institutional Access.

[abortion pill – Canada] “To Solve Abortion Pill Prescription Problems, We need to Rethink the Prescription Itself” by Professor Joanna Erdman, Dalhousie Law School, July 17, 2019 Newspaper Comment.

[age-of-marriage, Mali] “A commentary on the African Court’s decision in the case APDF and IHRDA v Republic of Mali: why socio-cultural endemic factors of a society could never support arguments based on force majeure” by Giulia Pecorella,  International Law Blog, January 14, 2019.  Comment online. Decision PDF.

“Gender Equality, Norms, and Health” 5-part series in The Lancet Vol. 393 provides new analysis and insights into the impact of gender inequalities and norms on health, and opportunities to transform them. ArticlesGender Equality Norms and Health series.

“Integrating Gender Perspectives  in Gynaecology and Obstetrics: Engaging Medical Colleges in Maharashtra, India,” by Sangeeta Rege,  Padma Bhate-Deosthali, Pravin Shingare, Srinivas Gadappa, Sonali Deshpande, Nandkishore Gaikwad, and Shailesh Vaidya, International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 146 (2019): 132–138    PDF at Wiley Online.  Submitted text at SSRN.

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.

Tanzanian Court: Third party consent to marriage of girls under 18 is unconstitutional

Many thanks to Godfrey Kangaude, LL.M. (UFS), LL.M. (UCLA), an LL.D. candidate at the University of Pretoria and Executive Director of Nyale Institute for Sexual and Reproductive Health Governance in Malawi, for summarizing this decision for REPROHEALTHLAW subscribers.  He is also Chief Editor of Legal Grounds III: Reproductive and Sexual Rights in Sub-Saharan African Courts, forthcoming 2017.

Rebeca Z. Gyumi v. Attorney General, Miscellaneous Civil Cause No 5 of 2016 decided on July 8, 2016.   (High Court of Tanzania)  Decision online.

Abstract: The Court considered whether by permitting girls under the age of 18 to marry by third party consent, Sections 13 and 17 of the Marriage Act CAP R.E. 2002 (Marriage Act) violate the right to equality, the right to expression and receipt of information as provided for under Articles 12, 13, 18 and 21 of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania 1977 (Constitution). The Court held that the differential treatment of girls and boys by the impugned provisions, which permitted the girl-child to marry  underage with the consent of a third party (such as a parent or guardian) was discriminatory and infringed the right to equality. The Court therefore declared the impugned provisions unconstitutional and ordered the government to review the law in accordance with its obligations under Article 6 of the Maputo Protocol and Article 21 the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, with a view to setting the age of marriage at 18, the age of consent, with full consent from the girl, and without exceptions.

The  Court could not agree that the provisions infringed on the right to expression and information, because the petitioner did not present  any evidence to substantiate those claims.

Comment: The Court did not address the aspect of human dignity, also raised by the petitioner, which is central to the practice of child marriage and the attitudes surrounding the sexuality of the girl-child. By treating the girl-child as the means to some material or non-material end, the practice of child-marriage is first and foremost a violation of the dignity of the girl-child.  Her body and sexuality are regarded as property that families can exchange for economic gain or honor or both. Further, maintaining virginity before marriage is a powerful motivation behind practices such as denying the girl-child comprehensive sexuality information and education, and restricting her freedom to make decisions regarding sexual relationships. The practice of child marriage therefore sustains the violation a host of other human rights of the girl-child, such as rights to sexual and reproductive health, sexuality information and education.

UPDATE:  CONFIRMED BY COURT OF APPEALS IN 2019!
Attorney General vs Rebeca Z. Gyumi (Civil Appeal No.204 of 2017) [2019] TZCA 348; (23 October 2019) High Court of Appeals upheld 2016 decision  52-page Decision online.  Article about 2016 decision.

Related Resources:

Msuya, Norah Hashim — “The analysis of child marriage and third party consent in the case of Rebeca Z. Gyumi v Attorney General Miscellaneous Civil Case no 5 of 2016 Tanzania High Court at Dar es Salaam”  De Jure Law Journal 52 (2019): 295-315.   Article online.

Constitutional Court of Zimbabwe  outlawed child marriage under 18 years old: Mudzuru & Another v Ministry of Justice, Legal & Parliamentary Affairs (N.O.) & Others (Const. Application No. 79/14) [2015] ZWCC 12 (20 January 2016);  Decision online.   Detailed case summary by Godfrey Kangaude. Legal Grounds III: Reproductive and Sexual Rights in Sub-Saharan African Courts (2017)

Forced Out: Mandatory Pregnancy Testing and the Expulsion of Pregnant Students in Tanzanian Schools (Center for Reproductive Rights, 2013).  Fact-Finding Report.

Child Marriage in South Asia: Stop the Impunity (Center for Reproductive Rights, 2013) Fact-Finding Report.

United Nations General Assembly Adopts Resolution to end Child, Early, and  Forced Marriage Worldwide   (Dec. 19, 2016) CRR Press release.

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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 – January 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.

DEVELOPMENTS

Ireland has offered Amanda Jane Mellet 30,000 euros as compensation for denying her access to abortion, forcing her to travel to Britain.  .News article.

Malta:  The morning-after pill will be made available over-the-counter in Malta and will not require a doctor’s prescription. News article.

Northern Ireland teenager is taking National Health Service to supreme court over its refusal to fund abortions for woman from Northern Ireland.  News article.

Tanzania [child marriage] Rebeca Gyumi v. Attorney General Miscellaneous Civil Cause No 5 of 2016 July 8, 2016  (High Court of Tanzania, unreported) decided [Third party consent to girls’ marriage under 18 is unconstitutional – equality argument] Decision online.  Abstract by Godfrey Kangaude.

United Nations General Assembly Adopts Resolution to end Child, Early, and  Forced Marriage Worldwide   (Dec. 19, 2016) CRR Press release.

RESOURCES

[Brazil] “Zika Infection in Brazil and Human Rights Obligations,” by  Debora Diniz, Sinara Gumieri, Beatriz Galli Bevilacqua, Rebecca J. Cook and Bernard M. Dickens, International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 136.1 (Jan. 2017) 105-110.
PDF online for 12 months.    Submitted typescript.

[Conscience, conscientious objection]  Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 26.1 Special Section:  Table of Contents access
— Conscientious Objection in Healthcare: Problems and Perspectives, by Alberto Giubilini, Julian Savulescu
— Conscientious Objection in Healthcare and Moral Integrity, by Mark Wicclair
— Tolerance, Professional Judgment, and the Discretionary Space of the Physician, by Daniel P. Sulmasy
— Conscientious Objection and “Effective Referral”  by Roger Trigg
— My Conscience May Be My Guide, but You May Not Need to Honor It, by Hugh LaFollette
— The Legal Ethical Backbone of Conscientious Refusal, by Christian Munth, Morten Ebbe Juul Nielsen
— The Cost of Conscience: Kant on Conscience and Conscientious Objection, by Jeanette Kennett
— The Inevitability of Assessing Reasons in Debates about Conscientious Objection in Medicine, by Robert F. Card
— Two Concepts of Conscience and their Implications for Conscience-Based Refusal in Healthcare by Steve Clarke
— Conscientious Objection, Complicity in Wrongdoing, and a Not-So-Moderate Approach by Francesca Minerva
— How to Allow Conscientious Objection in Medicine While Protecting Patient Rights, by Aaron Ancell and Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
— Conscientious Non-objection in Intensive Care, by Dominic Wilkinson  open access

[Latin America]    Sexo, Delitos y Pecados: Intersecciones entre religión, género, sexualidad y el derecho en América Latina [Sex, crimes and sins: Intersections among religion, gender, sexuality and law in Latin America], ed. Macarena Saez and Jose Manuel Moran Faundes. More info and free book download.

JOBS

University of Toronto – Visiting Professor at the Centre for Ethics 2017-2018.   Apply by Feb. 1, 2017.  Visiting Faculty Fellowships.

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 – Nov. 2016

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

Gender Justice Uncovered Awards – internationally elected, from cases abstracted by Women’s Link Worldwide:   Best and Worst Judgments of the year.

India: High Court on its own Motion v.  The State of Maharashtra, Suo Motu Public Interest Litigation No. 1 of 2016,  Civil Appellate Jurisdiction, High Court of Judicature at Bombay,  India, September 19, 2016. [Prison inmate granted abortion on compassionate grounds.]  Judgment online.

Spain: Tribunal Constitucional, Sentencia S.T.C. 145/2015, 25 de junio de 2015, 2015–182 BOE 66654.  [Seville pharmacy had been fined €3,000 in 2008 for refusing to sell emergency contraceptive, but Spanish constitutional court overturns decision on appeal.]  Spanish judgment now online, including dissenting opinions.  Published decision.  English newspaper report. Summary by Women’s Link Worldwide

Tanzania: decision against child marriage:  Rebeca Z. Gyumi v The Attorney General, Miscellaneous Civil Cause No. 5 of 2016, Date of Judgment: 8/7/2016,  [Tanzanian age of marriage laws are found discriminatory and unconstitutional]   Decision online.  Comment by Girls Not Brides.org

CALLS FOR PAPERS:

“Disability and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights”  Reproductive Health Matters 25.49, (June 2017). Submit paper by  (extended) deadline Dec. 10, 2016.   Detailed call for papers.

Disability: “The notion of maternal immunity in tort for pre-natal harms causing permanent disability for the born alive child”  Human Rights Controversies,  Special Issue of The International Journal of Human Rights.  Submit paper by February 1, 2017.  Detailed call for papers

“Equality rights, human rights or social justice…”  Journal of Law and Equality (peer-reviewed, student-run) is currently accepting submissions for its Spring 2017 publication.  It publishes research articles, case comments, notes, and book reviews by a diverse group of commentators including professors, practitioners, and students.  Submit papers to  JLE  at gmail. com

RESOURCES

[abortion] “Mandatory Waiting Periods and Biased Counseling Requirements in Central and Eastern Europe: Restricting Access to Abortion, Undermining Human Rights, and Reinforcing Harmful Gender Stereotypes.” Center for Reproductive Rights.  Fact Sheet online.

[abortion law, Chile]   Debates y reflexiones en torno a la despenalización del aborto en Chile, Lidia Casas Becerra y Delfina Lawson  (LOM, 2016).  Libro en línea, 325 paginas.  Indice en Espanol.

[abortion law, Latin America, constitutions]  Paola Bergallo and Agustina Ramón Michel, “Constitutional Developments in Latin American Abortion Law,”  International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 135 (2016) 228–231.   PDF online here. 

[abortion, rape and child marriage  in Sri Lanka]  Submission    to    the    Committee    against    Torture    re  the Sri    Lanka’s Fifth    State    Party    Report, October    2016 by the OMCT (World Organization Against Torture) and Global Justice Center, focuses on how Sri Lankan law violates the Convention Against Torture by banning abortion in most circumstances, and by authorizing rape in certain instances and child marriage.
Press Release     Shadow Report

[conscientious objection, Canada] “Let Thy Conscience Be Thy Guide (But Not My Guide!): Physicians and the Duty to Refer” (October 12, 2016) Daphne Gilbert, McGill Journal of Law and Health 2016 10(2).  Abstract and Article.

[fetal abnormality testing] “Ethical and Legal Aspects of Noninvasive Prenatal Genetic Diagnosis,” by Bernard M. Dickens,  International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 124.2 (2014): 181-184. Abstract and Article.

[personhood and assisted reproduction, Argentina]   “The Lingua Franca of Reproductive Rights: The American Convention on Human Rights and the Emergence of Human Legal Personhood in the New Civil and Commerce Code of Argentina,” by Martin Hevia and Carlos Herrera Vacaflor, 23 U. Miami Int’l & Comp. L. Rev. 687 -740. Article online.

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

JOBS

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

South Africa: customary marriage cannot justify rape

Many thanks to Godfrey Kangaude, LL.M. (UFS), LL.M. (UCLA), Executive Director of the Malawi Law Society and Co-Director of Nyale Institute for Sexual and Reproductive Health Governance, for writing a new African case summary for the forthcoming publication, Legal Grounds III: Reproductive and Sexual Rights in Sub-Saharan African Courts:

Nvumeleni Jezile v The State, High Court Case No: A 127/2014 (High Court of South Africa)  Decision online.   Full Case summary.

The appellant in this case had negotiated a customary marriage with the relatives of a 14-year-old girl prior to forcibly abducting, marrying, raping, and assaulting her.   At trial, the appellant had already been convicted of human trafficking, rape and common assault, and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and was serving sentence. 

The issue on appeal relevant to this analysis was whether the trial court’s determination of the issues should have taken into account the practice of customary marriage or ukuthwala, which allows the bride to be coerced.

The High Court held that the practice of ukuthwala on which the appellant relied for his defence is not customary marriage itself.  Rather, it is one of the processes leading to negotiations for a customary marriage.

Further, the appellant relied on an aberrant form of ukuthwala to justify coercion. The consensus amongst the experts on customary marriage and law was that the true form of ukuthwala requires consent of the woman.

Practices associated with the aberrant form of ukuthwala do not comply with the requirements of the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act 120 of 1998 (RCMA), and cannot be protected.  Section 3(1) of the RCMA requires: (a) prospective spouses should be over the age of 18 years, (b) both must consent to the customary marriage, and (c) the process must be in accordance with customary law. Sections 3(3)(a) and 3(4)(a) provide for conditions under which a person below the age of 18 can enter into customary marriage with the consent of parents or guardians.
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Full case summary by Godfrey Kangaude is online here.

Legal Grounds: Reproductive and Sexual Rights in African Commonwealth Courts   (2000 to 2008) Volumes I and II can be downloaded here.  Our update will be published early in 2017:  Decisions already identified for inclusion  are online here.  New case summaries are attached every month.   If you can suggest other cases, please do!   How You Can Help.

 

REPROHEALTHLAW Updates

REPROHEALTHLAW-L  May 28, 2015

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DECISIONS

GENDER JUSTICE OBSERVATORY-  Voting open until May 31, 2015
Vote the Best or Worst Decisions that promote or negatively affect gender equality
View all Nominated Decisions:   English    Spanish
How to vote:  English video    Spanish video

KENYA:  Hospital liable for costs of unwanted child after failure to implant contraceptive.
AAA v. Registered Trustees of Aga Khan University Hospital, Civil Case no. 3 of 2013, High Court of Kenya at Nairobi, Civil Division.
Decision online.    Newspaper summary.  Detailed summary by Godfrey Kangaude

PHILIPPINES – Contraception ban in Manila, inquiry report by UN – CEDAW, finds reproductive rights violations and discrimination. CEDAW inquiry report online.   Center for Reproductive Rights Press release.

SOUTH AFRICA – “Ukuthwala (customary law) is not a defence against rape of a child.”
High Court of the Western Cape
Jezile v S (A127/2014) [2015] ZAWCHC (23 March 2015)
Detailed Case Summary of Jezile case.  Entire Judgment.
University of Pretoria’s Centre for Child Law: Press Release

UGANDA – Preventable maternal death and constitutional right to health – Centre for Health, Human Rights and Development (CEHURD) and others v. Attorney General, Constitutional Petition No. 16 of 2011 (Constitutional Court of Uganda) [2012] UGCC 4, 5 June 2012. Decision online.   Legal Comment.    NEWS: Overruled by Supreme Court in 2015.

EVENTS:

“Bioethics, Medical Ethics and Health Law”
UNESCO Chair in Bioethics 11th World Conference
Royal Continental Congress Center
October 20-22, 2015, Naples, Italy  Conference details.

2016 FIAPAC Conference
13 – 15 October 2016
Lisbon, Portugal  Conference details.

RESOURCES

Inspiring a Medico-Legal Revolution: Essays in Honour of Sheila McLean,  ed. Pamela Ferguson and Graeme Laurie (Ashgate,  June 2015)
Book abstract and details .
Part I:  Issues at the Beginning of Life, includes:

1 Reproductive Health and the Law, by Rebecca J. Cook and Bernard M. Dickens,

2 DIY Abortion and Harm Reduction, by Emily Jackson,

3 Parenthood and Artificial Human Reproduction: The Dangers of Inappropriate Medicalisation, by Kenneth McK. Norrie,

4 ‘Fetal Infants’: At the Edge of Life? by Margot Brazier and John Harris.

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] The Responsibility Objection to Abortion: Rejecting the Notion that the Responsibility Objection Successfully Refutes a Woman’s Right to Choose, by Ian K. McDaniel,  Bioethics, 29.4 (2015)  pp. 291-299, 2015. Abstract online.

[conscience]  Managing Conscientious Objections in Intensive Care Medicine,  An Official American Thoracic Society Policy Statement, by Thaddeus Mason Pope and Mithya Lewis-Newby, Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015 Jan 15;191(2):219-27. Abstract Online.

[conscience]  Medical Law Review – special issue 23, on Conscience and Proper Medical Treatment, intro Sara Fovargue, Sheelagh McGuinness, Alexandra Mullock, and Stephen Smith
— Medicine and Abortion Law, by Sheelagh McGuinness and Michael Thomson
— Conscientious Objection:  Personal and Professional Ethics in the Public Square, by Jonathan Montgomery
— “In Good Conscience”:  Conscience-based exemptions and Proper Medical Treatment, by Sara Fovargue and Mary Neal
— Making decisions about decision-making: Conscience, Regulation and the Law, by José Miola
— A Bridge too Far: Individualised Claims of Conscience, by Stephen W. Smith
— Gillick Reinstated: Judging Mid-Childhood Competence in Healthcare Law: An NHS Trust v. ABC and a local Authority [2014] EWHC 1445 (FAM)
— Book Review:  Conscience and Conviction: The case for civil disobedience, by Clayton Ó Néill

[Ethics] New guidelines from the FIGO  for the Ethical Aspects of Human Reproduction and Women’s Health, published in the International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics (IJGO)
— Health consequences of child or adolescent marriage,  IJGO 128.1, Jan. 2015, pp 83-84. Online
 — Adolescent pregnancies, IJGO  128.2, Feb. 2015, pp. 185-186  Online.
— Conscientious objection in training IJGO 128.1 1, Jan 2015, pp. 89-90  Online.
— Women’s post-reproductive lives, IJGO 128. 2, Feb. 2015, pp. 189-190.  Online.
— Healthcare professionals’ responses to violence against women, IJGO 128.1, Jan. 2015, pp 87-88.  Online.
— Conflict of interest, including relationships with industry, IJGO 128.3, Mar. 2015, pp 282-283.  Online.

Holistic Pregnancy: Rejecting the Theory of the Adversarial Mother, by Rona Kaufman Kitchen, Hastings Women’s Law Journal, 26.2( 2015)  Article online.

[Latin America] “Reproduction and the Rule of Law in Latin America, by Michele Goodwin and Allison M. Whelan, Fordham Law Review, Vol. 83, No. 5, 2015; UC Irvine School of Law Research Paper No. 2015-44. Article online.

NEWS

Dominican Republic: Abortion Law Debated in Supreme Court,
Center for Reproductive Rights Press release

Ecuador – CEDAW recommends to decriminalize abortion for rape, incest and severe fetal impairment,  Concluding Observations – Ecuador.  Press release from Human Rights Watch.

Guyana:  Twenty years after legalization, the stigma of abortion still prevents effective implementation, by Fred Nunes (in Stabroek Newspaper)

Mexico:  legal grounds for abortion have been increased in three Mexican states: Guerrero, Michoacan and Tlaxcala. GIRE report

Morocco  considers new abortion law, led by the king and a gynecologist.  Guardian newspaper

Myanmar: population control bill signed into law despite concerns it could be used to persecute minorities.  News report.

Paraguay:  Raped 10-year old denied abortion is “tantamount to torture” claims Amnesty International.  News report

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

World Health Organization:  Misoprostol for treating Post-Partum Hemorrhage is included in the Model List of Essential Medicines
Model List.

Zimbabwe: Child brides take government to court over marriage laws.  News report.

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.