Mexico: Bioethics training in Reproductive Health

“After Mexican Catholic institutions reframed their theological teachings, particularly on reproductive health, as “bioethics,” a movement restoring secular bioethics now provides alternative sources of bioethics education.”

Congratulations and thanks to Gustavo Ortiz-Millán and Frances Kissling, whose article has just been published in “Ethical and Legal Issues in Reproductive Health” series of the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Gustavo Ortiz-Millán is affiliated with the Institute for Philosophical Research at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), and Frances Kissling is President of the Center for Health, Ethics and Social Policy, based in Washington D.C. We are pleased to circulate the following abstract and links:

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

Abstract: Bioethical approaches to reproductive health have been of utmost importance for the last three decades in Mexico. As Mexican laws regarding abortion, assisted reproduction, and conscientious objection have been modified, a number of social actors with an interest in these areas have realized that they have to educate the different agents who take part in these procedures in a bioethical approach to reproductive health and rights. This strategy was first used in Mexico by the Catholic Church and many Catholic universities. Advocates, scientists and feminist organizations, as well as some public universities, have also realized that grounding in bioethics could strengthen health providers’ comfort with abortion. Bioethics is also a good framework for supporting the legalization of abortion and for more liberal laws regarding assisted reproduction. So, for the last few years, one of the priorities of these two sides has been to train healthcare personnel, lawyers, and members of ethics committees and members of Congress in the application of their respective bioethical perspectives.
PDF as published, available at Wiley Online for 12 months. 
Submitted Text at SSRN thereafter. 

RELATED RESOURCES

This article is also forthcoming in Spanish in: Bioética y derechos reproductivos de las mujeres en México, ed. Lourdes Enríquez Rosas, María del Pilar González Barreda and Arturo Sotelo Gutiérrez.  (FCE and UNAM, 2021).

FIGO Introduction to Principles and Practice of Bioethics: Case Studies in Women’s Health (2012)   Table of Contents.
Curriculum in English- download PDF. Curriculum en Espanol- descargar PDF.

Ethical and Legal Issues in Reproductive Health – 99 concise articles online.
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Compiled by: the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, reprohealth*law at utoronto.ca.   See Program website for our Publications,  Research resources, and Reprohealthlaw Commentaries Series.  TO JOIN THE REPROHEALTHLAW BLOG: enter your email address in the upper right corner of our blog, then check your email to confirm the subscription Curriculum in English.

REPROHEALTHLAW Updates – Nov/Dec. 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:
Canada (Ontario): Christian Medical and Dental Society of Canada v. College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, 2019 ONCA 393, Doc. no. C65397, Decision of May 15, 2019. (Canada: Ontario Court of Appeal)  Decision online.  Case summary by Bernard M. Dickens.

Ecuador:  National Assembly fails to decriminalize abortion for rape victims. Guardian newspaper report.

[U.S. – conscience]  Federal Judge holds Trump-Backed ‘Conscience Rule’ for Health Workers unconstitutional. Nov. 6, 2019  Washington Post Report.

SCHOLARSHIP:

[abortion and miscarriage] “The Law and Ethics of Fetal Burial Requirements for Reproductive Health Care,” by Dov Fox, I. Glenn Cohen and Eli Y. Adashi, JAMA 322. 14(Oct 8, 2019): 1347-8. Abstract and institutional access.

[abortion law, Ireland] “Intersectionality, Repeal, and Reproductive Rights in Ireland,” by Fiona de Londras, forthcoming in: Shreya Atrey and Peter Dunne (eds), Intersectionality and Human Rights, Abstract and chapter.

[conscience] Abortion Care in Ireland: Developing Legal and Ethical Frameworks for Conscientious Provision, by Mary Donnelly and Claire Murray, International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 148 (Jan. 2020): 127–132. PDF at Wiley Online for 12 months.  Abstract and article on SSRN.

European Abortion Laws: A Comparative Overview, Center for Reproductive Rights, Nov. 2019. 9-page Fact Sheet,

Feminist Judgments in International Law, ed. Loveday Hodson and Troy Lavers (Oxford: Hart, 2019), 279-302 (511 pages). Publisher’s abstract. About feminist rewrite of ECtHR’s A, B. & C v. Ireland.

[homosexuality] “Nigerian High Court avoided constitutional scrutiny of anti-gay laws : Mr. Teriah Joseph Ebah v. Federal Republic of Nigeria (2014),” Legal Grounds III: Reproductive and Sexual Rights in Sub-Saharan African Courts, Reprohealthlaw Blog, Dec. 10, 2019 Decision online.    6-page Case Comment by Ovye Affi.

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.

Abortion Care in Ireland: Legal and Ethical Frameworks for Conscientious Provision

Congratulations to Professors Mary Donnelly and Claire Murray of University College Cork’s Law Faculty, for their new publication in the “Ethical and Legal Issues in Reproductive Health” section of the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics. We are pleased to cite their abstract below:

Mary Donnelly and Claire Murray, “Abortion Care in Ireland: Developing Legal and Ethical Frameworks for Conscientious Provision,”   International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Jan. 2020; 148: 127–132.  DOI: 10.1002/ijgo.13025. PDF online for 12 months.   Abstract and Submitted Text.

This article celebrates the remarkable changes which have occurred in the provision of abortion care in Ireland following the vote to remove the restrictive Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of Ireland in May 2018. However, it also identifies ways in which the emerging legal, ethical and clinical landscape is still impeding the conscientious provision of abortion care. It argues that in order to address these impediments, more attention needs to be paid to the ethical context for conscientious provision. This requires political leadership as well as ongoing leadership by professional bodies to develop both the clinical and the ethical guidance for conscientious provision.

Key Words: Abortion, Abortion law reform, Conscientious provision of abortion, Ethical guidance for conscientious abortion provision, Ireland

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The full text is available online. PDF online for 12 months.      Abstract and Submitted Text on SSRN.

Ethical and Legal Issues in Reproductive Health – 90+ concise articles.

Conscientious Objection / The Right to Conscience, updated May 9 2019 Annotated Bibliography 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.

“Post-abortion care: Ethical and Legal duties”

Congratulations and thanks to Bernard M. Dickens, Professor Emeritus of Health Law and Policy at the University of Toronto’s law school, whose concise article about the new FIGO guideline has just appeared in the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics‘ special section on Ethical and Legal Issues in Reproductive Health. We are pleased to circulate the author’s abstract:

“Post abortion care: Ethical and Legal duties,” International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 147 (Nov. 2019) 273-275   PDF at Wiley Online for 12 months.    Submitted text at SSRN

Abstract: Women who experience complications from abortion, whether unlawful or lawful, induced or spontaneous, need immediate post-abortion care. Delay in providing care might cause women’s avoidable disability, lost childbearing capacity, or death. Rendering care is not an abortion procedure nor illegal, and does not justify conscientious objection. Harm reduction strategies to reduce effects of unsafe abortion may legitimately inform women who might consider resort to abortifacient interventions of their rights to professional post-abortion care. Healthcare practitioners’ refusal or failure to provide available care might constitute ethical misconduct and attract legal liability, for instance for negligence. States are responsible to ensure healthcare practitioners’ and facilities’ provision of post-abortion care, including both medical care and psychological support, delivered with compassion and respect for dignity, and to suppress stigmatization of patients and/or caregivers. Mandatory reporting of patients suspected of criminal abortion violates professional confidentiality. States’ failures of indicated care might constitute human rights violations.

KEYWORDS: Abortion; Conscientious objection; Induced abortion; Lawful abortion; Post-abortion care; Spontaneous abortion; State responsibility.

PDF at Wiley Online for 12 months.    Submitted text at SSRN

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RELEVANT RESOURCES:
FIGO Committee Statement: “Ethical responsibilities in post‐abortion care,” International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 146. 3 (Sept 2019): 269-270. FIGO Post-abortion care Guidelines.

The Philippines’ new post-abortion care policy, by Melissa Upreti and Jihan Jacob, International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 141.2 (May 2018): 268-275  PDF at Wiley online.  Submitted text online at SSRN.  

“The Philippines rolls back recent advancements in Postabortion Care policy” by Melissa Upreti and Jihan Jacob, International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 142 (August 2018): 255–256 PDF at Wiley online.  Submitted text at SSRN.
____________________
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.

Human rights impact of gender stereotyping in reproductive health care

Congratulations and thanks to Ciara O’Connell of the University of Pretoria’s Centre for Human Rights, and Christina Zampas,  a Fellow in the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program of the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law, whose co-authored article was recently published in the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics:

“The human rights impact of gender stereotyping in the context of reproductive health care,” by Ciara O’Connell and Christina Zampas,  International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 144 (2019):  116–121.  PDF online here.

Abstract:
Gender stereotypes surrounding women’s reproductive health impede women’s access to essential reproductive healthcare and contribute to inequality more generally. Stereotyping in healthcare settings impedes women’s access to contraceptive information, services, and induced abortion, and lead to involuntary interventions in the context of sterilization. Decisions by human rights monitoring bodies, such as the Inter‐American Court of Human Rights’ case, IV v. Bolivia, which was a case concerned with the involuntary sterilization of a woman during childbirth, highlight how stereotypes in the context of providing health care can operate to strip women of their agency and decision‐making authority, deny them their right to informed consent, reinforce gender hierarchies and violate their reproductive rights. In the present article, IV v. Bolivia is examined as a case study with the objective being to highlight how, in the context of coercive sterilization, human rights law has been used to advance legal and ethical guidelines, including the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics’ (FIGO) own guidelines, on gender stereotyping and reproductive healthcare. The Inter‐American Court’s judgment in IV v. Bolivia illustrates the important role FIGO’s guidance can play in shaping human rights standards and provides guidance on the service provider’s role and responsibility in eliminating gender stereotypes and upholding and fulfilling human rights.

KEYWORDS

Ethical standards; FIGO guidelines; Forced sterilization; Human rights; Human rights law;  Informed consent; Inter-American Court of Human Rights; Stereotypes.

The published article is 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 – Sept 2018

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

[UN – CEDAW and CRPD] “Guaranteeing sexual and reproductive health and rights for all women, in particular women with disabilities,”   Joint statement by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), 29 August 2018.  Decriminalize abortion, repeal discriminatory health policies and abortion laws that perpetuate deep-rooted stereotypes and stigma and undermine women’s reproductive autonomy and choice.    PDF online.

CALL FOR PAPERS:

“The Impact of Politics on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights,” for publication in Reproductive Health Matters, May 2019.  Submissions due October 31, 2018.  RHM Call for papers

SCHOLARSHIP:

[abortion law – Brazil]    “Brazilian Supreme Court Public Hearing on the Decriminalization of Abortion:   Antecedents, Contents, Meanings” by Sonia Corrêa  (published by Sexuality Policy Watch, 2018)  27 pages PDF     Direct download.

[abortion law – Brazil]  Testimony by Prof. Rebecca Cook . . .against Unsafe Abortion in the Public Hearing of the Brazilian Supreme Court, caso ADPF 442, Brasilia, August 3, 2018.   English original.    em Portugues do Brasil.   Testimonio – Espanol traducido por CLACAI (Consorcio Latinoamericano contra el aborto inseguro).    Uno otro en Espanol.  

[abortion law – El Salvador] “Physicians’ Challenges under El Salvador’s Criminal Abortion Prohibition,” by Alyson Zureick, Amber Khan, Angeline Chen and Astrid Reyes. forthcoming International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, October2018  Early view PDF.   Submitted text online at SSRN.

[abortion law – Malawi] “The Duty to make abortion law transparent:  A Malawi case study,”  by Godfrey Dalitso Kangaude and Chisale Mhango, forthcoming International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics,     Early view PDF.

Abortion Law in Transnational Perspective: Cases and Controversies, ed. Rebecca Cook, Joanna Erdman and Bernard Dickens (Philadelphia: Univ. Pennsylvania Press, 2014) 20% discount code is PH70.  Abstracts of all 16 chapters.   Spanish edition by FCE/CIDE – 16 abstracts.  Abortion Decisions: Table of Cases in English and Spanish.

[abortion policy] “The Philippines rolls back advancements in the postabortion care policy,” by Melissa Upreti and Jihan Jacob,  International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 142 (August 2018): 255–256.   PDF online.  Submitted text  at SSRN.

[abortion policies] “Access to knowledge and the Global Abortion  Policies Database,”  by Joanna N. Erdman and Brooke Ronald Johnson Jr.  International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, July 2018; 142: 120–124   PDF at Wiley online.   Submitted text at SSRN.

[Africanness, including sexuality],  What is Africanness?: Contesting nativism in culture, race and sexualities, peer-reviewed book by Charles G. Ngwena (Pretoria University Law Press, 2018) 306 pages.  “Part 3: Heterogeneous Sexualities” – chapter abstracts.    Entire book open access at PULP.     Table of Contents.   Overview, Comments from scholars,  PDFs of all chapters.   Podcast on African Rights Talk (2019) 

[Brazil – obstetric care, maternal mortality /morbidity, Alyne case]  “Implementing international human rights recommendations to improve obstetric care in Brazil,” by Alicia E Yamin, Beatriz Galli and Sandra Valongueiro.   International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 143.1 (October 2018): 114-120    Abstract online in English and Portuguese. English PDF for institutional subscribers.

[CEDAW]”The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women” by Rebecca J. Cook and Cusack, Simone Cusack.  In Tara Van Ho and Nigel Rodley, eds, Research Handbook on Human Rights Institutions and Enforcement (Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd, Forthcoming).  Submitted text archived online.

[conscience]  Unconscionable: When Providers Deny Abortion Care  Report of the International Women’s Health Coalition, 2018, based on the first global meeting on the topic of “conscientious objection,” held in Montevideo, Uruguay in August 2017.    8-page report.

[intersex, gender] “Management of intersex newborns: Legal and ethical developments,” by Bernard M. Dickens, forthcoming International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, 2018.   Early View PDF.

[self-managed abortion] “Understandings of self-managed abortion as health inequity, harm reduction and social change,” by Joanna N. Erdman, Kinga Jelinska and Susan Yanow. Forthcoming in Reproductive Health Matters. Early view PDF.

[strategic litigation] Seeking Social Change in the Courts: Tools for Strategic Advocacy, by Mónica Roa with Barbara Klugman (Women’s Link Worldwide, 2018) practical tool for advocates from all social justice fields who are interested in using the courts and understanding “strategic litigation”  160 pages, PDF online..

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHIES:

“The Right to Conscience” – An Annotated Bibliography.   (Toronto: International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program,
Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, 2018)  Conscience bibliography

Indications for abortion: new annotated bibliographies:

• Fetal Anomaly:  Annotated Bibliography on legal aspects of fetal anomaly and their implications for counseling, service delivery and abortion laws and policies (Toronto: International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, 2018).  Fetal anomaly bibliography
• Rape-related abortion:  Legal and policy dimensions of rape-related abortion services (Court decisions, Treaty resources, policy guidance and publications. ) (Toronto: International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, 2018).  Rape or Incest bibliography 
  
• Causal Violacion y/o incesto:  Selección de doctrina y jurisprudencia latinoamericanas sobre Causal violación y/o incesto en casos de aborto (Rape or Incest bibliography in Spanish)  (Toronto: El Programa Internacional de Derecho en Salud Sexual y Reproductivas Facultad de Derecho, Universidad de Toronto, 2018)

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.

 

Physicians’ Challenges under El Salvador’s Criminal Abortion Prohibition

Congratulations to Alyson Zureick and her colleagues Amber Khan, Angeline Chen and Astrid Reyes at New York University for their new publication in the Ethical and Legal Issues section of the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics.  A PDF of the published text is now online.  We are pleased to circulate the abstract to REPROHEALTHLAW subscribers.

Alyson Zureick, Amber Khan, Angeline Chen and Astrid Reyes “Physicians’ Challenges under El Salvador’s Criminal Abortion Prohibition.” International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 143 (Oct. 2018) : 121–126.
Early view PDF online.   Submitted text  at SSRN.

El Salvador’s criminal abortion law—one of the few in the world that prohibits all abortions and that is actively enforced against women—harms women’s health and undermines the ethical duties of Salvadoran physicians and the standing of the medical profession. Under the criminal abortion regime, physicians are incentivized to disclose their patients’ confidential medical information, in violation of their ethical duties, and public health care facilities have become sites of criminal investigation. These investigations target women not only for illegal abortions but also for miscarriages and obstetric emergencies. The ban further prevents physicians from providing medical care that is often necessary to preserve a woman’s life or health. Finally, by criminalizing women’s pregnancy outcomes, the regime undermines the country’s recent public health improvement efforts and compounds the marginalization of women and girls from its most vulnerable communities, in violation of the state’s international human rights obligations.

Keywords: Abortion legislation; Criminalization, El Salvador, International human rights, Medical ethics, Reproductive health, Public hospitals.

Full text PDF is now accessible:   Early view PDF online.

Submitted text  can be downloaded through SSRN.

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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.

The Philippines rolls back advances in postabortion care policy

Many thanks to Melissa Upreti and Jihan Jacob for their update on Philippine post-abortion care policy, published in the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics.  We are pleased to circulate the reference and abstract:

Melissa Upreti and Jihan Jacob, “The Philippines rolls back advancements in the postabortion care policy,”  International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics August 2018; 142: 255–256.   PDF online.   Submitted text  at SSRN.

Abstract:  In 2018, the Philippines announced a postabortion care policy that rolls back crucial
safeguards aimed at protecting women who seek medical treatment for postabortion
complications from discrimination and abuse. It replaces another policy that was introduce in 2016, following years of advocacy by national and international advocates who were concerned about the mistreatment of women seeking postabortion care due to discriminatory practices in the health system and abortion stigma. The new policy is narrower in scope than the previous policy and reinforces abortion stigma by emphasizing the legal prohibition on abortion, failing to clarify that women seeking postabortion care need not be reported to the authorities, and not recognizing the availability of complaint mechanisms for women who are mistreated. These and other crucial gaps put the new policy at risk of being in violation of ethical standards of medical care and guarantees of human rights.

KEYWORDS
Abortion; Criminal behavior; Discrimination; Ethical standards; Mistreatment of patients;  Philippines policy reform; Postabortion care; Stigma.

Full text:    PDF online.   Submitted text  at SSRN.:

Previous article: “The Philippines’ New Postabortion Care Policy,” by Melissa Upreti and Jihan Jacob.   International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 141.2 (May 2018): 268-275.  PDF at Wiley online.  Submitted text online at SSRN.

RELATED RESOURCES

Publications by Philippine NGOs: EnGendeRights and Pinsan, the Philippine Safe Abortion Advocacy Network  Philippines postabortion care policy resources.

Saving Women’s Lives:   National Policy on the Prevention and Management of Abortion Complications (DOH AO No. 2016-0041)   Frequently Asked Questions, by EnGenderRights and PINSAN, Dec 2017.  Download 36 pages.

Policy Brief: Access to Safe and Legal Abortion and Post-Abortion Care Can Save
Filipino Women’s Lives, by Clara Rita Padilla  (EnGendeRights, December 2016).

Fact Sheets:  “Safe and Legal Abortion Saves Women’s Lives”  by Clara Rita Padilla (EnGendeRights, Dec. 2016):
1.  Public Health Concerns and Social Costs of Lack of Access to Safe and Legal Abortion and Post-Abortion Care.    Fact Sheet 1
2. Liberalizing Abortion Laws Will Save Women’s Lives: Asian, Predominantly Catholic Countries, and Former Spanish colonies Allowing safe and Legal Abortion; The Philippine Constitution Allows Access to Safe and Legal Abortion  Fact Sheet 2.
3. Philippine Constitutional Guarantees, Comparative Law, International and Regional Human Rights Standards Support the Right to Safe and Legal Abortion.  Fact sheet 3.

Ethical and Legal Issues in Reproductive Health – 86+ concise articles published in the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics.  Ethical/Legal articles.

______________
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 – August 2018

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

DEVELOPMENTS:

Argentina:  Abortion Bill approved by Chamber of Deputies June 14, 2018, and narrowly rejected by Senate (38 to 31) August 9, 2018.  26 speakers at hearings July 31, 2018, included Argentine lawyer Mercedes Cavallo, a doctoral student at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law.  Cavallo oral argument (video).  Cavallo editorial.   New York Times article.

Brazil: Supreme Court Considers Decriminalizing Abortion.  Public Hearings held August 3-6, 2018.  New York Times article.

Mexico’s newly elected government announces plan to decriminalize abortion in first trimester, nationwide.   EFE News report.

CALL FOR PAPERS:

“The Impact of Politics on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights,” for publication in Reproductive Health Matters, May 2019.  Submissions due October 31, 2018.
RHM Call for papers

SCHOLARSHIP:

[abortion] “Access to knowledge and the Global Abortion  Policies Database,”  by Joanna N. Erdman and Brooke Ronald Johnson Jr.  International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics  2018; 142: 120–124   PDF – Wiley online.

[abortion law, Latin America] El aborto en América Latina: Estrategias jurídicas para luchar por su legalización y enfrentar las resistencias conservadoras, por Paola Bergallo, Isabel Cristina Jaramillo Sierra y Juan Marco Vaggione, compiladores,  Buenos Aires: Siglo Veintiuno y RED ALAS, 2018. Libro de 482-paginas en linea.

[abortion law] “From Ireland to Northern Ireland: campaigns for abortion law,” by Angel Li,  The Lancet 391 (10138), 16–22 June 2018, Pages 2403-2404.  Article online.

[abortion law] “Abortion law reform: Why ethical intractability and maternal morbidity are grounds for decriminalisation,” by Andrew McGee, Melanie Jansen and Sally Sheldon. ANZJOG,  Article early view online.

[abortion law] “The paradox of access – abortion law, policy and misoprostol” by Karen Marie Moland, Haldis Haukanes, Getnet Tadele, Astrid Blystad, Tidsskriftet den Norske Legeforening 2:23 January 2018, Article online.

[abortion law, Ireland] “Reproductive Justice in Ireland: A Feminist Analysis of the Neary and Halappanavar Cases,” by Joan McCarthy,  in: Mary Donnelly and Claire Murray, eds., Ethical and Legal Debates in Irish Healthcare: Confronting Complexities (Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 2016).  Book information.    Submitted Text online.

Abortion Law in Transnational Perspective: Cases and Controversies, ed. Rebecca Cook, Joanna Erdman and Bernard Dickens (Philadelphia: Univ. Pennsylvania Press, 2014) 20% discount code is PH70.  Abstracts of 16 chapters.   Spanish edition by FCE/CIDE – 16 abstracts.  Abortion Decisions: Table of Cases in English and Spanish.

[conscientious objection, Mexico] “Abortion and conscientious objection: rethinking conflicting rights in the Mexican context,” by  Gustavo Ortiz-Millán, Global Bioethics 29.1 (2018) 15 pages,  Early view online.

“The Right to Conscience” – An Annotated Bibliography.   (Toronto: International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program,
Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, 2018)  .Conscientious Objection bibliography:  The Right to Conscience

Indications for abortion: new annotated bibliographies:

• Annotated Bibliography on legal aspects of fetal anomaly and their implications for counseling, service delivery and abortion laws and policies (Toronto: International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, 2018).  Fetal anomaly bibliography
• Legal and policy dimensions of rape-related abortion services (Court decisions, Treaty resources, policy guidance and publications. ) (Toronto: International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, 2018).  Rape or Incest bibliography 
  
• Selección de doctrina y jurisprudencia latinoamericanas sobre Causal violación y/o incesto en casos de aborto (Rape or Incest bibliography in Spanish)  (Toronto: El Programa Internacional de Derecho en Salud Sexual y Reproductivas Facultad de Derecho, Universidad de Toronto, 2018)

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.

 

 

 

 

Uganda: Harm reduction model for access to safe abortion

Congratulations and thanks to Moses Mulumba and his colleagues at the Center for Health, Human Rights and Development (CEHURD) in Kampala for collaborating with Dr. Charles Kiggundu, a gynecologist and obstetrician, on a newly published article in the Legal and Ethical Issues section of the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics.

“Access to safe abortion in Uganda: Leveraging Opportunities through the Harm Reduction Model” by Moses Mulumba, Charles Kiggundu, Jacqueline Nassimbwa and Noor Musisi Nakibuuka, International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 138 (August 2017): 231–236.  PDF free online for 12 months.  Submitted text  online at SSRN.

Access to safe and legal abortion services is a far reach for women and girls in Uganda. Although unsafe abortion rates have fallen from 54 to 39 per 1000 women aged 15-45 years over a decade, absolute figures show a rise from 294 000 in 2003 to 314,000 women having unsafe abortions in 2013.  Unfortunately, only 50% of the women who develop abortion complications are able to reach facilities for post-abortion care.  Despite the clinical evidence and the stories from undocumented cases, debate on access to safer and legal abortion is constricted, moralized, and stigmatized.  The harm reduction model has shown evidence of benefit in reducing maternal mortality and morbidity due to unsafe abortion while addressing related stigma and discrimination and advancing women’s reproductive health rights.  This article presents a case for promoting the model in Uganda.

Key words:  Abortion laws; Abortion policies and guidelines; Constitutional rights; Ethics; Harm reduction model; Human rights; Ugandan abortion law; Unsafe abortion