UNITED STATES-ABORTION-TBs-CCPR

Concluding Observations on Report 5 (2023) (Link)

Maternal mortality, voluntary termination of pregnancy and sexual and reproductive rights

26. While welcoming the adoption of the White House Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis on 24 June 2022, the Committee is deeply concerned at the increase in maternal mortality and morbidity in the State party, which has the highest rate of maternal mortality among developed countries, with women from vulnerable and minority groups particularly affected. It is also deeply concerned that women belonging to racial and ethnic minorities, in particular women of African descent, Indigenous women and, notably, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander women, have the highest rates of maternal mortality in the country. It is concerned that, in various states, midwifery is severely restricted, banned or even criminalized, limiting the availability of culturally sensitive and respectful maternal health care for those with low incomes, those living in rural areas, people of African descent and members of Indigenous communities (arts. 2, 3, 6, 7, 17 and 26).

 27. In line with the recommendations made by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the State party should redouble its efforts to prevent and combat maternal mortality and morbidity and to eliminate discrimination and disparities in the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights, in particular racial and ethnic disparities, and integrate an intersectional and culturally respectful approach into policies and programmes aimed at improving women’s access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services and at reducing the high rates of maternal mortality and morbidity. It should take steps to remove restrictive and discriminatory legal and practical barriers to midwifery care, including those affecting midwives in communities of people of African descent and Indigenous Peoples.

28. The Committee welcomes the information provided by the State party’s delegation on the various measures adopted at the federal level to address the immediate and devastating impact on women’s health and rights of the decision of the Supreme Court of 24 June 2022 in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. However, it is alarmed at the increase in legislation, barriers and practices at the state level that impede women’s access to safe and legal abortion, such as the criminalization of various actors in connection with their role in providing or seeking abortion care, including health-care providers, persons who assist women to procure an abortion, notably family members, and pregnant women seeking an abortion. It is deeply concerned at restrictions on inter-state travel, bans on medication abortion and the surveillance of women seeking abortion care through the use of their digital data for prosecution purposes. Furthermore, the Committee is deeply concerned at the profound impact of those measures on the rights of women and girls seeking an abortion, including the rights to life, to privacy and not to be subjected to cruel and degrading treatment, and in particular at the disproportionate impact on women and girls with low incomes and from vulnerable groups, those living in rural areas and those belonging to racial and ethnic minorities (arts. 2, 3, 6, 7, 17 and 26).

 29. In the light of the Committee’s general comment No. 36 (2018) on the right to life, and in line with the recommendations made by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the State party should take all measures necessary at the federal, state, local and territorial levels to ensure that women and girls do not have to resort to unsafe abortions that may endanger their lives and health. The State party should, in particular:

(a) Provide legal, effective, safe and confidential access to abortion for women and girls throughout its territory, without discrimination and free from violence and coercion, including through the adoption of legislative initiatives such as the Women’s Health Protection Act;

(b) Put an end to the criminalization of abortion by repealing laws that criminalize abortion, including laws under which criminal sanctions may be imposed on women and girls who undergo abortion, health service providers who assist women and girls to undergo abortion and persons who assist women and girls to procure an abortion, and consider harmonizing its legal and policy framework with the abortion care guideline of the World Health Organization (2022);

(c) Ensure that the professional secrecy of medical staff and patient confidentiality are observed, including by strengthening privacy protections under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, and protect women seeking abortion care from surveillance of their personal digital data for prosecution purposes;

(d) Remove barriers currently impeding access to abortion care, including inter-state travel restrictions, and refrain from introducing new barriers;

(e) Continue its efforts to guarantee and expand access to medication abortion.

 

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69. In accordance with rule 75 (1) of the Committee’s rules of procedure, the State party is requested to provide, by 3 November 2026, information on the implementation of the recommendations made by the Committee in paragraphs 29 (maternal mortality, voluntary termination of pregnancy and sexual and reproductive rights), 61 (freedom of assembly) and 65 (voting rights) above.

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Concluding Observations on Report 4 (2014) (Link)

[no mention]

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Concluding Observations on Report 2-3 (2006) (Link)

[no mention]

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Concluding Observations on Report 1 (1995) (Link)

[no mention]

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