Joanna N. Erdman

Abortion Law in Transnational Perspective: Cases and Controversies

It is increasingly implausible to speak of a purely domestic abortion law, as the legal debates around the world draw on precedents and influences of different national and regional contexts. While the United States and Western Europe may have been the vanguard of abortion law reform in the latter half of the twentieth century, Central and South America are proving to be laboratories of thought and innovation in the twenty-first century, as are particular countries in Africa and Asia. Abortion Law in Transnational Perspective offers a fresh look at significant transnational legal developments in recent years, examining key judicial decisions, constitutional texts, and regulatory reforms of abortion law in order to envision ways ahead. The chapters investigate issues of access, rights, and justice, as well as social constructions of women, sexuality, and pregnancy, through different legal procedures and regimes. They address the promises and risks of using legal procedure to achieve reproductive justice from different national, regional, and international vantage points; how public and courtroom debates are framed within medical, religious, and human rights arguments; the meaning of different narratives that recur in abortion litigation and language; and how respect for women and prenatal life is expressed in various legal regimes. By exploring how legal actors advocate, regulate, and adjudicate the issue of abortion, this timely volume seeks to build on existing developments to bring about change of a larger order. Contributors: Luis Roberto Barroso, Paola Bergallo, Rebecca J. Cook, Bernard M. Dickens, Joanna N. Erdman, Lisa M. Kelly, Adriana Lamackova, Julieta Lemaitre, Alejandro Madrazo, Charles G. Ngwena, Rachel Rebouche, Ruth Rubio-Marin, Sally Sheldon, Reva B. Siegel, Veronica Undurraga, Melissa Upreti.

Human rights in health equity: cervical cancer and HPV vaccines.

This article seeks to demonstrate that health equity, as an empirical and normative concept, is reflected in the human rights to health and equality under international law. The obligations on government that flow from health equity as a human right are then examined. These include the obligation to act in pursuit of health equity as a policy objective, and the obligation to enact measures to ensure health equity as a policy outcome. These obligations are considered in relation to a promising remedial measure for social disparities in cervical cancer: HPV vaccines.

Updated WHO guidance on safe abortion: Health and human rights

Since its first publication in 2003, the World Health Organizations “Safe abortion: technical and policy guidance for health systems” has had an influence on abortion policy, law, and practice worldwide. To reflect significant developments in the clinical, service delivery, and human rights aspects of abortion care, the Guidance was updated in 2012. This article reviews select recommendations of the updated Guidance, highlighting 3 key themes that run throughout its chapters: evidence‐based practice and assessment, human rights standards, and a pragmatic orientation to safe and accessible abortion care. These themes not only connect the chapters into a coherent whole. They reflect the research and advocacy efforts of a growing field in womens health and human rights.

Procedural abortion rights: Ireland and the European Court of Human Rights

Abstract The Irish Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act seeks to clarify the legal ground for abortion in cases of risk to life, and to create procedures to regulate women’s access to services under it. This article explores the new law as the outcome of an international human rights litigation strategy premised on state duties to implement abortion laws through clear standards and procedural safeguards. It focuses specifically on the Irish law reform and the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, including A. B. and C. v. Ireland (2010). The article examines how procedural rights at the international level can engender domestic law reform that limits or expands women’s access to lawful abortion services, serving conservative or progressive ends. Résumé En Irlande, la loi sur la protection de la vie pendant la grossesse cherche à préciser les motifs légaux d’avortement en cas de risque pour la vie et créer des procédures pour réguler l’accès des femmes aux services en vertu de la loi. Cet article examine la nouvelle législation comme aboutissement d’une stratégie de litige relative aux droits de l’homme internationaux se fondant sur l’obligation des États à appliquer la législation sur l’avortement avec des normes claires et des garanties procédurales. Il se centre précisément sur la réforme de la loi irlandaise et la jurisprudence de la Cour européenne des droits de l’homme, notamment l’affaire A. B. et C. contre Irlande (2010). L’article analyse comment les droits procéduraux au niveau international peuvent engendrer une réforme du droit national qui limite ou élargit l’accès des femmes à des services d’avortement légal, guidée par des objectifs conservateurs ou progressistes. Resumen En Irlanda, la Ley de Protección de la Vida durante el Embarazo busca aclarar el fundamento jurídico para tener un aborto en casos de riesgo a la vida, y crear procedimientos para regular el acceso de las mujeres a los servicios bajo esta ley. Este artículo explora la nueva ley como el resultado de una estrategia de litigio en derechos humanos internacionales basada en los deberes estatales de aplicar las leyes referentes al aborto mediante normas claras y salvaguardias procesales. Se enfoca específicamente en la reforma de las leyes irlandesas y en la jurisprudencia del Tribunal Europeo de Derechos Humanos, que incluye A. B. y C. contra Irlanda (2010). El artículo examina cómo los derechos procesales a nivel internacional pueden engendrar una reforma nacional de leyes, que limita o amplía el acceso de las mujeres a servicios de aborto legal, con fines conservadores o progresistas.

Access to knowledge and the Global Abortion Policies Database

Research shows that women, healthcare providers, and even policy makers worldwide have limited or inaccurate knowledge of the abortion law and policies in their country. These knowledge gaps sometimes stem from the vague and broad terms of the law, which breed uncertainty and even conflict when unaccompanied by accessible regulation or guidelines. Inconsistency across national law and policy further impedes safe and evidence‐based practice. This lack of transparency creates a crisis of accountability. Those seeking care cannot know their legal entitlements, service providers cannot practice with legal protection, and governments can escape legal responsibility for the adverse effects of their laws. This is the context for the newly launched Global Abortion Policies Database—an open‐access repository that seeks to promote transparency and state accountability by providing clear and comprehensive information about national laws, policies, health standards, and guidelines, and by creating the capacity for comparative analysis and cross‐referencing to health indicators, WHO recommendations, and human rights standards.

Human rights education in patient care

This article explores how human rights education in the health professions can build knowledge, change culture, and empower advocacy. Through a study of educational initiatives in the field, the article analyzes different methods by which health professionals come to see the relevance of human rights norms for their work, to habituate these norms in everyday practice, and to espouse these norms in advocacy for social justice. The article seeks to show the transformative potential of education for human rights in patient care.

The global abortion policies database: knowledge as a health intervention

Abortion laws are often written in vague terms, breeding uncertainty about what is allowed

Canada: Competing Frames of Access and Authority

The introduction of emergency contraception (EC) in Canada represented more than an opportunity to improve women’s health. EC was an opportunity for collective action to transform the health system. This chapter examines EC in Canada as a case of “contentious politics” (McAdam, Tarrow, and Tilly 2001).

Understandings of self-managed abortion as health inequity, harm reduction and social change

Abstract This commentary explores how self-managed abortion (SMA) has transformed understandings of and discourses on safe abortion and associated health inequities through an intersection of harm reduction, human rights and collective activism. The article examines three primary understandings of the relationship between SMA and safe abortion: first SMA as health inequity, second SMA as harm reduction, and third SMA as social change, including health system innovation and reform. A more dynamic understanding of the relationship between SMA, safe abortion and health inequities can both improve the design of interventions in the field, and more radically reset reform goals for health systems and other state institutions towards the full realisation of sexual and reproductive health and human rights.

Gisele Maynard-Tucker. Rural Women's Sexuality, Reproductive Health, and Illiteracy: A Critical Perspective on Development

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