Reproductive health advocates take the fight for abortion rights to the United Nations

Oct 26, 2023
By Kaitlyn Kennedy

Geneva, Switzerland - As a slew of abortion bans take effect around the US, advocates are fighting back during the 139th session of the United Nations Human Rights Committee.

They argued that guaranteeing access to abortion falls within the scope of the US' international obligations, as bans can deprive pregnant people of their right to life under Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

Continued: https://www.tag24.com/topic/abortion-rights/reproductive-health-advocates-take-the-fight-for-abortion-rights-to-the-united-nations-2988945


USA – It’s Time to Call Abortion Bans What They Are—Torture and Cruelty

The US must learn from other countries where denials of abortion are considered intentional, state-inflicted torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.

By Payal Shah and Akila Radhakrishnan
June 9, 2023

On August 24, 2022, Mayron Hollis sought an abortion after receiving news that her pregnancy was endangering her life and its continuation would likely result in uterine rupture and organ damage. Unfortunately, August 24 was also the day that Tennessee’s near-total ban on abortion went into effect. Denied care in her own state and unable to travel to one where she could get the care she needed, Hollis was forced to endure a dangerous pregnancy and birth, where she ultimately suffered severe hemorrhaging and lost her uterus, destroying her ability to give birth to any more children.

There are many terms to describe Mayron Hollis’s experience of being denied an abortion in Tennessee—harrowing, agonizing, unconscionable—but we should also call it what it is: torture and cruelty.

Continued: https://www.thenation.com/article/society/abortion-bans-torture-cruelty/


UN urged to intervene over destruction of US abortion rights

Exclusive: letter from human rights groups says overturning of the constitutional right violates US’s obligations as a UN member state

Poppy Noor
Thu 2 Mar 2023

Top human rights organizations are calling on the United Nations to intervene over the destruction of abortion rights in the US.

In a letter shared in advance with the Guardian and sent on Thursday by nearly 200 organizations and experts, the authors detail how, since the overturning of the federal constitutional right to abortion in June 2022, some 22 million women and girls of reproductive age live in states where abortion access is now either banned or inaccessible.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/02/destruction-us-abortion-laws-human-rights-violation-un


UNHRC asks PH to decriminalize abortion as data show ban ineffective, deadly

By: Cristina Eloisa Baclig
November 07, 2022

MANILA, Philippines—The United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) called on the Philippine government to decriminalize abortion and improve sexual and reproductive health services such as post-abortion healthcare in the country.

UNHRC, in a recently released concluding observation at its 136th session, said it acknowledged the Philippines’ “efforts to reduce unsafe abortion and maternal mortality.”

Continued: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1690191/unhrc-asks-ph-to-decriminalize-abortion-as-data-show-ban-ineffective-deadly


Philippines told: Decriminalize abortion, legalize divorce, pass anti-discrimination law

Xave Gregorio - Philstar.com
November 5, 2022

MANILA, Philippines — The UN Human Rights Committee is pushing for the Philippines to pass a flurry of legislative reforms aimed at keeping the country in line with an international treaty on civil and political rights.

Among the proposals being brought forward by the UN panel composed of human rights experts are the decriminalization of abortion, the legalization of divorce and the enactment of a comprehensive anti-discrimination law.

Continued: https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2022/11/05/2221718/philippines-told-decriminalize-abortion-legalize-divorce-pass-anti-discrimination-law


What does the Roe v. Wade ruling mean for investors?

11 August 2022
By Remi Fernandez, Specialist, Human Rights & Social Issues, and Betina Vaz Boni, Senior Analyst, Governance, PRI

The US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade, has raised pressing questions about the role of investors and their investee companies in contributing to the political landscape, and how decent work and human rights can be ensured for everyone.

The ruling ended the constitutional right to an abortion in the US and will impact other aspects of reproductive rights such as contraception, sexual health and sex education. There are also concerns that this ruling may set a precedent when it comes to other civil and human rights such as same-sex marriage.

Continued: https://www.unpri.org/pri-blog/what-does-the-roe-v-wade-ruling-mean-for-investors/10383.article


How the U.S. compares with the rest of the world on abortion rights

Jul 1, 2022
PBS

The past 50 years have been characterized by an unmistakable trend toward the liberalization of abortion laws, particularly in the industrialized world.

Each year, around 73 million abortions take place worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. This translates to about 39 abortions per 1,000 women globally, a rate that has stayed roughly the same since 1990. Notably, rates have diverged between countries with fewer restrictions and those with more: Between 1990–94 and 2015–19, the average abortion rate in countries with generally legal abortion (excluding China and India) declined by 43 percent.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/how-the-u-s-compares-with-the-rest-of-the-world-on-abortion-rights


Rethinking Abortion In India: A Human Rights Conversation

Niharika Kaul
16 May 2021

The issue of abortion has gained particular momentum in the past few months with two interesting developments in very different parts of the world- the passage of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) (Amendment) Bill 2020 in the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) in India and the recent passage of the Argentinian abortion bill, that legalises abortions up to the 14th week of pregnancy. While the MTP (Amendment) Bill 2020 extends the existing time period within which abortion can be conducted in India to 24 weeks in some cases, the Argentinian bill replaces the prior abortion law based on the 'exception model', where three exceptions were allowed to an otherwise blanket criminal prohibition- when a pregnancy endangers the life or health of a woman, girl, or pregnant person, or when it results from rape. After the Argentinian Senate narrowly rejected a bill to decriminalize abortion in 2018, the lower house of Congress finally passed the bill this January.

Continued: https://www.livelaw.in/columns/medical-termination-of-pregnancy-mtp-amendment-bill-2020-world-health-organisation-who-174212


Mike Pompeo is Wrong: There *Is* an International Right to Abortion

As reluctant as Pompeo and the rest of the Trump administration may be to follow the law, the fact remains: The U.S. is party to a number of human rights treaties that protect abortion rights—and adhering to these treaties is a legal requirement.

11/2/2020
by MERRITE JOHNSON

Last month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo signed the Geneva Consensus Declaration, a U.S.-led document that fired yet another shot across the bow at reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy. Bookended by a bizarre montage video, the signing ceremony was touted as a watershed moment in the fight against an international movement to declare a right to abortion at the expense of traditional family values. The only problem? There very much is an international right to abortion.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2020/11/02/mike-pompeo-geneva-consensus-declaration-international-right-to-abortion/


Abortion Law: Global Comparisons

Abortion Law: Global Comparisons
A recent spate of state laws to restrict abortion services in the United States has reignited debate over the procedure. How does the United States’ regulation of abortion compare to the rest of the world?

by Rachel B. Vogelstein and Rebecca Turkington
July 15, 2019

The past fifty years have been characterized by an unmistakable trend toward the liberalization of abortion laws, particularly in the industrialized world. Amid ongoing debate over the procedure, the trend has coincided with a drop in abortion rates worldwide. As nations across the globe have expanded the grounds on which women can access reproductive health services, the quality and safety of abortion care has improved, as has maternal survival.

Abortion rates are relatively similar between countries with highly restrictive abortion laws and those where the procedure is permitted without restriction, at between 34 and 37 per 1,000 women annually [PDF], but the safety of the procedure diverges widely: almost 90 percent of abortions in countries with liberal abortion laws are considered safe, compared with only 25 percent of those in countries in which abortion is banned.

Continued: https://www.cfr.org/article/abortion-law-global-comparisons