UN SG: Criminalizing abortion violates the right to health

By Susan Yoshihara, Ph.D. | September 15, 2011

During the sleepiest time at the UN, the Secretary General saw fit to release a major policy document calling for universal decriminalization of abortion as an imperative of human rights and human dignity. Shameful.

Below are some pertinent excerpts from this gravely disordered document, A/66/254 (3 August 2011).

“Criminal laws and other legal restrictions affecting sexual and reproductive
health may amount to violations of the right to health.

Public morality cannot serve as a justification for
enactment or enforcement of laws that may result in human rights violations,
including those intended to regulate sexual and reproductive conduct and decisionmaking.

Criminal laws penalizing and restricting induced abortion are the paradigmatic
examples of impermissible barriers to the realization of women’s right to health and
must be eliminated. These laws infringe women’s dignity and autonomy by severely
restricting decision-making by women in respect of their sexual and reproductive
health.

Criminal prohibition of abortion is a very clear expression of State interference
with a woman’s sexual and reproductive health because it restricts a woman’s
control over her body, possibly subjecting her to unnecessary health risks. Criminal
prohibition also requires women to continue unplanned pregnancies and give birth
when it is not their choice to do so. States are obliged to ensure that women are not
denied access to necessary post-abortion medical services, irrespective of the
legality of the abortion undertaken.

States must take measures to ensure that legal and safe abortion services are
available, accessible, and of good quality.

Absolute prohibition under criminal law deprives women of access to what, in
some cases, is a life-saving procedure. Even where a clandestine abortion can be
performed in a relatively safe, hygienic setting, it may be financially inaccessible
for

The criminalization of abortion also has a severe impact on mental health. The
need to seek illegal health services and the intense stigmatization of both the
abortion procedure and women who seek such procedures can have deleterious
effects on women’s mental health.21 In some cases, women have committed suicide
because of accumulated pressures and stigma related to abortion.22 the most vulnerable women.

Maternal health, prenatal and post-natal care, and access to information, are all
elements of the right to health elaborated under General Comment No. 14.
Additionally, article 10.2 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights provides that special protection should be accorded to mothers.

Criminalization of conduct during pregnancy impedes access to health-care
goods and services, infringing the right to health of pregnant women. Where women
fear criminal prosecution, they may be deterred from accessing health services and
care, as well as pregnancy-related information.

Recommendations

65. In applying a right-to-health approach, States should undertake reforms
toward the development and implementation of policies and programmes
relating to sexual and reproductive health as required by international human
rights law. In that context, the Special Rapporteur calls upon States to:

(h) Decriminalize abortion, including related laws, such as those
concerning abetment of abortion;

(i) Consider, as an interim measure, the formulation of policies and
protocols by responsible authorities imposing a moratorium on the application
of criminal laws concerning abortion, including legal duties on medical
professionals to report women to law enforcement authorities;

(j) Ensure safe, good quality health services, including abortion, using
services, in line with WHO protocols;”

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