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.

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

New book: Advancing SRH and Rights in Africa

Congratulations to Ebenezer Durojaye, Gladys Mirugi-Mukundi, and Charles Ngwena, whose co-edited book, was recently published by Routledge. Ebenezer Durojaye is Professor and Head of the Socio-Economic Rights Project at the Dullah Omar Institute, University of the Western Cape, South Africa; Gladys Mirugi-Mukundi is a researcher in the same project; and Charles Ngwena is Professor of Law, Center for Human Rights, University of Pretoria. We are pleased to circulate the abstract and Table of Contents of this open-access book, showing the wide range of authors and subjects covered.

Ebenezer Durojaye, Gladys Mirugi-Mukundi and Charles Ngwena, eds., Advancing Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Africa: Constraints and Opportunities (Routledge, 2021), 268 pages. Entire book is online and downloadable.

This book explores recent developments, constraints and opportunities relating to the advancement of sexual and reproductive health and rights in Africa.

Despite many positive developments in relation to sexual and reproductive health in recent years, many Africans still encounter challenges, for instance in poor maternity services, living with HIV, and discrimination on the basis of age, gender, sexual orientation or identity. Covering topics such as abortion, gender identity, adolescent sexuality and homosexuality, the chapters in this book discuss the impact of culture, morality and social beliefs on the enjoyment of sexual and reproductive health and rights across the continent, particularly in relation to vulnerable and marginalized groups. The book also explores the role of litigation, national human rights institutions and regional human rights bodies in advancing the realization of sexual and reproductive health and rights in the region. Throughout, the contributions highlight the relevance of a rights-based framework in addressing topical and contentious issues on sexual and reproductive health and rights within Sub-Saharan Africa. This book will therefore be of interest to researchers of sexuality, civil rights and health in Africa.

The Open Access version of this book, available online here, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
Ebenezer Durojaye, Gladys Mirugi-Mukundi and Charles Ngwena

2. Abortion and ‘conscientious objection’ in South Africa: The need for regulation
Satang Nabaneh

3. Addressing Maternal Mortality through decriminalizing abortion in Nigeria: Asking the “Woman Question”
Ibrahim Obadina

4. Mainstreaming the ‘Abortion Question’ into the Right to Health in Uganda
Robert Nanima

5. Barriers to Access to Contraceptives for Adolescent Girls in Rural Zimbabwe as a Human Rights Challenge
Michelle Rufaro Maziwisa

6. It Takes Two to Tango! – The Relevance and Dilemma of Involving Men in the Realisation of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Africa
Sibusiso Mkwananzi

7. Positive Approaches to Childhood Sexuality and Transforming Gender Norms in Malawi
Godfrey Dalitso Kangaude

8. Addressing Female Genital Cutting/Mutilation (FGC/M) in The Gambia: Beyond Criminalisation
Ebenezer Durojaye and Satang Nabaneh

9. In Search of a Middle Ground: Addressing Cultural and Religious Influences on the Criminalisation of Homosexuality in Nigeria
Adetoun T Adebanjo

10. A Case for Removing Barriers to Legal Recognition of Transgender Persons in Botswana
Kutlwano Pearl Magashula

11. Advancing the Rights of Sexual and Gender Minorities under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: The Journey to Resolution 275
Berry D. Nibogora

12. Lessons from Litigating for Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights in Southern Africa
Tambudzai Gonese-Manjonjo and Ebenezer Durojaye

13. Experiences from the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights KNCHR) on the Promotion and Protection of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
Shatikha S. Chivusia

14. Monitoring implementation of the sexual and reproductive health and rights of adolescent children: the role of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
Ayalew Getachew Assefa

Open Access Book:
Read Full Book – Open Access Opens in new tab or window

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

REPROHEALTHLAW Updates – Winter 2021

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Zimbabwe: High Court upholds Transgender persons’ constitutional rights

Many thanks to Keikantse Phele, a Botswana based Human Rights lawyer and LL.M. graduate in Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Africa, at the Centre for Human Rights of the University of Pretoria’s Faculty of Law. Her summary and analysis of this pioneering decision has just been published among the online updates to co-published third volume of case summaries, Legal Grounds: Reproductive and Sexual Rights in Sub-Saharan African Courts. We are pleased to circulate brief excerpts:

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

COURT HOLDING: The Plaintiff, a transgender woman, was awarded damages of 400,000 ZWD, for unlawful and malicious arrest during which she was subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment, which violated her fundamental and constitutional rights.

SIGNIFICANCE: After summarizing the facts of the Plaintiff’s ordeal and the Court’s analysis of violated constitutional rights, human rights lawyer Keikantse Phele concludes that “Overall, the case contributes to the gradual progress and improvement of transgender persons’ rights in the African continent.” “The Zimbabwean High Court,” she writes, “should be commended for taking the Plaintiff’s civil suit as an opportunity to pronounce that the rights of transgender persons are protected by the Constitution and that their individuality must be respected. Thus, the Court warned and cautioned transphobic citizens of the consequences of discriminating against transgender people in Zimbabwe. The decision sets an important precedent for transgender rights in Zimbabwe and also in the African region, affirming that Courts are ready to protect human rights of every individual, without discrimination, using domestic, regional and international law. . . .” (p. 8)

This decision sets a good precedent not only for LGBTQI people in Zimbabwe but also in Southern Africa for LGBTQI persons in asserting their fundamental human rights in courts. It is a persuasive authority that can be used as an advocacy tool to pursue policy and law reform for transgender persons in other countries. The Court in this case buttresses the individuality and the constitutional rights of transgender persons in Zimbabwe, and provides needed jurisprudence in protecting and promoting transgender rights.” (p. 8)

The Court’s full decision (43 pages) is online here. 
Keikantse Phele’s Case Summary (8 pages downloads here (PDF).

RELEVANT RESOURCES:

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

Baby “A” (suing through her mother, E.A.) and  The Cradle the Children Foundation v Attorney General, Kenyatta National Hospital, and the Registrar of Births and Deaths [2014] eKLR, Petition No. 266 of 2013 (High Court of Kenya at Nairobi, Constitutional and Human Rights Division). [Kenyan Court recognizes need to protect the constitutional rights of intersex persons]  Decision online. Case summary in Legal Grounds downloads here (PDF).

Republic v Kenya National Examinations Council & Another [2014] eKLR, JR Case No. 147 of 2013 (High Court of Kenya at Nairobi) [Kenyan Court ordered name and gender change on high school diploma]  Decision online Case summary in Legal Grounds downloads here (PDF) .

Legal Grounds III: Reproductive and Sexual Health in Sub-Saharan African Courts contains summaries and comments on 60+ court decisions, 2008-present
Online edition with updates and links to decisions.
Published books – free PDF downloads: Legal Grounds I (2005), Legal Grounds II (2008), Legal Grounds III (2017).
______________
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.

Africa: (De)Criminalizing Adolescent Sex: Rights and Age of Consent Laws

Congratulations to Godfrey Dalitso Kangaude, a doctoral candidate at the University of Pretoria, and Prof. Ann Skelton, Director of the Centre for Child Law at the same university, for publishing the following article in an open access journal.  We are pleased to circulate an expanded abstract below:

Godfrey Dalitso Kangaude and Ann Skelton, (De)Criminalizing Adolescent Sex: A Rights-Based Assessment of Age of Consent Laws in Eastern and Southern Africa,” SAGE Open (Oct-Dec 2018): 1 –12.   Article online.

Abstract:   Age of consent criminal laws imposed on African states during colonialism were inherently patriarchal and gender-stereotypic, and continue to influence country approaches toward adolescent consensual sexual conduct. There are two major policy positions: a punitive and a nonpunitive approach. Most countries adopt the punitive approach. Mostly, legislation does not explicitly criminalize consensual sexual conduct between adolescents, and this leaves a gray area to be filled in by social and cultural norms that perceive adolescent sexual conduct negatively. Punitive approaches have been justified as necessary to curb harms to adolescents resulting from sexual conduct, including teenage pregnancies and sexual abuse. Age of consent laws, especially in their original colonial formulation, deny adolescents–especially girls–sexual autonomy and agency. States focus more on punishment than on taking measures to address the structural antecedents of harms associated with sexual intercourse. States should reform age of consent laws to decriminalize consensual sex between adolescents in accordance with recognized rights of the child.

Drawing upon concepts from childhood sociological studies, the article examines historically and culturally constructed notions of childhood and adolescence and ideas about sexual agency of children. Using findings of a study, conducted by the Center for Child Law of the University of Pretoria, on age of consent laws in Eastern and Southern Countries, the article addresses questions about the rationale for age of consent laws, and whether and how these laws could be reformed to better align with the rights of the child. The article also examines these questions through the lens of court decisions in South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe that dealt with the issue of criminalisation of adolescent consensual sex. The article makes a case for decriminalisation because criminalisation infringes the sexual agency of adolescents and infringes on a host of rights including the right to dignity, equality and privacy. Criminalisation also impacts on other aspects of the well-being of the child and adolescent. including sexual health and protection from harms related to sexual conduct.

This 12-page article: is online here.

Cases mentioned:

• C.K.W. v Attorney General & Another [2014] eKLR, Petition 6 of 2013 (High Court of Kenya at Eldoret).  [Court upholds criminalisation of adolescent consensual sex, ignores gender bias in the law.]  Decision online.
• S v. Brian M. [surname editorially abridged]  [2015] ZWHHC 106, CRB No. B467/14 (High Court of Zimbabwe at Harare). [Male’s sentence reduced for adolescent sex.]  Decision online.
• Teddy Bear Clinic for Abused Children and Another v Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development and Another (CCT 12/13) [2013] ZACC 35;  (Constitutional Court, South Africa).  [Laws criminalising adolescent consensual sexual conduct suspended, pending review by Parliament.]  Decision online.
• Martin C. v. Republic  Criminal Appeal No. 32 of 2015, April 26, 2016 (High Court of Kenya, at Malindi).  [sexual relationship between adult man of 23 and girl of 14 is not “defilement” because it was consensual.]  Decision online.
• The State v. CF (A Juvenile)  HH  143-11,  CRB  5,320/10  July  21,  2011  (High  Court  of  Zimbabwe). Consensual adolescent sex is allowed.  Decision online. 
  Highlight: Adolescent Consensual Sexual Conduct. 

Related resource:
Legal Grounds III: Reproductive and Sexual Rights in Sub-Saharan African Courts
Pretoria: Pretoria University Law Press (PULP), 2017.  Online edition with decisions and updates.    Entire book, 228-pages.   Printed copies available.

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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.

AFRICA: Legal Grounds III: Reproductive and Sexual Rights in Sub-Saharan African Courts – 54 case summaries

by: Godfrey Kangaude, Onyema Afulukwe, Guy-Fleury Ntwari, et al.
Foreword by Prof. Charles G. Ngwena
PULP (Pretoria University Law Press) 2017
Download entire 228 page book online.
Online edition with links to decisions
Printable flyer with Table of Contents
Previous volumes.

Reproductive and sexual rights, which are guaranteed in constitutions and in international and regional human rights treaties, have no impact if they are not recognized and enforced by national-level courts. Legal Grounds: Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Sub-Saharan African Courts Volume III continues to provide much-needed information about whether and how national courts of African countries apply constitutional and human rights to protect reproductive and sexual rights. The case summaries, significance sections, and thematic highlights serve as useful resources for those seeking to further develop litigation, advocacy, and capacity- building strategies.

Like its predecessors, Legal Grounds: Reproductive and Sexual Rights in Sub-Saharan African Courts – Volume III is a tool for organizations, individuals, and institutions of learning. The scope of this third volume has been widened beyond Commonwealth African countries to include cases from Francophone countries, while focusing more exclusively on court decisions related to reproductive and sexual health. This compelling publication contributes towards a knowledge base of court decisions that bear directly or indirectly on the exercise of reproductive and sexual health as constitutional and human rights in Africa.
228 page book online.  Previous volumes.  Printable flyer with Table of Contents.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Foreword, Introduction, Acknowledgments
Children and Adolescents
—Child, Forced and Early Marriage
—Female Genital Mutilation legal-grounds/
—Sexual Abuse, Assault and Violence
—Consensual Sexual Conduct
—Student Pregnancy
—Maternal Health Care and Services
Abortion and Fetal Interests
—Abortion
—Wrongful Birth or Life
Adoption and Surrogacy
—Adoption
—Surrogacy
Gender, Sexuality, Women and Discrimination
—Rape
—Disability, Sexuality and Criminal Law
—Women and Criminal Law
—Legal Recognition of Intersexuality
—Gender Identity
—Sexual Orientation
—Recognition of LGBTIQ Advocacy and Groups
HIV
—Access to Treatment
—Criminalisation of Transmission
—Forced Sterilization
—Discrimination in Employment
Francophone Africa / L’Afrique Francophone
—Adultery, Polygamy, Infanticide
Appendices – Table of Cases, Online Resources, Endnotes

HIGHLIGHTS BY AFRICAN AUTHORS:
Child Marriage: Legal and Socio-Cultural Aspects, by Godfrey Kangaude
Adolescent Consensual Sexual Conduct, by Godfrey Kangaude
Sexual Abuse, Assault and Violence, by Victoria Balogun
Maternal Health Care and Services, by Tinyade Kachika
Abortion and Fetal Interests, by Onyema Afulukwe
Adoption and Surrogacy, by Ronaldah Lerato Karabo Ozah
Gender, Sexuality, Women and Discrimination, by MaryFrances Lukera
Criminalisation of HIV Non-Disclosure, Exposure and Transmission, by Jacinta Nyachae
Sexual and Reproductive Rights of Women Living with HIV, by Ebenezer Durojaye
Towards Respect for Human Diversity, by Godfrey Kangaude

COUNTRIES:  Benin, Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda,  Zambia, Zimbabwe

228 page book online.  Previous volumes.
Printable flyer with Table of Contents.

REPROHEALTHLAW Updates: Developments, Resources & Jobs

REPROHEALTHLAW Blog
March 10, 2016

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DEVELOPMENTS

“General Comment 22”  United Nations – Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) adopted a new General Comment 22 (E/C.12/GC/22)  on Article 12 (Health) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.  This new General Comment highlights the numerous legal, procedural, practical and social barriers people face in accessing sexual and reproductive health care and information, and the resulting human rights violations.  It codifies wide-ranging state obligations regarding quality maternal health care, non-discrimination, contraception, safe abortion care, sex education, disabilities, infertility care, STIs and HIV/AIDS.  It also discusses conscience issues and rural, regional or cultural disparities.  Full text of General Comment No.22.     UN Press release.

Guyana: Midwives, nurses and pharmacists can provide abortion pill.  Guyana details..

Kenya:  AIDS Law Project v Attorney General and 3 Others [2015] eKLR, Petition No. 97 of 2010 (High Court of Kenya at Nairobi). [Criminal provisions of HIV/AIDS law held unconstitutional.]  Decision online.    Case Summary by Godfrey Kangaude.  

Kenya: duty to protect rights of intersex persons (2 cases)
♦ Baby “A” (suing through her mother, E.A.) and The Cradle the Children Foundation v Attorney General, Kenyatta National Hospital, and the Registrar of Births and Deaths [2014] eKLR, Petition No. 266 of 2013 (High Court of Kenya at Nairobi, (Constitutional and Human Rights Division)). Decision online.  Full Case Summary.
♦ RM v The Hon. Attorney General & 4 Others, [2010] eKLR Petition no 705 of 2007 (High Court of Kenya at Nairobi, Nairobi Law Courts). R.M. Decision online.   Case summary of R.M. 

Uganda.  “African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights Calls on Uganda to Ensure The Right to Legal Abortion and Access to Reproductive Health Services.”  Recommendations call for Uganda to implement the Maputo Protocol—the only treaty, at both the international and regional levels, that explicitly guarantees the right to legal abortion in cases of sexual assault, rape, incest, and where the continued pregnancy endangers the mental and physical health or life of the woman or in cases of fatal fetal impairments.  – CRR Press Release Mar.7, 2016. 
Background from CRR:  74-page report 2013 .  46-page guide to Ugandan abortion law/policy 2012.  CRR/CEHURD Shadow report 2014.

U.S.   Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt: Hearings were held in the US Supreme Court on Mar 2, 2016. The judgment is anticipated in June 2016, and it will determine whether women will have access to abortion services in Texas, and in other states with laws comparable to the restrictive Texas law.   Case history from CRR.  Official transcript, Mar 2, 2016.   Reports of the hearing: Slate article: Oral arguments.   Slate blog: “Most important question.”   Comment:  When “protecting health” obstructs choice :  SCOTUS blog.   Scholarship:  Linda Greenhouse and Reva Siegel, “Casey and the Clinic Closings: When ‘Protecting Health’ Obstructs Choice,” 125 Yale Law Journal 1428-1480 (2016) Greenhouse & Siegel article.

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

COURSES

Advanced Human Rights – short courses at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
♦  Disability Rights in an African Context  March 14-18, 2016.  Disability Rights Course.
♦  Judicial Enforcement of Socio-Economic Rights in Africa,  Socio-Economic Rights
May 16-20, 2016
♦  Civil Society Law in Africa, June 8-10, 2016  Civil Society Law Course

RESOURCES

[abortion]  Common Law Fundamentals of the Right to Abortion, by Anita Bernstein. Buffalo Law Review Vol. 63, p. 1141, 2015; Brooklyn Law School, Legal Studies Paper No. 438. Bernstein article.

[abortion, Ireland]  The Geography of Abortion (December 11, 2015). by Fergus W. Ryan.  Ryan working paper.

[abortion, Latin America, Caribbean] Investigación sobre aborto en América Latina y el Caribe: Una agenda renovada para informar políticas públicas e incidencia (Research on abortion in Latin America & the Caribbean: A renewed agenda to inform public policy and incidence) Published by CLACAI (Latin American Consortium against Unsafe Abortion) with the support of CEDES Argentina, Population Council USA, and Promsex Peru.   Investigación en Espanol.  Alternative download link.

[abortion – UK]  British Abortion Law: Speaking from the Past to Govern the Future (March 2016). The Modern Law Review, Vol. 79, Issue 2, pp. 283-316, 2016.
Sheldon article.

Engendering Reproductive Rights in the Inter-American System (2016), by Ciara  O’Connell,  in Gender, Sexuality and Social Justice: What’s Law Got to Do With It?, ed. Kay Lalor, Elizabeth Mills, Arturo Sánchez García and Polly Haste. p. 58, Institute of Development Studies, 2016 . O’Connell chapter

NEWS

Malawi – homosexuality: “Malawi government challenges the clergy on gay rights.”  The real issue is whether the pending Judicial Review should declare the anti-homosexuality law invalid under the Constitution.   News report.

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

Zambia:    Chief Justice launched the first-ever gender-based violence (GBV) fast track court in Kabwe.  News report.

JOBS

Director, new Human Rights Institute, Oxford University, UK  Oxford Directorship

Director of Programs, International Planned Parenthood Federation, Western Hemisphere Region. Apply by March 15, 2016.  IPPF Director.

Lecturer / Senior Lecturer in Gender Studies @ SOAS Centre for Gender Studies, London, UK.    Apply by March 21, 2016.  Lecturer at SOAS.

Postdoctoral research fellow, 3 years, new “Political Determinants of S&R Health” project based at University of Bergen, Norway.  Apply by March 31, 2016.  Postdoc job.

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

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

REPROHEALTHLAW Updates: Decisions, Calls, Events and Scholarship

REPROHEALTHLAW-L
October 15 2015

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COURT DECISIONS

SPAIN  [Case of Tania and Veronica, Social Court 18, Madrid, October 2015]  Court rules that same-sex couple were unjustly denied artificial insemination.  Damages awarded from hospital  for denying treatment and the Local Health Authority for discrimination.  Judgment sets a precedent affirming that the hospital and the Local Authority should have applied the higher standing regulation as opposed to a lesser standing administrative decision from Spanish Ministry of Health which excludes assisted reproductive treatments in the public health system for all women without a male partner.  English press release from Women’s Link Worldwide   Details from Women’s Link Worldwide.   Spanish news report.

KENYA:    Lucy Nyambura & Another v Town Clerk, Municipal Council of Mombasa & 2 Others [2011] eKLR, Petition No. 286 of 2009 (High Court of Kenya).  Decision online.  Case summary/analysis by Godfrey Kangaude and Winnet Shamuyarira.  [Conviction for loitering for purposes of prostitution held constitutional.]

Republic v Jackson Namunya Tali [2014] eKLR, High Court Criminal Case No. 75 of 2009 (High Court of Kenya at Nairobi). Decision online.   Case summary/ analysis by Godfrey Kangaude and Annagrace Rwehumbiza.   [Kenyan High Court convicts nurse of murder over abortion related death. ]

NAMIBIA:    LM and Others v. Government of the Republic of Namibia, [2012] NAHC 211 (High Court of Namibia) Decision online.  Brief abstract by Andy Sprung.   New: Case summary/analysis by Godfrey Kangaude and Phillipa Tucker.    [Court found forced sterilization of women without informed consent; unproven link to HIV-positive status]

Government of the Republic of Namibia v L.M. & 2 Others [2014] NASC 19 (Supreme Court of Namibia). Decision online.  Case summary/analysis by Godfrey Kangaude and Philippa Tucker.  [Supreme Court links forced sterilisation to infringement of constitutional rights]

ZIMBABWE:   Mildred Mapingure v Minister Of Home Affairs and 2 Others [2014], Judgment No. SC 22/14, Civil Appeal No. SC 406/12 (Supreme Court of Zimbabwe). Decision online. Brief abstract by Michelle Hayman.   New:  Case summary/analysis by Godfrey Kangaude and Rudo Chigudu.   [State held liable for hindering access to emergency contraception, but not abortion]

The five case analyses mentioned above have been prepared for a new book,  Legal Grounds III:  Reproductive and Sexual Rights in Sub-Saharan African Courts, forthcoming 2016.  Decisions,  case summaries and previous volumes.    How you can help.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

[HIV stigma in health care] UNAIDS seeks input from individuals and organizations who use tools to assess and/or address HIV-related stigma and discrimination in health care settings.    Inquiries? Contact: Program on Global Health and Human Rights, University of Southern California {uschealthhumanrights [at} gmail {dot] com.   Respond to online questionnaire by October 23, 2015 in  English    Spanish   Russian  Arabic.

EVENTS:

“What’s the Harm?: Understanding Reproductive Injustice” full day symposium at New York University School of Law on Friday, October 30, 2015 at 9:00am.  Symposium details;  Registration required.

El IV Congreso Latinoamericano Jurídico sobre Derechos Reproductivos Lima, Peru, November 2-4, 2015   Latin American Legal Congress.

SCHOLARSHIP AND RESOURCES:

“Abortion is still illegal in the UK, thanks to this Victorian law ” by Sally Sheldon, The Conversation, Oct 6, 2015.  Article online.

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

“Conscientious Objection, Harm Reduction and Abortion Care,” by Ruth Fletcher , in Mary Donnelly and Claire Murray eds., Ethical, Legal and Policy Debates in Irish Healthcare: Confronting Complexities (Manchester University Press, 2015,  Abstract and chapter online.  Book forthcoming 2015

“Human-rights-based approaches to health in Latin America,” by Alicia Ely Yamin, Ariel Frisancho,  The Lancet, 385(9975), e26-e29, 4 April 2015   Abstract and article online.

Rwanda:  When Abortion is a Crime  (Ipas, Sept 2015) [research study based on case summaries and interviews with prisoners  28-page report

United Nations: Draft General Comment 36 on Article 6: Right to Life  now available for consideration by UN Human Rights Committee. CCPR/C/GC/R.36/Rev.2  Draft online.

Worldwide Abortion Policies, updated Oct 5, 2015.  Pew Research Center report.   “How abortion is regulated around the world”.

NEWS:

[Brazil – abortion]  “Sexual Politics in Brazil:  wider frontline to cope with.” by  Sonia Corrêa and Fábio Grotz *  Article online  [re current  bill to legalize abortion]

Rwanda:  “Government Moves to Ease Process of Seeking Legal Abortion”  by Rodrigue Rwirahira And Michel Nkurunziza.  Article online.

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.

Human Rights and African Abortion Laws: A Handbook for Judges

Congratulations to Prof. Charles Ngwena and the Ipas Africa Alliance upon the publication of this concise guide, Human Rights and African Abortion Laws which judges can use to interpret and apply domestic abortion laws, taking into account global and regional human rights standards.   The Table of Contents, reproduced below, provides a more detailed overview of this useful resource:

by Prof. Charles Ngwena  (Nairobi, Kenya:  Ipas Africa Alliance, 2014) 85 pages, online here.  Direct link to PDF

I   INTRODUCING THE HANDBOOK
1.1      Introduction
1.2      Purpose of the handbook
1.3      Role of the courts
1.4      Women’s rights in the age of constitutionalism and human rights
1.5      Structure of the handbook

II.   THE BURDEN OF PREVENTABLE UNSAFE ABORTION IN THE SUB-SAHARAN REGION
2.1     Introduction
2.2    Scale and health consequences of unsafe abortion
2.3   Costs of unsafe abortion

III.   HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF DOMESTIC LAWS IN AFRICA
3.1 Historical development
3.2 Abortion law in European colonies in Africa (non- British colonies)
3.3 Abortion law in British colonies in Africa
3.4 Section 58 of the Offences Against the Person Act of 1861 and the Bourne case
3.5 The significance of the Bourne case

IV.     CURRENT DOMESTIC ABORTION LAWS IN AFRICA
4.1    Introduction
4.2    Sources of abortion law
4.3    Overview of current abortion laws
4.4    Abortion and the constitution
——–4.4.1    Uganda and Zimbabwe
——–4.4.2    Swaziland and Kenya
4.5  Untested abortion laws
4.6  Linking abortion laws with unsafe abortion
4.7  Abortions laws as barriers

V.     APPLYING HUMAN RIGHTS TO FRAME, INTERPRET AND APPLY DOMESTIC ABORTION LAWS
5.1  Introduction
5.2  Global developments
——–5.2.1    Global consensus statements
——–5.2.2    Treaty-monitoring bodies and special rapporteurs of the United Nations
——–5.2.3    Decisions of treaty monitoring bodies under optional protocols
——–5.2.4    World Health Organization: Technical and policy Guidance
5.3  Regional developments
——–5.3.1    African regional developments
——–5.3.2    Human rights developments in the European and the Inter-American regions 

VI.    ABORTION AND COMPARATIVE LAW
6.1    Introduction
6.2    Interpreting the life ground
6.3    Interpreting the health ground
6.4    Foetal rights
6.5    Criminalisation of abortion
6.6    Spousal consent requirements
6.7    Parental consent requirements
6.8    Conscientious objection by auxiliary workers
6.9    Conscientious objection by judges

VII.       CASE STUDIES: STATE OBLIGATIONS TO RESPECT, PROTECT AND FULFIL WOMEN’S RIGHTS TO ABORTION
7.1    Introduction
7.2    Case study 1: Abortion law reform with human rights principles
——–7.2.1 Introduction
7.3 Case study 2: A challenge to a restrictive abortion law
——–7.3.1    Introduction        

BIBLIOGRAPHY

————————————————————-
Human Rights and African Abortion Laws: A Handbook for Judges (85 pages): is online here.  Direct link to PDF.

REPROHEALTHLAW Updates

REPROHEALTHLAW-L  May 28, 2015

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

DECISIONS

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

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

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

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

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

EVENTS:

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

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

RESOURCES

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

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

2 DIY Abortion and Harm Reduction, by Emily Jackson,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NEWS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

JOBS 

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

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