Abortion Law

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Caroline De Costa - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • knowledge of current Abortion Law and views on Abortion Law reform a community survey of nsw residents
    Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 2019
    Co-Authors: Alexandra Barratt, Kevin Mcgeechan, Kirsten I Black, Julie Hamblin, Caroline De Costa
    Abstract:

    Objective: To report results of a community survey of NSW residents' knowledge of current Abortion Law and views on Abortion Law reform. Methods: A total of 1,015 men and women participated. Recruitment and questionnaires were completed anonymously online using survey panel sampling. Results: Seventy-six per cent of respondents were unaware that Abortion remains a criminal offence in the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) and 73% thought it should be decriminalised and regulated as a healthcare service. Support for decriminalisation was consistent across genders, age groups, residents of metropolitan/regional and rural areas and levels of education. Support was strong for women seeking Abortion to be protected from harassment (89%) and for protester exclusion zones around clinics (81%), with support for these measures significantly stronger among regional/rural residents than Sydney-based respondents. Conclusions: Abortion Law in NSW is out of step with contemporary community views. Residents are largely unaware that it remains a criminal offence and, when informed, support decriminalisation. There is strong support for legal changes to protect women from harassment and to provide protester exclusion zones around Abortion clinics. Implications for public health: Abortion Law reform would reduce current inequities of access, be democratic and support women's autonomy and reproductive rights.

  • Time to repeal outdated Abortion Laws in New South Wales and Queensland.
    The Medical journal of Australia, 2016
    Co-Authors: Heather Douglas, Caroline De Costa
    Abstract:

    This article suggests that recent developments regarding Abortion Law in NSW and Queensland carry significant implications for doctors.

  • Abortion Law across Australia--A review of nine jurisdictions.
    The Australian & New Zealand journal of obstetrics & gynaecology, 2015
    Co-Authors: Caroline De Costa, Julie Hamblin, Heather Douglas, Philippa Ramsay, Mandy Shircore
    Abstract:

    This article reviews the current legal status of Abortion in Australia and its implications. Australian Abortion Law has been a matter for the states since before Federation. In the years since Federation there have been significant reforms and changes in the Abortion Laws of some jurisdictions, although not all. Across Australia there are now nine sets of Laws, state and Commonwealth, concerned with Abortion. The test of a Lawful Abortion varies greatly across jurisdictions. In a number of states and territories, it is necessary to establish a serious risk to the physical or mental health of the woman if the pregnancy was to continue. In some cases, the certification of two doctors is required, particularly for Abortions at later gestations. There are also physical restrictions on access, such as in South Australia and the Northern Territory where Abortion must take place in a hospital. Only in the ACT has Abortion been removed from the criminal Law altogether. Variations in the Law and restrictions arising from these are not consistent with the aims and provision of the universal, accessible health care system aspired to in Australia. There is an urgent need for overall reform and the introduction of uniformity to Australia's Abortion Laws, including removal of Abortion from the criminal Law.

  • making it legal Abortion providers knowledge and use of Abortion Law in new south wales and queensland
    Australian & New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 2013
    Co-Authors: Caroline De Costa, Heather Douglas, Kirsten I Black
    Abstract:

    Objectives To explore the knowledge of state Abortion Law of doctors providing Abortion in New South Wales and Queensland, their attitudes towards this Law, and their application of both knowledge and attitudes to their day-to-day practice of Abortion. Design and participants Qualitative study using interviews of twenty-two medical practitioners agreeing to participate and identified as providing surgical and/or medical Abortions in NSW or Queensland. Specific questions about practice as well as responses to ten common clinical scenarios formed the basis of each interview. Main outcome measures Familiarity of participants with Abortion Law of their state, documentation of views on legality and probable availability of Abortion in each scenario provided. Results All participants were aware that Abortion in their state is covered by criminal legislation, which they believe is out-of-date with current medical practice, in particular with regard to the diagnosis of serious fetal abnormality, and that there is limited case Law to assist doctors in a defence to a charge of Abortion. All were concerned about requirements to conform to state Law when agreeing to provide Abortion services to women, and about the possible constraints of these requirements on women's accessibility to Abortion services. Conclusions Review and reform of Abortion Laws in Queensland and NSW, as has occurred in other states and territories, has the potential to bring the Law into conformity with current medical practice and to clarify the legal position of doctors providing Abortion services, thereby providing an opportunity to improve women's accessibility to these services. © 2013 The Authors ANZJOG

  • knowledge of Abortion Law and provision of Abortion services amongst tertiary students in far north queensland
    Australian & New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 2012
    Co-Authors: Tegan Phillips, Caroline De Costa, Jessica Eltherington, Cindy Woods
    Abstract:

    Abortion is an important health issue for Australian women, yet there are large variations across Australia in Abortion service provision and in state Laws regulating Abortion practice. We conducted a survey of tertiary students in Far North Queensland to ascertain their knowledge of local Abortion services and of Abortion Law in Queensland. Important gaps were demonstrated in their knowledge of the Law and of the availability of Abortion services.

John A Robertson - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • science disputes in Abortion Law
    Texas Law Review, 2015
    Co-Authors: John A Robertson
    Abstract:

    I. IntroductionDisputes over science to justify Law or policy are rife in bioethical settings, as they are in many areas of Law. Abortion is an especially fertile ground for such disputes. The medical context makes science relevant, and both sides in the Abortion debate are strongly motivated to seek scientific support for their positions. Abortion Law provides yet another occasion to examine how legal institutions develop procedures for resolving differences among experts and determining the role of scientific claims in justifying Law and policy.Initially, the Abortion debate concerned whether fetuses were living human beings. Opponents of Abortion appealed to the science of biology, which showed that fetuses are indeed human, living, and individual. However, this biological fact did not mean that they are persons within the protection of the Law.1 Here the science is not in doubt-all agree that the fetus is individual, living, and human. What is contested is whether biological status in itself confers the moral and legal rights of human persons, a distinctively nonscientific question. The Supreme Court's answer since 1973 has been consistently "no." Rights as persons do not attach until a live separation from the pregnant woman. A state may choose to protect fetuses after viability, but this accords them no constitutional status as persons.Rather, the scientific disputes of concern arise from government efforts to restrict Abortion in ways other than direct prohibition. These efforts arose after Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey2 reaffirmed the essence of Roe v. Wade3 but opened the door to a variety of other regulations. Gonzales v. Carhart,4 in upholding a federal ban on partial-birth Abortions, gave further impetus to a restrictive regulatory strategy. The resulting Laws, sometimes referred to as Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP) Laws, have used medical and social-science claims about the health effects of outpatient Abortions, the need for fully informed consent, the effect on women who have to travel far to obtain Abortions, the safety of medication Abortions, the neurological development needed to experience pain, and the like to support their restrictions on Abortion. Sometimes there are studies available, but they may report correlations, case reports, or observations rather than statistically significant scientific findings often used in environmental, criminal justice, or drugapproval contexts. Legislators and courts, however, may treat such data as if it had that authority.Regardless of the reliability of the data, scientific disputes in Abortion Law involve conflicts about fact-based restrictions on Abortion when there are different expert views of what that medical or social-science data show. Those desiring to restrict Abortion must first persuade legislatures to accept their view of the relevancy of the "science" which they proffer. If strictures are passed, the battle usually shifts to the judicial arena, where courts are then pressed with determining the accuracy or relevancy of the science as presented by experts on either side.The role of courts dealing with Abortion challenges is not simply to act like a science court or peer advisory group to pronounce on what is the best or most accurate view of the facts. Rather, it is to answer the specific legal questions that frame and limit the judicial role in assessing those facts. The relevancy of the science will depend on the specific legal questions raised by the challenge. Depending on the statute at issue, the evidence presented, and the relevant legal standard, weak science may be sufficient to uphold a Law that many expert observers believe is highly questionable on scientific grounds. Changing constitutional standards, such as a more precise elaboration of the undue burden test or rethinking the viability line, may shiftthe weight accorded to one set of experts and the standard of validity that the science must meet. …

  • science disputes in Abortion Law
    2015
    Co-Authors: John A Robertson
    Abstract:

    This article shows how different views of the undue burden test determine how courts will handle Abortion restrictions, e.g., whether they use a rational basis or a balancing approach. Focusing on the Fifth Circuit's decisions upholding Texas restrictions on Abortion, it argues that the Supreme Court should adopt a balancing test for determining whether a burden is undue.

Heather Douglas - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Time to repeal outdated Abortion Laws in New South Wales and Queensland.
    The Medical journal of Australia, 2016
    Co-Authors: Heather Douglas, Caroline De Costa
    Abstract:

    This article suggests that recent developments regarding Abortion Law in NSW and Queensland carry significant implications for doctors.

  • Abortion Law across Australia--A review of nine jurisdictions.
    The Australian & New Zealand journal of obstetrics & gynaecology, 2015
    Co-Authors: Caroline De Costa, Julie Hamblin, Heather Douglas, Philippa Ramsay, Mandy Shircore
    Abstract:

    This article reviews the current legal status of Abortion in Australia and its implications. Australian Abortion Law has been a matter for the states since before Federation. In the years since Federation there have been significant reforms and changes in the Abortion Laws of some jurisdictions, although not all. Across Australia there are now nine sets of Laws, state and Commonwealth, concerned with Abortion. The test of a Lawful Abortion varies greatly across jurisdictions. In a number of states and territories, it is necessary to establish a serious risk to the physical or mental health of the woman if the pregnancy was to continue. In some cases, the certification of two doctors is required, particularly for Abortions at later gestations. There are also physical restrictions on access, such as in South Australia and the Northern Territory where Abortion must take place in a hospital. Only in the ACT has Abortion been removed from the criminal Law altogether. Variations in the Law and restrictions arising from these are not consistent with the aims and provision of the universal, accessible health care system aspired to in Australia. There is an urgent need for overall reform and the introduction of uniformity to Australia's Abortion Laws, including removal of Abortion from the criminal Law.

  • making it legal Abortion providers knowledge and use of Abortion Law in new south wales and queensland
    Australian & New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 2013
    Co-Authors: Caroline De Costa, Heather Douglas, Kirsten I Black
    Abstract:

    Objectives To explore the knowledge of state Abortion Law of doctors providing Abortion in New South Wales and Queensland, their attitudes towards this Law, and their application of both knowledge and attitudes to their day-to-day practice of Abortion. Design and participants Qualitative study using interviews of twenty-two medical practitioners agreeing to participate and identified as providing surgical and/or medical Abortions in NSW or Queensland. Specific questions about practice as well as responses to ten common clinical scenarios formed the basis of each interview. Main outcome measures Familiarity of participants with Abortion Law of their state, documentation of views on legality and probable availability of Abortion in each scenario provided. Results All participants were aware that Abortion in their state is covered by criminal legislation, which they believe is out-of-date with current medical practice, in particular with regard to the diagnosis of serious fetal abnormality, and that there is limited case Law to assist doctors in a defence to a charge of Abortion. All were concerned about requirements to conform to state Law when agreeing to provide Abortion services to women, and about the possible constraints of these requirements on women's accessibility to Abortion services. Conclusions Review and reform of Abortion Laws in Queensland and NSW, as has occurred in other states and territories, has the potential to bring the Law into conformity with current medical practice and to clarify the legal position of doctors providing Abortion services, thereby providing an opportunity to improve women's accessibility to these services. © 2013 The Authors ANZJOG

Rebecca J. Cook - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Abortion Law in transnational perspective cases and controversies introduction el aborto en el derecho transnacional casos y controversias introduccion
    2016
    Co-Authors: Rebecca J. Cook
    Abstract:

    English Abstract: As this introduction illustrates, Abortion Law in Transnational Perspective: Cases and Controversies 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. 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 summarized in this introduction 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.Spanish Abstract: El debate juridico y judicial sobre el aborto ha tenido, a lo largo del siglo XX y principios del XXI, importantes revoluciones en su abordaje teorico y practico, que son expresion de estrategias de sectores sociales, religiosos y politicos que en ocasiones resultan contrapuestas.Este es un completo balance dinamico sobre las nuevas transiciones actuales y posibles y los desarrollos juridicos mas significativos a nivel transnacional en el tema del aborto, y da cuenta del nuevo desarrollo conceptual que concibe la idea de que no solo la sancion penal, sino tambien la amenaza de la sancion penal, ponen en riesgo derechos fundamentales de las mujeres.

  • Abortion Law in Transnational Perspective: Cases and Controversies - Abortion Law in Transnational Perspective: Cases and Controversies
    2014
    Co-Authors: Rebecca J. Cook, Joanna N. Erdman, Bernard M. Dickens
    Abstract:

    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.

  • Abortion Law in transnational perspective cases and controversies
    2014
    Co-Authors: Rebecca J. Cook, Joanna N. Erdman, Bernard M. Dickens
    Abstract:

    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.

  • Abortion Law in Transnational Perspective: Cases and Controversies - Introduction
    2014
    Co-Authors: Rebecca J. Cook, Joanna N. Erdman, Bernard M. Dickens
    Abstract:

    As this introduction illustrates, Abortion Law in Transnational Perspective: Cases and Controversies 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. 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 summarized in this introduction 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.

  • human rights dynamics of Abortion Law reform
    Human Rights Quarterly, 2003
    Co-Authors: Rebecca J. Cook, Bernard M. Dickens
    Abstract:

    The legal approach to Abortion is evolving from criminal prohibition towards accommodation as a life-preserving and health-preserving option particularly in light of data on maternal mortality and morbidity. Modern momentum for liberalization comes from international adoption of the concept of reproductive health and wider recognition that the resort to safe and dignified healthcare is a major human right. Respect for women’s reproductive self-determination legitimizes Abortion as a choice when family planning services have failed been inaccessible or been denied by rape. Recognition of women’s rights of equal citizenship with men requires that their choices for self-determination be legally respected not criminalized. (authors)

Bernard M. Dickens - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Abortion Law in Transnational Perspective: Cases and Controversies - Abortion Law in Transnational Perspective: Cases and Controversies
    2014
    Co-Authors: Rebecca J. Cook, Joanna N. Erdman, Bernard M. Dickens
    Abstract:

    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.

  • Abortion Law in transnational perspective cases and controversies
    2014
    Co-Authors: Rebecca J. Cook, Joanna N. Erdman, Bernard M. Dickens
    Abstract:

    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.

  • Abortion Law in Transnational Perspective: Cases and Controversies - Introduction
    2014
    Co-Authors: Rebecca J. Cook, Joanna N. Erdman, Bernard M. Dickens
    Abstract:

    As this introduction illustrates, Abortion Law in Transnational Perspective: Cases and Controversies 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. 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 summarized in this introduction 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.

  • human rights dynamics of Abortion Law reform
    Human Rights Quarterly, 2003
    Co-Authors: Rebecca J. Cook, Bernard M. Dickens
    Abstract:

    The legal approach to Abortion is evolving from criminal prohibition towards accommodation as a life-preserving and health-preserving option particularly in light of data on maternal mortality and morbidity. Modern momentum for liberalization comes from international adoption of the concept of reproductive health and wider recognition that the resort to safe and dignified healthcare is a major human right. Respect for women’s reproductive self-determination legitimizes Abortion as a choice when family planning services have failed been inaccessible or been denied by rape. Recognition of women’s rights of equal citizenship with men requires that their choices for self-determination be legally respected not criminalized. (authors)

  • international developments in Abortion Law from 1988 to 1998
    American Journal of Public Health, 1999
    Co-Authors: Rebecca J. Cook, Bernard M. Dickens, L E Bliss
    Abstract:

    OBJECTIVES: In 2 successive decades since 1967, legal accommodation of Abortion has grown in many countries. The objective of this study was to assess whether liberalizing trends have been maintained in the last decade and whether increased protection of women's human rights has influenced legal reform. METHODS: A worldwide review was conducted of legislation and judicial rulings affecting Abortion, and legal reforms were measured against governmental commitments made under international human rights treaties and at United Nations conferences. RESULTS: Since 1987, 26 jurisdictions have extended grounds for Lawful Abortion, and 4 countries have restricted grounds. Additional limits on access to legal Abortion services include restrictions on funding of services, mandatory counseling and reflection delay requirements, third-party authorizations, and blockades of Abortion clinics. CONCLUSIONS: Progressive liberalization has moved Abortion Laws from a focus on punishment toward concern with women's health and...