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A number of subtopics are included in the Reproductive Rights section:
Abortion:The right to have an abortion is one of the most controversial in international law. The abortion materials included on this site outline the controversy and identify the sources of the right to abortion under both human rights and humanitarian law.
Adolescents: Adolescents around the world have special reproductive and sexual rights, needs and concerns. These include issues such as early marriage, the right to know (access to information about sexual and reproductive health and rights), HIV/AIDS, and abortion.
Female Genital Cutting (FGC): Female genital cutting includes all procedures which involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-therapeutic reasons. Materials included discuss the international legal standards and international movements to eradicate female genital cutting.
HIV/AIDS: The sexual and economic subordination of women leaves them more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, less likely to receive appropriate care, and more likely to suffer discrimination because of their condition. Materials on HIV/AIDS discuss how the HIV/AIDS pandemic is affecting women's human rights, the international human rights laws which are applicable to the violations occurring, and the international response to these violations.
Reproductive Freedom: The International Conference on Population and Development (the Cairo Conference, 1996) testified to the centrality of reproductive self-determination to the dignity of women. Materials on this topic explore the meaning and importance of the right to "reproductive freedom" under international law.
Right to Know: Reproductive rights cannot be fully exercised unless women have sufficient information about their sexual and reproductive rights. Materials on this topic explore how the right to know under international law imposes a positive obligation on governments to provide information about reproductive health and choice, beyond the duty to refrain from interfering with the communication of such information by others.
Safe Motherhood: The rate of preventable maternal mortality is a symptom of the larger social injustice of discrimination against women and violation of women's human rights. The hundreds of thousands of avoidable maternal deaths each year serves as continuing evidence of the unstated presumption of many societies that the lives of mothers are expendable and that women do not matter. Materials included on this site examine how ensuring safe motherhood to reduce avoidable maternal death is not only a matter of effective health interventions, but also a matter of social justice.
The Injustice of Unsafe Motherhood
The Injustice of Unsafe Motherhood Cook, Rebecca J. Dickens, Bernard M. Reproductive Rights
This article looks at the causes and potential solutions to the high incidence of unsafe motherhood in developing countries. Various causes include social conventions favoring early marriage or creating women's powerlessness to resist unprotected intercourse with HIV/AID infected men; inadequate access to health care and qualified health care providers; and religiously based laws. Part of the article focuses on abortion rights and their socio-economic dimensions. It is argued that beyond the bio-ethics of autonomy, the role of macro-ethics and community values in shaping laws affecting women's maternal health must be considered and a public health approach incorporation human rights values should be adopted. The authors note that provisions found in primary human rights instruments such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights and Universal Declaration of Human Rights can serve to hinder the full recognition of women's rights and autonomy by linking the protection of women to their pregnant status or child-bearing role. [Descriptors: Reproductive Rights - Safe Motherhood, International]
DEVELOPING WORLD BIOETHICS 2(1) DEVELOPING WORLD BIOETHICS, 64-81 (2002)
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The Injustice of Unsafe Motherhood
Maternal Mortality, Population Control, and the War in Women's Wombs: a Bioethical Analysis of Quinacrine Sterilizations
Maternal Mortality, Population Control, and the War in Women's Wombs: a Bioethical Analysis of Quinacrine Sterilizations Scully, Judith A.M. Reproductive Rights
This article examines the bioethical dimensions of the promotion and practice of quinacrine sterilization. The author shows that despite widespread concerns over serious side-effects such as increased risk of cancer and risks of harm to fetuses and infants in instances where the procedure fails, two US advocates of the quinacrine sterilization have led a campaign to distribute and support the use of the procedure in various developing countries and facilities serving low-income women in the United States. Reviewing the primary international codes of ethics governing human experimentation, the author finds that the principles of voluntary consent and special protection for vulnerable groups as well as the requirement that the experimentation be conducted by scientifically qualified individuals found in these codes, are frequently violated. The author concludes by contending that the quinacrine sterilization campaign is rooted in anti-immigration sentiment and a philosophy that is all too willing to treat disadvantaged women as a means rather than an end. [Descriptors: Reproductive Rights - Reproductive Freedom, International - North America]
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Maternal Mortality, Population Control, and the War in Women's Wombs: a Bioethical Analysis of Quinacrine Sterilizations
The Hydra Hath but One Head: The Socio-Cultural Dimension of the AIDS Epidemic and Women's Rights to Health
The Hydra Hath but One Head: The Socio-Cultural Dimension of the AIDS Epidemic and Women's Rights to Health Spectar, J.M. Reproductive Rights
This article examines the social dimensions of HIV/AIDS and its impact on international women's human rights, particularly the right to health. The author argues that efforts to minimize the spread of the pandemic should employ a multidimensional approach, dealing with all traditional and cultural practices that render women vulnerable to AIDS. In Part I, the article discusses the social impact of HIV/AIDS with specific reference to women in developing countries. Part II examines the right to health in light of international law. Part III recommends the adoption of a holistic approach, both to strengthen human rights protection and to reduce the impact of socio-cultural factors on the spread of the disease. [Descriptors: Reproductive Rights - HIV/AIDS, International]
BOSTON COLLEGE THIRD WORLD LAW JOURNAL 22(1) BOSTON COLLEGE THIRD WORLD LAW JOURNAL, 1-34 (2001).
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The Hydra Hath but One Head: The Socio-Cultural Dimension of the AIDS Epidemic and Women's Rights to Health
The Condom Crisis: An Application of Feminist Legal Theory to Aids Prevention in African Women
The Condom Crisis: An Application of Feminist Legal Theory to Aids Prevention in African Women Arbuckle, Anne N. Reproductive Rights
This paper applies feminist legal theory in assessing the potential to address HIV/AIDS prevention through the promotion of the use of condoms. Part 1 of the paper reviews the nature of the AIDS pandemic and its disproportionate impact on Africa. Part 2 outlines the role of women in African society and their particular vulnerability to HIV infection. Part 3 discusses current efforts to increase the use of condoms as an effective means to prevent HIV/AIDS infection in Africa. Part 4 reviews feminist theory on considerations of equality and Part 5 concludes by advocating for an acceptance model as an appropriate mechanisms through which to approach preventative techniques. [Descriptors: Reproductive Rights - HIV/AIDS, International - Africa]
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The Condom Crisis: An Application of Feminist Legal Theory to Aids Prevention in African Women
The Right to Procreate: When Rights Claims Have Gone Wrong
The Right to Procreate: When Rights Claims Have Gone Wrong Shanner, Laura Reproductive Rights
This article begins by noting that the development and use of new reproductive technologies (NRTs) is often justified by appealing to the right to reproduce. The author finds that a right to procreate does not exist under Canadian law or international law. The author argues that legislators should not provide formal protection for such a right because it would be legally and morally problematic to do so. An examination is made of other procreative rights claims and of the concepts that underlie arguments about reproductive entitlement. [Descriptors: Reproductive Rights - Reproductive Freedom, International]
MCGILL LAW JOURNAL 40 MCGILL LAW JOURNAL, 823-874 (1995).
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The Right to Procreate: When Rights Claims Have Gone Wrong
Wrestling with Contradictions: Human Rights and Traditional Practices Affecting Women
Wrestling with Contradictions: Human Rights and Traditional Practices Affecting Women Savell, Kristin Louise Reproductive Rights
This article examines the question of whether or not traditional cultural practices, particularly female genital operations (FGO), can be legitimately criticised on the basis of international human rights norms. The author's approach in this article emphasizes the importance of understanding cultural and historical differences. The author begins by considering the cultural arguments that have been used either to justify or condemn FGO. The author then seeks to deepen our understanding of the FGO debate by discussing the cultural context of FGO, the factors that have shaped the FGO debate, and the perceptions of women who belong to societies where FGO are performed. Finally, the author examines the international human rights norms that may be applicable to FGO as well as the involvement of international bodies in this issue. Strategies are suggested for fighting FGO. [Descriptors: Reproductive Rights - Female Genital Cutting, International]
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Wrestling with Contradictions: Human Rights and Traditional Practices Affecting Women
International Developments in Abortion Law from 1988 to 1998
International Developments in Abortion Law from 1988 to 1998 Cook, Rebecca J. Dickens, Bernard M. Bliss, Laura E. Reproductive Rights
The authors note that a systmatic review of national and international developments regarding abortion showed that the progressive liberalization of abortion laws between 1967-1977 and 1977-1988 generally has been maintained during the last decade. This article traces devlopments in national legislation, leading court decisions, and constitutional provisions on abortion worldwide and analyzes United Nations conference documents, observations made by the committees that monitor government compliance with international human rights conventions, and the interpretative literature since 1988. The article describes punative, health, and human rights law reforms and explains that all three of these approaches have been used in abortion law development. [Descriptors: Reproductive Rights - Abortion, International]
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH 89(4) AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, 579-86 (1999). http://www.modemmujer.org
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International Developments in Abortion Law from 1988 to 1998
Human Rights and the Politics of Risk and Blame: Lessons from the International Reproductive Health Movement
Human Rights and the Politics of Risk and Blame: Lessons from the International Reproductive Health Movement Freedman, Lynn Reproductive Rights
This article examines criticisms advanced by public health professionals that public health has become too "politicized". The author argues that epidemiological concepts of risk are routinely used in the legal and political systems to apportion blame and responsibility for poor health. This article uses the example of reproductive health and rights to argue that new understandings of the connection between socioeconomic conditions and poor health will only generate change when they are reframed into political claims and pressed by social movements. In this regard, the author notes that human rights language, principles, and practice hold great potential for the U.S. reproductive rights movement, which has sometimes been constrained by the narrow scope of court rulings. [Descriptors: Reproductive Rights - Overview, International - North America]
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Human Rights and the Politics of Risk and Blame: Lessons from the International Reproductive Health Movement
The Close Connection Between Classical Rights and the Right to Health, with Special Reference to the Right to Sexual Health and Reproductive Health
The Close Connection Between Classical Rights and the Right to Health, with Special Reference to the Right to Sexual Health and Reproductive Health Hendriks, Aart Reproductive Rights
Although several international and regional human rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), explicitly recognize a broad right to health, this article points out that these standards offers little real protection to interests in individual and community health, including reproductive and sexual health. The article explains that the lack of protection exists because the mechanisms now in place for the supervision and enforcement of this right and other "social human rights" are extremely weak. In these circumstances, the author argues that better protection is available indirectly, through enforcement of certain "classical human rights," such as the right to life, the right to be free from inhuman and degrading treatment, and the right to found a family as these rights are in fact dependent on the realization of the "right to health". [Descriptors: Reproductive Rights - Overview, International]
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The Close Connection Between Classical Rights and the Right to Health, with Special Reference to the Right to Sexual Health and Reproductive Health
Family Planning Policies and Resultant Discrimination Against the Girl Child - A Study of India and China
Family Planning Policies and Resultant Discrimination Against the Girl Child - A Study of India and China Agarwal, Anjana Reproductive Rights
This article addresses discrimination
against the girl child as an unintended
consequence of reproductive laws and
family planning programs in China and
India. The introduction of family planning
programs, coupled with the socio-cultural
preference for sons in these countries,
prompted widespread killing of female
fetuses and infants. The family planning
programs also produced depleting sex
ratios, 'missing women', unregistered
births, neglect and abuse of girls, female
sterilization, and abandonment of baby
girls. Although laws have been enacted to
address some of these consequences, their
implementation and enforcement is lacking.
The author argues that legal action must
be accompanied by state promotion of
equality between men and women in order to
alter the traditional mindsets that give
rise to discriminatory practices.
