REPROHEALTHLAW Updates – 2023-24

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DEVELOPMENTS

[Argentina, preventable maternal death,”obstetric violence”] Britez Arce et. al. v. Argentina. (Inter-American Court of Human Rights, November 16, 2022). Decision in English. Decision in Spanish. Press Release Jan 18, 2023. Comment by CRR. [Earlier: Merits report by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (Report 236/19, Case 13.002. Report in English-download.)

[Bolivia, rape of a minor, revictimization] Losado v Bolivia (Inter-American Court of Human Rights, November 18, 2022) English press release Jan 19, 2023 Summary in Spanish. Decision in Spanish. The Court held Bolivia responsible for gender and child discrimination, and revictimization of an adolescent victim of sexual violence during the judicial process.

[Colombia, abortion decriminalized] Sentencia C-055-22.  Expediente D-13.956. Demanda de inconstitucionalidad contra el artículo 122 de la Ley 599 del 2000. (Constitutional Court of Colombia, February 21, 2022). Decision in Spanish (414 pages).  Backup decision in Spanish.  Unofficial English translation. 27-page Spanish press release.  English summary of Press Release.  1-page Spanish press release. [Abortion is decriminalized within 24 weeks of gestation, and thereafter permitted on specified grounds.] 

[El Salvador, abortion, anencephaly] Beatriz v. El Salvador, Case 13-378, Report No. 09/20, Inter-Am. C.H.R. (2020) (Inter-American Commission of Human Rights, January 5, 2022): Report in Spanish. Case Summary in Spanish.  Press release in English. [Woman with lupus and kidney failure denied abortion for fetus with anencephaly.] Inter-American Court of Human Rights held hearings in March 2023.

France made abortion a fundamental constitutional right. March 4, 2024. Parliamentarians voted to revise the country’s 1958 constitution to enshrine women’s “guaranteed freedom” to abort. News report in English.

[Mexico, Abortion decriminalized], Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación [Supreme Court], 2023..Review of Constitutional Protection. Amparo en revisión 267/2023. Sept. 6, 2023. Speaker: Justice Ana Margarita Ríos Farjat. Decided September 6, 2023. Official Press release in Spanish.   [Abortion is decriminalized throughout Mexico.]

[Northern Ireland, UN CEDAW] Report of the Inquiry concerning the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland under article 8 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, (2018) U.N. Doc. CEDAW/C/OP.8/GBR/1  Original CEDAW 2018 report.  Comments by Clare Pierson. [abortion, a crime in Northern Ireland following sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against Persons Act 1861, was legalized in 2020.]
—Follow-up report submitted by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 16 January 2023, published March 14, 2023 as CEDAW/C/OP.*/GBR/3/Add.1.  Followup report in different formats, English, French and Spanish.  [Among other reforms, Northern Ireland established a Gender Equality Strategy Expert Advisory Panel whose Report of December 2020 is online here]. 

[Peru, UN Committee on the Rights of the Child] Camila v. Peru, Communication No. 136/2021.U.N. Doc CRC/C/93/D/136/2021 (June 13, 2023) Decision online in Spanish, Arabic and Russian.  Decision in English (May 25, 2023, *unofficial draft). Case note by Godfrey Kangaude.  [Child raped by her father. Ruling: Peru violated child rape victim’s rights by failing to guarantee access to abortion and criminally prosecuting her for self-abortion.]

[Peru, child marriage] Ley N.º 31945 to prohibit and eliminate any possibility of marriage with minors under the age of 18 was promulgated on 25 November 2023. Prior to the new legislation, Article 42 of Peru’s Civil Code permitted adolescents to marry from the age of 14 under certain conditions, with consent from at least one parent, despite the minimum legal age of marriage being 18 years for girls and boys. Context in English.

[Poland, ECtHR ruled against fetal abnormality abortion ban] M.L. v. POLAND (Application no. 40119/21) (European Court of Human Rights, December 14, 2023) [Woman forced to travel for abortion of malformed fetus. Court found violation of ECHR Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the ECHR, following a 2020 Constitutional Court ban on legal abortion in case of foetal abnormalities. Press release. Decision of 14 Dec 2023.

[Poland, fetal abnormality risk, inadmissible] A.M. and others v. Poland (application no. 4188/21, 4957/21, 5014/21,5523/21, 5876/21, 6114/21, 6217/21, 8857/21) (European Court of Human Rights, May 16, 2023) ruled these 8 cases inadmissible because each applicant could not claim to be a victim of a violation of the ECHR owing to risk of a future violation. Press Release. Decision of 16 May 2023.

[Spain, access to abortion information] Tribunal Supremo de España, Sala Tercera, de lo Contencioso-administrativo, Sección 4ª, S 1231/2022, 3 Oct. 2022 (Rec. 6147/2021)  Decision in Spanish.  Spanish backup copy.  Decision in English.  English backup copy. [The Government cannot block public access to a website containing information or opinions without judicial authorization.  This includes the site of Women on Web, which discusses access to abortion.

[Turkey, abortion for rape victim], [Case of] R.G. [GK], B. No: 2017/31619, 23/7/2020,.July 23, 2020. (Grand Chamber of the Turkish Constitutional Court)   27-page decision in Turkish. Backup copy. Official press release in English. Backup copy.  Comment  in English on IACL/AIDC Blog. Article in English from a Turkish Journal of Constitutional Law  [procrastination after rape victim applied for abortion violated the right to protect one’s corporeal and spiritual existence (provided under Article 17 of Turkish Constitution.

[UK – challenge to fetal abnormality ground for abortion] R (on the Application of Crowter and Ors) v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care EWCA Civ 1559 Case No: CA-2021-000314 (UK Court of Appeal (Civil Division) London, 25 Nov., 2022, Judgment summary. Decision online.  [UK legislation allowing abortion for substantial risk of a born child’s serious handicap (such as Down syndrome) is not incompatible with disabled persons’ human rights to respect for their private and family life and to nondiscrimination.] This was an appeal of [2021] EWHC 2536 (Admin) Case No. CO/2066/2020 (High Court of Justice, Queen’s Bench Division, London) Sept 23, 2021.  Judgment and summary.    [fetus has no established rights under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), so UK abortion law allowing legal abortions in cases of severe fetal abnormalities is compatible with ECHR.]

[Venezuela, obstetric violence] Inter-American Court of Human Rights – Case of Rodríguez Pacheco et al. v. Venezuela. Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of September 1, 2023. Series C No. 504. Press release in English. Official Summary in Spanish. 82-page judgment in Spanish. Download partial dissent by Judge Sierra Porto. Download: partial dissent by Judge Pérez Goldberg. The Court ruled that Venezuela is responsible for deficiencies in Judicial Proceedings on a Complaint of acts of obstetric violence and medical malpractice that took place in a private hospital.

SCHOLARSHIP

[comparative abortion law] Rebecca J. Cook and Bernard M. Dickens, “Abortion,” in Jan M. Smits, Jaakko Husa, Catherine Valcke and Madalena Narciso, eds., Elgar Encyclopedia of Comparative Law, 3rd ed., (Cheltenham, UK: Elgar Publishing, 2023), 3-11. Abstract online here. Full text and PDF online

[abortion law, Colombia] “The new Colombian law on abortion,” by Isabel C Jaramillo Sierra, International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 160.1 (January 2023): 345-350.  Abstract and Article. 

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

[abortion law and policy, guideline] “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.  WHO Abortion Care guideline, 2022.

[adolescents, Africa] “Integrating child rights standards in contraceptive and abortion care for minors in Africa,” by Godfrey Dalitso Kangaude, Catriona Macleod, Ernestina Coast and Tamara Fetters, International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics 159.3 (December 2022): 998-1004.   Abstract and Article.

[Africa, Zimbabwe, rewrite abortion decision, gender equality] Charles Ngwena and Rebecca J. Cook, “Restoring Mai Mapingure’s Equal Citizenship,” In: Rebecca J. Cook, ed., Frontiers of Gender Equality: Transnational Legal Perspectives (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2023). Abstract online.  Book available here. Introduction to the book (by Rebecca Cook).

[gender equality, health, CEDAW GR 24] “Gender Equality in Health Care: Reenvisioning CEDAW General Recommendation 24,” by Joanna N. Erdman and Mariana Prandini Assis, in Frontiers of Gender Equality: Transnational Legal Perspectives, ed. Rebecca J. Cook (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2023). Abstract online in English. Portuguese translation of this chapter. Book available here. Introduction to the book (by Rebecca Cook).

[gender equality] Rebecca J. Cook, “Many Paths to Gender Equality,” Introduction to: Frontiers of Gender Equality: Transnational Legal Perspectives (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2023). Introduction online.

[infertility] “”Human Rights Approaches to Reducing Infertility,” by Payal K. Shah and Jaime M. Gher, in International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics.162.1 (July 2023): 368–374.  Abstract and Article. 

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.

______________
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 our blog, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

Colombia’s new law on abortion

Congratulations and thanks to Isabel C Jaramillo Sierra, a Professor of Law at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá. As she explains in “The new Colombian law on abortion“ published in the Ethical and Legal Issues in Reproductive Health section of the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, the new law authorizes abortions on request up to week twenty-four and on an indications model for the remaining weeks of pregnancy. We are pleased to circulate the following abstract:

“The new Colombian law on abortion,” by Isabel C Jaramillo Sierra, International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 160.1 (January 2023): 345-350.  PDF at Wiley Online.  Spanish translation of abstract by CLACAI.

Abstract: On February 21, 2022, the Colombian Constitutional Court decided that the existing regulation of abortion was unconstitutional and repealed it (Sentencia C-055/2022). The new abortion law, as per the Court’s decision, considers the voluntary interruption of a pregnancy a crime only when it happens after week twenty-four and does not fall under the health, rape or malformation indications developed through precedent from 2006 to 2022. The decision is generally binding and of immediate application. The decision’s rationale builds on the right to health, substantive equality, and freedom of conscience. It acknowledges severe restrictions in access to abortion faced by Colombian women and the costs these restrictions have on their lives. It also recognizes that the indications model forces women to obtain permission from medical doctors to access abortion, and thus fails to recognize women’s freedom of conscience.

Keywords: Colombian Constitutional Law; Colombia judgment Sentencia C-055/2022; Right to health; Right to equality; Freedom of conscience; Criminal law as last resort; Reproductive health

RELATED RESOURCES:

The decision: Corte Constitucional [Constitutional Court] February 21, 2022, Sentencia C-055-22.  Expediente D-13.956. Demanda de inconstitucionalidad contra el artículo 122 de la Ley 599 del 2000. Decision in Spanish (414 pages).  Backup decision in Spanish.  Unofficial English translation. 27-page Spanish press release.  English summary of Press Release.  1-page Spanish press release.. [Abortion is decriminalized within 24 weeks of gestation, and thereafter permitted on specified grounds.] 

Abortion Law Decisions webpages, now updated in English and in Spanish.

“Recursos Jurídicos” del RepoCLACAI – For a comprehensive and searchable database of legal resources on abortion care in Latin America, visit the Legal Section of the CLACAI Repository “Recursos Juridicos” online.

Ethical and Legal Issues in Reproductive Health – more than 110 other concise articles are online here.
________________________________________________________________________________________
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.

REPROHEALTHLAW Updates – Autumn 2022

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

COLOMBIA: Corte Constitucional [Constitutional Court] February 21, 2022, Sentencia C-055-22.  27-page Spanish communicado.  27-page unofficial English translation.  Nota de Prensa (Spanish).   Download unofficial English translation.  (Abortion is decriminalized within 24 weeks of gestation.]

INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS – EL SALVADOR Manuela et al. v. El Salvador,  Inter-Am. Ct. H.R. (ser. C) No 441. (November 2, 2021).  Decision in English.. Backup copy. Decision in Spanish.  Backup copy in Spanish..Comment by Centre for Reproductive Rights.  [El Salvador was held accountable for the arbitrary detention, torture, and conviction of a woman after obstetric emergency and loss of pregnancy in 2008. Convicted of “aggravated homicide.” Two years later, Manuela died from cancer, in prison.]

KENYA: PAK & Salim Mohammed v. Attorney General & 3 Others (Constitutional Petition E009 of 2020) [2022] KEHC 262 (KLR) (24 March 2022) (High Court of Kenya at Malindi)  Decision online.   Backup copy.    Press release by CRR. [Abortion care is a fundamental constitutional right. Arrests of patients and clinicians are illegal. Parliament is directed to align law and policy with the Constitution.]

MEXICO: AI 148/2017 Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación 2021,  Acción de inconstitucionalidad AI 148/2017, Sept 7, 2021  Decision in Spanish.   News report in English.   Official press release in Spanish.  Official press release in English.  [Criminalizing abortion is unconstitutional; state interests in protecting fetus cannot outweigh the reproductive rights of women.]

MEXICO AI 106/2018: Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación [Supreme Court] 2021, Acción de inconstitucionalidad AI 106/2018 and 107/2018), Sept. 7, 2021.  Decision in Spanish.  Official press release in English.  [States may not establish a right to life from the moment of conception in their local constitutions]

MEXICO AI 54/2018: Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación 2021, Acción de inconstitucionalidad AI 54/2018, Sept 21, 2021.   Decision in Spanish.  Decision backup.    Official press release in English.  [This ruling struck down part of the General Law regulating health services nationwide, because it established an expansive right to conscientious objection by medical personnel, without establishing the limits necessary to ensure patients’ rights to healthcare.]

NEW ZEALAND: High Court decision in NZ Health Professionals’ Alliance v Attorney-General, Sept. 24, 2021, upholds sections of the Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion Act 1977 (‘CSAA’), amended in the Abortion Legislation Act 2020, regarding conscientious objectors’ duty to refer and (within reason) accommodation of objecting employees. News report.  Decision online. Commentary on decision. 

NORTHERN IRELAND Judicial review by Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission: In re NIHRC (Abortion), “In the matter of an application by The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission for Judicial Review – In the matter of the failure by the Secretary of State, Executive Committee and Minister of Health to provide women with access to Abortion and Post Abortion Care in All Public Health Facilities in Northern Ireland [2021] NIQB 91 Delivered 14 October 2021.    Decision online.  Backup copy.    Official Summary.  News story.   [Secretary of State failed to comply with 2019 Act  to “expeditiously” provide women in Northern Ireland with access to high quality abortion and post abortion services].

POLAND: Applications have been filed before the European Court of Human Rights by more than 1,000 Polish women who were denied abortions or who postponed their reproductive decisions out of fear. [because of the Constitutional Tribunal’s October 2020 ruling that disallowed abortion in cases of severe and irreversible fetal defects. Result: almost total ban on abortion.] Human Rights Watch report.

POLAND: “Izabel”, 22-weeks pregnant, died of septic shock in Sept 2021 while doctors waited for her doomed fetus to die within her.  Washington Post Nov 2021 article. Mass protests focused on the Oct 2020 abortion ban ruling, but, so far, only hospital and staff have been held accountable. Notes from Poland, Sept. 2022.

UNITED STATES: Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, No. 19-1392, 597 U.S. _ (2022) (Supreme Court of the United States), held that the Constitution of the United States does not confer a right to abortion. Case summary by CRR. Amicus brief by Martha Davis et al. IJGO article and other amicus briefs.

NEW INTERNATIONAL ABORTION CARE GUIDELINE

[WHO] Abortion Care Guideline (Geneva: World Health Organization, 2022). Chapter 2 discusses Law and Policy.
Download the Guideline, or see Overview and Supplementary resources.

SCHOLARSHIP

[abortion law, France] [Why and how to constitutionalize abortion law]: ‘Pourquoi et comment constitutionaliser le droit à l’avortement,” par Stéphanie Hennette-Vauchez, Diane Roman et Serge Slama, La Revue des Droits de l’Homme, Actualités Droits-Libertés | 2022 Juillet 2022. Full text in French.

[abortion law, Latin America] “Pushing Past the Tipping Point: Can the Inter-American System Accommodate Abortion Rights?” by Patricia Palacios Zuloaga, Human Rights Law Review 21.4 (Dec 2021): 899–934. Abstract and Article.

“Abortion Lawfare in Latin America: Some Reading Keys for a Changing Scenario, ” special issue eds. Catarina Barbieri, Camila Gianella, Maria Defago, and Marta Machado (2021) Rev. Direito GV vol. 17 no 3, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Epub Dec 15, 2021. Overview and three articles in English.

[abortion law, Mexico] “The Decriminalization of Abortion: A Landmark Decision by the Mexican Supreme Court,” by Joy Monserrat Ochoa Martínez,and Roberto Niembro Ortega, I-CONnect Blog, Posted: 12 Oct 2021. Expert comment.

[abortion law, Poland] “The Scales of the European Court of Human Rights: Abortion Restriction in Poland, the European Consensus, and the State’s Margin of Appreciation,” by Julia Kapelańska-Pręgowska, Health and Human Rights Journal 23.2 (Dec 2021): 213-224. Abstract and article.

[abortion law, USA] “The state of abortion rights in the US,” by Martha F. Davis. International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 159.1 (Oct 2022): 324-329 Abstract online. Article: free access .

[abortion law, USA] Abortion and the Law in America: Roe v. Wade to the Present, by Mary Ziegler. (Cambridge University Press, 2020). Publisher’s abstract.

“Conscientious Objection and the Duty to Refer,” by Bernard M. Dickens, International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 2021; 155: 556-560. PDF at Wiley Online.  Submitted Text at SSRN.

[conscientious objection: Argentina] “Regulating Conscientious Objection to Legal Abortion in Argentina: Taking into Consideration Its Uses and Consequences,” by Agustina Ramón Michel, Stephanie Kung, Alyse López-Salm, and Sonia Ariza Navarrete, Health and Human Rights Journal 22.2 (Dec 2020): 271 – 384. Abstract and article.

[Conscientious objection: South Africa, nurses] “Power dynamics in the provision of legal abortion : a feminist perspective on nurses and conscientious objection in South Africa” by Satang Nabaneh, Doctoral Thesis (LLD)–University of Pretoria, 2020, now online: Doctoral thesis – 290 pages.

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

[Conscientious objection] Global Map of Norms regarding Conscientious Objection, a searchable interactive map for comparative law, by Agustina Ramón Michel (coordinator) and Dana Repka (CEDES / REDAAS) with the support of Ipas and the ELA team. Updated December 15, 2022: Global Map of Norms re Conscientious Objection.

“Contested Rights: Abortion and Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in the United Nations,” by Erin Aylward, Ph.D. thesis, University of Toronto, Canada, Nov. 2020. Abortion/SOGI thesis.

[migrants] “International migrants’ right to sexual and reproductive health care,” by Y. Y. Brandon Chen, International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 2022;157: 210–215  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,  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.

Conscientious Objection and the Duty to Refer

Many thanks to Bernard M. Dickens, Professor Emeritus of Health Law and Policy and Co-Director of the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law. His article in the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics is now freely available.

Bernard M. Dickens, “Conscientious Objection and the Duty to Refer,” International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 2021; 155: 556-560. PDF at Wiley Online.  Submitted Text at SSRN.

Abstract: Medical associations and leading courts reinforce the duty of physicians who conscientiously object to participate in treatment indicated for their patients to refer them to non-objecting practitioners. Ethical and legal duties require continuity of care when physicians withdraw from patients’ treatment on grounds of conscience. The duty to refer might affect gynecologists when their patients request, e.g., contraceptive means, sterilization, abortion, medically assisted reproductive procedures or gender reassignment. Legislation and leading law courts, notably the UK Supreme Court and Constitutional Court of Colombia, and professional associations such as the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario,  have clarified the duty to refer. Physicians are expected to cater their individual conscience to their professional ethical and legal duties, favoring their patients’ choices over their personal objections. Physicians can object to “hands-on” conduct of procedures they find objectionable, but cannot deny referral on grounds of complicity in what other care providers do.

Keywords: Conscientious objection; Duty to refer; Freedom of conscience; Professionalism; Referral; Religious objection; Therapeutic continuity.

OTHER RELEVANT RESOURCES:

“The Right to Conscience: An Annotated Bibliography,” by the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, updated Feb 15, 2021; download Conscience bibliography.

Global Map of Norms regarding Conscientious Objection to Abortion (180 countries) by Agustina Ramón Michel (coordinator) and Dana Repka.(CEDES/REDAAS). Updated December 15, 2022: Conscientious Objection Map online.

Ethical and Legal Issues in Reproductive Health – more than 100 other concise articles 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 – Feb/March 2020

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

DEVELOPMENTS

[CEDAW] S.F.M. v. Spain. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women urges reparations to a woman who suffered lasting physical and mental trauma during childbirth, and recommends public policies to combat obstetric violence (verbal or physical abuse or mistreatment during childbirth). CEDAW/C/75/D/138/2018, Decision of 28 Feb 2020. Press release. Decision in Spanish.

[Colombia] Constitutional Court declines to consider anti-choice petition, allowing three exceptions to criminal law against abortion to continue. March 2, 2020. Expediente D-13225, Boletín No. 25:     Decision in Spanish.  News article in English.  Safe Abortion article in English.

[England]: Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has approved “Temporary approval for home use for both stages of early medical abortion” (up to 10 weeks), due to COVID-19 pandemic. Government announcement, March 30, 2020. RCOG Guidance for Health Professionals, version 1, March 21, 2020.

European Court of Human Rights dismisses complaint of conscientious objector who could not secure job as a midwife in Sweden. Case of Grimmark v. Sweden,   App. No. 43726/17, Eur. Ct. H.R. (2020)  Decision online.  Backup copy. Overview by Prof. Bernard M. Dickens.

New Zealand decriminalizes abortion, reclassifying it as a medical procedure, available on request within first 20 weeks of pregnancy. Abortion Legislation Act 2020 (2020/6) received royal assent March 23, 2020. New legislation. News report.

Northern Ireland – will allow abortion on request within 12 weeks, March 31, 2020. “A new legal framework for abortion services in Northern Ireland: Implementation of the legal duty under section 9 of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019. UK government document. BBC news report.

[Thailand] Constitutional Court ruled that Criminal Code section 301 concerning penalties for abortion violates the 2017 Constitution sections 27, 28, which endorse equal rights between men and women, as well as the right and liberty of everyone in his/her life and person. Decision of February 19, 2020, summarized in: News report.

SCHOLARSHIP

[Abortion, Australia (NSW)] “Abortion Decriminalisation in New South Wales: An Analysis of the Abortion Law Reform Act 2019 (NSW), by Anna Walsh and Tiana Legge, Journal of Law and Medicine, 30 Nov 2019, 27(2):325-337 Article online.

[abortion, Australia (SA)] “Abortion: A Review of South Australian Law and Practice,” by the Southern Australian Law Reform Institute(SALRI), Report 13 (October 2019), submitted to Attorney General Dec. 5, 2019, recommendations for planned decriminalization. 506-page report. News report.

[abortion, Belgium] “Late Termination of Pregnancy in Belgium: Exploring Its Legality and Scope,” byFien De Meyer – European Journal of Health Law 27.1 (2020): 9-34 Abstract and Article.

[abortion law, Canada] “When there are no abortion laws: A case study of Canada,” by Dorothy Shaw, Wendy V. Norman, Best Practice & Research Clinical Obstetrics & Gynaecology 62 (Jan. 2020): 49-62. Abstract and related resources. Article online.

“Abortion in Ireland,” Feminist Review 124.1 (March 2020), Special issue includes:
— Introduction to the Themed Issue,” by Sydney Calkin, Fiona de Londras, Gina Heathcote.
—[Ireland] ‘A Hope Raised and then Defeated’? the Continuing Harms of Irish Abortion Law, by Fiona de Londras
—[El Salvador] ‘Repeal the 8th’ in a Transnational Context: The Potential of SRHRs for Advancing Abortion Access in El Salvador, by Rebecca Smyth
—-[Italy] The Ambivalence of Law: Some Observations on the Denial of Access to Abortion Services in Italy, by Elena Caruso

Abortion Law Decisions webpage, with links to court decisions, updated March 2020, is online here in English… y en Espanol.

[abortion, Mexico] “Abortion Rights and Human Rights in Mexico, by Jennifer Nelson, chapter in Reproductive Justice and Sexual Rights: Transnational Perspectives, ed. Tanya Saroj Bakhru (New York: Routledge, 2019; 264 pp. About the book.

[abortion, U.K.] “Decriminalising Abortion in the UK- What Would It Mean?” ed. Sally Sheldon and Kaye Wellings. (Bristol: Policy Press, March 23, 2020) 112 pages, Open Access book.

Women’s Health and the Limits of the Law: Domestic and International Perspectives, ed. Irehobhude O. Iyioha (Routledge, 2020), Book information. Chapters include:
—“Abortion law in China: disempowering women under the liberal regulatory model,” by Wei Wei Cao
—“Tilted interpretations,: reproductive health law and practice in the Philippines,” by Amparita Sta. Maria
—“On the margins of law: examining the limits of legislative initiatives on maternal mortality in South Africa and Nigeria,” by Arooj Shah, Simisola O. Akintola and Irehobhude O. Iyioha

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

WEBINAR:
“COVID-19: What implications for SRHR globally?” by Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters, held March 27, 2020. 100-minute video.

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 – Nov. 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

Northern Ireland:  Low-income women seeking free abortions will receive government travel grants. Newspaper

 CONFERENCES

“Abortion in the British Isles, France and North America since 1800,”    International Conference organised by the University of Paris-Sorbonne (research group HDEA, EA 4086), in Paris (France), 6-8 November 2018.  Registration fee  Submit 500-word abstract and short CV by Dec 23, 2017.  Conference details.

SCHOLARSHIP:

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 Spanish (see next entry) and in paperback, 20% discount code PH70.  English edition from U Penn Press.  Table of Contents with chapter summaries. 
Abortion Decisions Online
—-El aborto en el derecho transnacional: casos y controversias,  ed. Rebecca J. Cook, Joanna N. Erdman y Bernard M. Dickens (Mexico: FCE/CIDE, 2016)   En espanol, 2016: Fondo de Cultura Económica y  Libreria CIDE.     Índice con resúmenes de capítulos 1-11
Decisiones Judiciales sobre aborto en línea

About Abortion: Terminating Pregnancy in Twenty-First Century America,  by Carol Sanger (Harvard UP, 2017)   Book details

“The Abortion Closet (with a Note on Rules and Standards),” by David Pozen, Columbia Journal of Gender and Law, Vol. 35, pp. 161-166, 2017. draws out some implications of Sanger’s arguments concerning abortion secrecy, abortion discourse, and the use of standards in constitutional abortion law.  Abstract and article

 

[Colombia, conscience]  Criminal Scopes of the Doctor Conscientious Objection in the Cases of Lawful Abortion in Colombia; Alcances penales de la objeción de conciencia del médico en el aborto lícito en Colombia; Âmbitos penales da objeção de consciência em o médico, by Juan Francisco Mendoza Perdomo, IUSTA 2:37 (2012) doctoral research, Summary in Spanish, English and Portuguese

[Europe] “Mandatory Waiting Periods and Biased Abortion Counseling in Central and Eastern Europe by Leah Hoctor and Adriana Lamačkova,  Int J Gynecol Obstet, 139 (2017) : 253–258.  Abstract and article

Global Abortion Policies Database, an open-access repository of abortion laws, policies, standards, and guidelines for 197 countries. Designed to strengthen efforts to eliminate unsafe abortion, the database acknowledges and engages law and policy as a social determinant of safe abortion.   Global Abortion Policies Database.

“The global abortion policies database—legal knowledge as a health intervention,” by Joanna Erdman, November 1, 2017  Opinion piece at BMJ.

 

Legal Grounds III: Reproductive and Sexual Rights in Sub-Saharan African Courts  (Pretoria, Pretoria University Law Press (PULP), 2017), and previous volumes.
Printed edition of Legal Grounds III available from PULP.
Previous volumes PDF online at CRR.
Legal Grounds III, online edition with links to decisions and updates.

[United Kingdom, abortion law] British Journal of Obsetrics and Gynaecology (BJOG)  124:13 (Dec. 2017)
BJOG issue on UK abortion law
—“The emancipation of women’s fertility,” by Michael Marsh, BJOG 124:13 (Dec 2017): 1921-22.
—“Abortion care as a key women’s health service,” Lesley Regan, BJOG 124.13 (Dec 2017): 1922.
—“Effectiveness, safety, and acceptability of first‐trimester medical termination of pregnancy performed by non‐doctor providers: a systematic review,” by S Sjöström, M Dragoman, MS Fønhus, B Ganatra, K Gemzell‐Danielsson, BJOG 124.13 (Dec 2017): 1928–1940
—“Reproductive rights: perspectives from a retired American obstetrician‐gynaecologist,” by Stephen S Entman, BJOG 124:13 (Dec 2017): 1941
—“The 50th Anniversary of the Abortion Act,” by David Paintin, BJOG 124:13 (Dec 2017): 1947.

“End criminal sanctions for abortion,” by Richard Hurley, BMJ 2017;359:j5409. 
Comment at BMJ.

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

JOBS

Reproductive Health Matters.  Director and Editor-in-Chief.  2-year renewable contract.   Apply by Jan 8, 2018.  RHM Director and Editor Position details.

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

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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 — Oct 2017

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DEVELOPMENTS

[Brazil, religious education] STF Conclui Julgamento Sobre Ensino Religioso nas Escolas Públicas ADI No. 4439, September 27, 2017.    The Brazilian Federal Supreme Court dismissed, by a 6 to 5 majority, a Direct Action of Unconstitutionality in which the Public Prosecutor’s Office questioned the model of religious education in the country’s public school system.  In Portuguese: Initial question.  Conclusion of Decision
English: Comment on I-CONnect Blog.

[Europe: Italy, conscientious objectors] Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro (CGIL) v. Italy (2016), Complaint No. 91/2013 (European Committee on Social Rights, Strasbourg, France)  Decision in English. 
–-which builds upon this 2014 decision:  International Planned Parenthood European Network v. Italy (2014), Complaint No. 87/2012, 10 March 2014 (European Committee on Social Rights, Strasbourg, France) Decision in English.  Both decisions summarized by Tania Pagotto.

[Kenya] – Court of Appeal acquitted Jackson Tali, a registered nurse sentenced to death on murder charges re pregnancy complications.   October 19, 2017.   Press release by the Center for Reproductive Rights  Overturns:  Republic v Jackson Namunya Tali [2014] eKLR, High Court Criminal Case No. 75 of 2009 (High Court of Kenya at Nairobi).  Overturned decision.  Overturned decision summarized in Legal Grounds III by Godfrey Kangaude and Annagrace Rwehumbiza.

[Spain, conscientious objectors] Zurich Insurance PLC, Sucursal en España v. Doña Encarnacion y don César y Servicio Galego de Saude, Sentencia 00392/2017, Apelación 43/17 (High Court of Galicia at Coruña, Spain)   Decision in Spanish.  English summary by lawyer F. F. Guillen.

[West Africa: Nigerian police abuse women] Suit no ECW/CCJ/APP/17/14. October 13, 2017, Community Court of Justice, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) awarded 18 million naira as compensation to an actress Dorothy Chioma Njemanze and two other women for the violation of their human rights to dignity following the physical, sexual and psychological violence inflicted on them by agents of the Nigerian State.  Press release from ECOWAS Court.    Newspaper report.  Comment by Benson Chakaya

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY:
Africa – Doctoral Scholarships:   LL.D/D.Phil in Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Africa:
The Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, calls for applications for full-time doctoral scholarships in the field of sexual and/or reproductive rights and their intersection with culture or criminalisation in the African region.  Apply by 15 Nov 2017 Scholarship details

SCHOLARSHIP:
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 Spanish (see next entry) and in paperback, 20% discount code PH70.  English edition from U Penn Press.  Table of Contents with chapter summaries. 
Abortion Decisions Online, based on the book’s Table of Cases

El aborto en el derecho transnacional: casos y controversias,  ed. Rebecca J. Cook, Joanna N. Erdman y Bernard M. Dickens (Mexico: FCE/CIDE, 2016)   En espanol, 2016: Fondo de Cultura Económica y  Libreria CIDE.     Índice con resúmenes de capítulos 1-11
Tabla de Casos/Jurisprudencia sobre aborto en línea con enlaces a muchas de las decisiones judiciales

[abortion] “How Laws Fail the Promise of Medical Abortion: A Global Look,” by Patty Skuster, Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law  18.379, 2017. Abstract and Article.

[abortion] “The Politics of Global Abortion Rights,”  by Joanna N. Erdman,  Brown Journal of World Affairs 22.2 (2016): 39-57.   Article online

[abortion, Central and Eastern Europe]  “Mandatory Waiting Periods and Biased Abortion Counseling in Central and Eastern Europe,” by Leah Hoctor and Adriana Lamačková, International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, 139 (Nov. 2017): 253–258.    PDF at Wiley Online Library.    Submitted text online at SSRN.

“Abortion Travel and the Limits of Choice,” by Lisa Kelly, 12 FIU L. Rev. 27 (2016).
Article online.

[Africa] “Conscientious Objection to Abortion and Accommodating Women’s Reproductive Health Rights: Reflections on a Decision of the Constitutional Court of Colombia from an African Regional Human Rights Perspective,” by Charles G. Ngwena, Journal of African Law, 58 (2014): 183-209  Article now online.

[Africa]  Legal Grounds III, Reproductive and Sexual Rights in Sub-Saharan African Courts (2017)   Entire book, 228-pages, online here.
Print copies available for courses, conferences or organizations.
Legal Grounds III Online now includes searchable links to entire book, individual case summaries and decisions, plus more recent cases.

[Zika, Brasil and Human Rights Obligations]: now in Spanish, Portuguese and English:
—“Infección por el virus de Zika en Brasil y obligaciones relacionadas con los derechos humanos,” por Debora Diniz, Sinara Gumieri, Beatriz Galli Bevilacqua, Rebecca J. Cook, y Bernard M. Dickens, Boletin FLASOG 5.2( June 2017): 6-12.
En espanol Boletin FLASOG, pp 6-12
Em português do Brasil, forthcoming in Revista Uni Brasilia Direito.
—“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.   Submitted text in English at SSRN.

NEWS

International news and resources for advocacy:  International Campaign for Women’s Right to Safe Abortion.

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 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.

Conscientious Objection: African reflections on Colombian abortion decision T-388/09, by Charles G. Ngwena

Congratulations to Charles Ngwena of the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, South Africa, whose 2014 article in the Journal of African Law is now available online.

Charles G. Ngwena. “Conscientious Objection to Abortion and AccommodatingWomen’s Reproductive Health Rights: Reflections on a Decision of the Constitutional Court of Colombia from an African Regional Human Rights Perspective. Journal of African Law, 58 (2014): 183-209  Article now online.

Abstract and Overview:  If applied in isolation from the fundamental rights of women seeking abortion services, the right to conscientious objection can render any given rights to abortion illusory, including the rights to health, life, equality and dignity that are attendant to abortion. A transformative understanding of human rights requires that the right to conscientious objection to abortion be construed in a manner that is subject to the correlative duties which are imposed on the conscientious objector, as well as the state, in order to accommodate women’s reproductive health rights. In recent years, the Colombian Constitutional Court has been giving a judicial lead on the development of a right to conscientious objection that accommodates women’s fundamental rights. This article reflects on one of the court’s decisions and draws lessons for the African region.

After reviewing the history and status of abortion restriction in Africa, and comparing approaches to conscience clauses in South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, Dr. Ngwena carefully reviews the Colombian decision in Case T-388/09 which, he concludes, “is ultimately about recognizing an overlapping consensus of the imperative of mutual co-existence in a liberal and heterogeneous society. . . .   [At the] interface between the right to conscientious objection and the right to abortion, African domestic courts and institutions can do well to look, among other juridical resources, to the Colombian decision for the development of constitutional and human rights standards that are aimed at accommodating the fundamental rights of conscientious objectors with the equally fundamental rights of women seeking abortion.  African regional treaty bodies have the same need.   . . . [In] African states, judicial interpretation has a crucial role to play in the authoritative interpretation and application of human rights protections under the African Charter system.

The Colombian decision is an important juridical resource and advocacy tool for human rights practitioners, civil society and non-governmental organisations that seek to promote women’s sexual and reproductive health,including access to abortion as a human right. In Case T-388/09, the Colombian Constitutional Court adopted a judicial approach that is gender sensitive and transcended a classical liberal interpretation of rights by avoiding the trap of enunciating abortion rights in a manner which reduces them to a mere rhetorical flourish.  Application of abortion rights requires judicial awareness that rights holders will often be unable to realize the rights in the same way for the reason that they have different capabilities and are differently situated, particularly in an environment in which gender inequalities are embedded.  Thus, imposition of state duties to provide adequate information and material resources to facilitate equitable access to healthcare services becomes a more meaningful way of vindicating abortion rights as not just tangible human rights but also human capabilities.

Abortion has a long history of being at the receiving end of moral censure by patriarchal political and religious authorities. Women remain a political minority. Unless closely interrogated, the right to conscientious objection to abortion can easily come to deny the very heterogeneity it seeks to acknowledge. Instead, it can become a Trojan horse for popular patriarchal and religious prejudices that deny women’s reproductive agency and accentuate the historical marginalization and stigmatization of reproductive healthcare services which only women need. How health care professionals understand and exercise the right to conscientious objection has implications for the realization of the reproductive rights of women seeking abortion services.

Charles G. Ngwena. “Conscientious Objection to Abortion and Accommodating

Women’s Reproductive Health Rights: Reflections on a Decision of the Constitutional Court of Colombia from an African Regional Human Rights Perspective. Journal of African Law, 58 (2014): 183-209  Article now online.

Related resources:

Colombian decision T-388/09  Corte Constitucional [Constitutional Court] 2009,  Decision in Spanish

T-388/09:  Conscientious Objection and Abortion: A Global Perspective on the Colombian Experience. (Georgetown, USA, O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law / Women’s Link Worldwide, 2014)    English | Español

 “Healthcare responsibilities and Conscientious Objection” by R. J. Cook, M. Arango Olaya and B.M. Dickens,  International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 104 (2009): 249-252. Spanish translation.
“The Scope and Limits of Conscientious Objection,” by B.M. Dickens and R. J. Cook (2000) 71 International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 71-77.

Conscientious Objection- Articles and other resources from the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program at University of Toronto, online here.

Ethical and Legal Issues in Reproductive Health – 80 concise articles.

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The REPROHEALTHLAW BLOG is managed by 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.

Strategic litigation for abortion rights in Latin America

Congratulations to Dr. Alba M. Ruibal, a researcher with Argentina’s National Scientific and Technical Research Council (Conicet) who is currently working on a project about federalism and feminist legal mobilization at the subnational level in Argentina, including litigation for abortion rights.  We appreciate her excellent article, recently published in English:

“Social movements and constitutional politics in Latin America: reconfiguring alliances, framings and legal opportunities in the judicialisation of abortion rights in Brazil,” Contemporary Social Science 10.4(2015): 375-385,  Publication access via academic libraries.  Open access to submitted text.

Abstract:  One of the main innovations in the interaction between social movements and the state in Latin America since the democratisation processes is the use of courts as venues for social change and the intervention of social actors in constitutional politics. Drawing from the empirical study of the process of strategic litigation for abortion rights in Brazil, this paper aims to show what type of changes can take place when social actors set out to pursue a legal strategy on a highly controversial matter, and in a transitional context, where courts are in the midst of a redefinition of their institutional role in the political system, and movements have not yet been central actors in judicialisation processes. The study highlights how feminist organisations adapted their framing of the abortion issue and developed new alliances with legal actors in order to pursue a rights strategy and to interact with the constitutional court. It also points out how, when dealing with the abortion controversy, the Brazilian constitutional court (Supremo Tribunal Federal) expanded the legal opportunity for the participation of civil society actors and, in its 2012 decision that liberalised the abortion law, acknowledged the legal arguments advanced by social actors in this field.   Published edition, online via academic libraries.  Open access to submitted text.     More about the author. 

Several of Dr. Ruibal’s earlier publications on abortion law strategy in Latin America are available online through SSRN:

“Reform and Backlash in Mexico’s Abortion Law: Political and Legal Opportunities for Mobilization and Countermobilization,”(2014)  English abstract and conference  paper.  
—See also: Feminism, Religion and Democracy in the Process of Abortion Legalization in Mexico City (2012)  Spanish article online, with abstracts in Spanish and English.

“Movement and Counter-Movement: A History of Abortion Law Reform and the Backlash in Colombia 2006-2014” English article and abstract online.

[Legal Mobilization and Counter-Mobilization. Proposal for Its Analysis in Latin America] (2015)  Spanish article online with abstracts in Spanish and English.

[Feminism Counters Religious Fundamentalisms: Mobilization and Counter-Mobilization in the Field of Reproductive Rights in Latin America](2014) focusing on the cases of Brasil, Colombia and Mexico  Portuguese article, and abstracts in Portuguese, Spanish and English.   Spanish translation of article.

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Regarding the Brazilian decision of 2012, mentioned in Dr. Ruibal’s abstract, see also: Luís Roberto Barroso, “Bringing Abortion into the Brazilian Public Debate: Legal Strategies for Anencephalic Pregnancy,” chapter 12 in Abortion Law in Transnational Perspective: Cases and Controversies (U Penn Press, 2014)  258-78.  English edition.   Spanish paperback from FCE, 2016.
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REPROHEALTHLAW: Updates, Resources and News

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LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS:

Ireland: Detailed guidelines on legal abortion released: Termination permitted when there is “real and substantial threat” to a woman’s life – News article July 2014.

Kenya:  High Court:  Police should investigate child sexual assaults.   C.K. (a child) (Through Ripples International As Her Guardian And Next Friend) & 11 Others  v.  Commissioner of Police/Inspector General of the National Police Service,  & 3 Others [2013] eKLR  Decision online.  Summary by law student.

Peru adopts National Guidelines, an important step to clarify rights to safe abortion services, in response to CEDAW “LC” decision of 2011.  News  July 2014.  Center for Reproductive Rights press release.

Zimbabwe Supreme Court finds State liable for preventing emergency contraception after rape but not termination of pregnancy.  Mildred Mapingure v Minister of Home Affairs, No. SC 22/14, 25 March 2014, Supreme Court of Zimbabwe.  Court  Decision online.    Summary by law student.

EVENTS:

“Overcoming Obstacles – Towards the effective implementation of the rights of women with disabilities in Africa, Conference at the Center for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, South Africa, Tues/Wed Nov 4-5, 2014.  Conference invitation.

FIGO World Congress 2015, Vancouver, BC,  Canada,  Oct 4-9, 2015 .  Congress 2015 website

RESOURCES:

[abortion, Brazil]  “Modern-Day Inquisition: A Report on Criminal Persecution, Exposure of Intimacy and Violation of Rights in Brazil,” by Alexandra Lopes da Costa, in: SUR – International Journal On Human Rights, 10.19, Dec. 2013. Abstract and article online.

Abortion Law in Transnational Perspective:  Cases and Controversies, ed. Rebecca J. Cook, Joanna N. Erdman and Bernard M. Dickens, 16 chapters.  Published by University of Pennsylvania Press, August 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 Privacy/Abortion Secrecy – What’s the Difference and Why Does It Matter?””  video guest-lecture by US professor Carol Sanger at Birmingham Law School, UK, April 29, 2014, 53 minute lecture by Prof. Sanger.
Written comment by Prof. Máiréad Enright on the Human Rights in Ireland blog, June 6, 2014.  Written comment by Prof. Enright

[adolescents – El Salvador, Senegal and United Kingdom]  Over-protected and under-served: Legal barriers to young people’s access to sexual and reproductive health services.  Case studies 32-60 pages each.

[Canada]  “Choice, Interrupted: Travel and Inequality of Access to Abortion Services Since the 1960s,” Christabelle Sethna, Beth Palmer, Katrina Ackerman, and Nancy Janovicek, Labour/Le Travail, 71 (Spring 2013), 29-48.  Abstract and article online.

[Colombia]  Case Study on Colombia: Judicial Standards on Abortion to Advance the Agenda of the Cairo Programme of Action, by Ana Cristina González Vélez and Viviana Bohórquez Monsalve, SUR – International Journal On Human Rights, v. 10, n. 19, Dec. 2013.  Abstract and article online.

[Colombia]  “Movement and Counter-Movement: A History of Abortion Law Reform and Backlash in Colombia, 2006-2014” by Alba Ruibal,  (November 20, 2014). Reproductive Health Matters, Vol. 22, No. 44, November 2014, Forthcoming. Abstract online.

[Conscientious objection in healthcare – Colombia Constitutional Court’s definition of 2009]
—-T388/2009:  “Conscientious Objection And Abortion. A Global Perspective On The Colombian Experience,”   English, 198 pages    Spanish, 210 pages    (Joint publication by Women’s Link Worldwide and the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law.

—“Striking a Balance: Conscientious Objection and Reproductive Health Care from the Colombian Perspective,”  by Luisa Cabal, Monica Arango Olaya, Valentina Montoya Robledo,  Health and Human Rights Dec.  2014, 16/2.  Special issue on Health Rights Litigation.   Abstract and article online.

—see also:  “Healthcare responsibilities and Conscientious Objection” by R. J. Cook, M. Arango Olaya and B.M. Dickens,  International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 104 (2009): 249-252. English original.   Spanish translation.  Other “Ethical and Legal Issues in Reproductive Health”

[emergency contraception, Chile] “Morning-After Decisions: Legal Mobilization against Emergency Contraception in Chile,” by Fernando Muñoz León,  Michigan Journal of Gender and Law 21(2014):123-175.  Article online.

Health and Human Rights Resource Guide – updated 5th edition, from Harvard University. Searchable, available in English, Spanish and Georgian.  Resource Guide.

Health & Human Rights Syllabi Database has moved to USC:  Overview online.

[Late-stage clinical trials]  “Ethical issues for late-stage trials of multipurpose prevention technologies for HIV and pregnancy,” by Jessica A. Cohen, Anna C. Mastroianni and Ruth Macklin,  International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 127 (2014) 221–224.  Abstract and article online.

[Sexual and Gender-based Crimes]:  Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda of International Criminal Court publishes comprehensive Policy Paper.  More info and download.

[South Africa] “The Nasciturus Non-Fiction – The Libby Gonen Story – Contemporary Reflections on the Status of Nascitural Personhood in South African Law, by Marc Schulman (March 31, 2014 working paper).  Abstract and article online. 

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

NEWS:

Czech Republic: Controversial abortion pill (RU-486) goes on sale in Czech pharmacies.  English edition and Czech radio report.

Northern Ireland:  Public consultation on proposal to allow abortion for fetus with lethal abnormality  Newspaper article

JOBS / INTERNSHIPS

Global Legal Program 2015 Summer Internship at New York office- apply as soon as possible, before Nov 28, 2014 applications accepted on rolling basis.  Global internship details.

Legal Adviser for Latin America and the Caribbean, Bogota Colombia, Legal adviser LAC details.

US Federal Policy Law Student Intern, Center for Reproductive Rights, New York, USA.   Apply for Spring 2015 by Oct. 29, 2014  US internship details

Links to other employers in the field of Reproductive and Sexual Health Law are online here http://www.law.utoronto.ca/documents/reprohealth/joblinks.doc

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.