06 February 2025
A Dangerous Departure
Governments from Argentina to the United States to Hungary and beyond are engaging in concerted efforts to assail and undermine sexual and reproductive rights that have long been understood as gendered interpretations of fundamental rights under international law. In this context, the recent decision by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Beatriz v. El Salvador is a missed opportunity to consolidate the Court’s jurisprudence on sexual and reproductive health and rights and defend the legitimacy of international human rights law. Continue reading >>
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13 November 2024
Silent Prayer vs Safe Access
In line with a broader trend, all three jurisdictions in the United Kingdom now have Safe Access Zones legislation that creates a protective area around premises where abortion services are provided. Specified behaviours are criminalised within these protective areas, with silent prayer being a common challenge. I argue that the UK Safe Access Zones legislation demonstrates a cautious approach that protects a pregnant person’s right to access lawful abortion services in conditions of dignity and privacy. Continue reading >>13 October 2024
Legislating Reproductive Rights
In May, the Brazilian parliament introduced a bill that included a gestational age limit for performing abortions, even in cases where the pregnancy resulted from rape. In practice, the bill would criminalize women who were victims of sexual violence, especially young girls. The proposal triggered a strong reaction from civil society, which ultimately prompted parliament to withdraw the bill. The case illustrates how the Brazilian parliament has become a dangerous place for women’s sexual and reproductive rights – a situation that has worsened due to an institutional dispute between the parliament and the constitutional court. Continue reading >>
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29 April 2024
Chaos, Confusion and Republican Change-Up
Grasping the rules for getting an abortion in the American states is no easy matter for pregnant women, for abortion doctors, or for outside observers trying to understand how deeply entangled abortion is with the 2024 Presidential Election in November. The story is complicated, fast-moving, and not over yet. As Bette Davis warned her party guests, “Fasten your seatbelts; it’s going to be a bumpy night”. Continue reading >>
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20 December 2023
Not Just Abortion
On 14 December 2023, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in the case M.L. v. Poland. The ECHR decided that the restrictions on abortion rights that Poland had violated Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights. Contrary to the hopes of the initiators of the case, this is not a European Roe v. Wade moment. The ECHR again refused to affirm that Article 8 can be interpreted as conferring a right to abortion. Nevertheless, the ECHR made significant findings regarding Polish rule of law violations. Continue reading >>
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20 July 2023
Advancing Reproductive Rights
Spain has reached a significant milestone in the area of abortion legislation with a new landmark ruling by the Spanish Constitutional Court. Following a long-awaited renewal in January 2023, the court now consists of a progressive majority. Thirteen years after the complaint was filed by 60 congressmen of the conservative party, the ruling finally upholds the constitutionality of Organic Law (LO 2/2010) on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Voluntary Termination of Pregnancy. Departing from the previous indications model, the law allows women to have publicly funded abortions on demand in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy and up to 22 weeks (and in some instances without time limit) in cases of embryopathy and risk to the health or life of the woman. Continue reading >>29 March 2023
How EU Membership Transformed Ireland’s Socio-Legal Norms: The Case of Abortion
In 1973, Ireland joined what would become the European Union (EU) in the first ever enlargement of the project of European integration. To say that 50 years of EU membership have been transformative for Ireland is an understatement. By all benchmarks considered, Ireland is a radically different country today than it was when it joined the EU. Abortion provides the best example of this. Continue reading >>
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21 March 2023
The Janus Face of Fetal Citizenship: A Tool of Inclusion or a Threat to Abortion Rights?
Should citizenship status be conferred upon an unborn child? In a 2022 landmark decision, Pranav Srinivasan v. Union of India, the Madras High Court answered this question in the affirmative. Srinivasan had not been born yet when his parents, with his mother being in the third trimester of her pregnancy, gave up their Indian for Singaporean citizenship. Now an adult and ostensibly to avoid the mandatory conscription for Singaporean citizens, Srinivasan sought to avail himself of a statutory right to reclaim his Indian citizenship, pursuant to section 8(2) of the Citizenship Act 1955. While the Court's ruling in Srinivasan's favour should be applauded for its inclusionary ethos, it threatens to undermine India's progressive abortion jurisprudence. A provision of the 1956 Hindu Succession Act might provide a solution to this conflict. Continue reading >>
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16 February 2023
Small Country, Big Hurdles
Liechtenstein is far away from a comprehensive decriminalisation of abortion. The termination of pregnancy is still regulated by the Criminal Code and the person who performs the abortion will be prosecuted. Only the pregnant person acts legally when terminating an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy. But it took until 2015 for pregnant persons to be granted a (limited) right to self-determination, and there is still a lack of sufficient legal, medical and social support. In a difficult and psychologically stressful situation, pregnant persons must seek treatment abroad – not because they want to, but because they have to. Continue reading >>
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08 February 2023
A Turning Point in Abortion Law
This blog post concludes the symposium “Comparative Legal Perspectives on Abortion”. The symposium traced the regulation of abortion and accompanying activist movements in Argentina, Uruguay, Canada, Iceland, Northern Macedonia, Tunisia, South Africa, India, and South Korea. Now we want to turn our gaze from the outside back to the inside: What is to be gained for the German debate on abortion law? Continue reading >>
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