Editing Reproductive rights (section)

===Abortion===
{{Further|Abortion law|Abortion-rights movements}}
According to a study by WHO and the Guttmacher Institute worldwide, 25 million [[unsafe abortion]]s (45% of all abortions) occurred every year between 2010 and 2014. 97% of unsafe abortions occur in developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. By contrast, most abortions that take place in Western and Northern Europe and North America are safe.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2017/unsafe-abortions-worldwide/en/|title=Worldwide, an estimated 25 million unsafe abortions occur each year|website=World Health Organization}}</ref>

The [[Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women]] considers the criminalization of abortion a "violations of women's sexual and reproductive health and rights" and a form of "gender-based violence"; paragraph 18 of its ''General recommendation No. 35 on gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19'' states that: "Violations of women's sexual and reproductive health and rights, such as forced sterilizations, forced abortion, forced pregnancy, criminalisation of abortion, denial or delay of safe abortion and post-abortion care, forced continuation of pregnancy, abuse and mistreatment of women and girls seeking sexual and reproductive health information, goods and services, are forms of [[violence against women|gender based violence]] that, depending on the circumstances, may amount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment."<ref name="tbinternet.ohchr.org">{{cite web|url=https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CEDAW/Shared%20Documents/1_Global/CEDAW_C_GC_35_8267_E.pdf |title=General recommendation No. 35 on gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 |author=Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women |publisher=UN Human Rights |date=14 July 2017 |access-date=23 October 2020}}</ref> The same ''General Recommendation'' also urges countries at paragraph 31 to [...] "In particular, repeal:
a) Provisions that allow, tolerate or condone forms of gender-based violence against women, including [...] legislation that criminalises abortion."<ref name="tbinternet.ohchr.org"/>

An article from the World Health Organization calls safe, legal abortion a "[[fundamental right]] of women, irrespective of where they live" and [[unsafe abortion]] a "silent [[pandemic]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/unsafe_abortion/ua_paper/en/index.html|title=WHO: Unsafe Abortion – The Preventable Pandemic|access-date=16 January 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100113104553/http://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/unsafe_abortion/ua_paper/en/index.html|archive-date=13 January 2010}}</ref> The article states "ending the silent pandemic of unsafe abortion is an urgent [[public health|public-health]] and [[human-rights]] imperative." It also states "access to safe abortion improves [[women's health]], and vice versa, as documented in [[Romania]] during the regime of President [[Nicolae Ceaușescu]]" and "legalisation of abortion on request is a necessary but insufficient step toward improving women's health" citing that in some countries, such as India where abortion has been legal for decades, access to competent care remains restricted because of other barriers. WHO's Global Strategy on Reproductive Health, adopted by the World Health Assembly in May 2004, noted: "As a preventable cause of maternal mortality and morbidity, unsafe abortion must be dealt with as part of the MDG on improving maternal health and other international development goals and targets."<ref name="who.int">{{cite web|url=https://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/topics/unsafe_abortion/hrpwork/en/index.html |title=WHO &#124; Preventing unsafe abortion |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=17 February 2015}}</ref> The WHO's Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP), whose research concerns people's sexual and reproductive health and lives,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.who.int/hrp/en/ |title=HRP &#124; World Health Organization |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=17 February 2015}}</ref> has an overall strategy to combat unsafe abortion that comprises four inter-related activities:<ref name="who.int"/>
* to collate, synthesize and generate scientifically sound evidence on unsafe abortion prevalence and practices;
* to develop improved technologies and implement interventions to make abortion safer;
* to translate evidence into norms, tools and guidelines;
* and to assist in the development of programmes and policies that reduce unsafe abortion and improve access to safe abortion and high quality post-abortion care

The UN has estimated in 2017 that repealing anti-abortion laws would save the lives of nearly 50,000 women a year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=55141|title=UN News – Repealing anti-abortion laws would save the lives of nearly 50,000 women a year – UN experts|author=United Nations News Service Section |date=27 September 2016|website=UN News Service Section}}</ref> 209,519 abortions take place in England and Wales alone.<ref>{{Cite web|date=11 June 2020|title=Abortion Statistics, England and Wales: 2019|url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/891405/abortion-statistics-commentary-2019.pdf}}</ref> Unsafe abortions take place primarily in countries where abortion is illegal, but also occur in countries where it is legal. Despite its legal status, an abortion is ''[[de facto]]'' hardly optional for women due to most doctors being [[conscientious objector]]s.<ref>{{Cite news|
url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/11/italian-gynaecologists-refuse-abortions-miscarriages|title=Seven in 10 Italian gynaecologists refuse to carry out abortions|journal=The Guardian|last1=Kirchgaessner |first1=Stephanie|last2=Duncan|first2=Pamela|last3=Nardelli|first3=Alberto|last4=Robineau|first4=Delphine|date=11 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Milekic|first=Sven|
url=http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/doctors-refusal-to-perform-abortions-divides-croatia-02-13-2017|title=Doctors' Refusal to Perform Abortions Divides Croatia |website=Balkan Insight|date=14 February 2017}}</ref> Other reasons include the lack of knowledge that abortions are legal, lower socioeconomic backgrounds and spatial disparities.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Upadhyay|first1=Ushma D.|last2=Jones|first2=Rachel K.|last3=Weitz|first3=Tracy A.|date=2013|title=At What Cost? Payment for Abortion Care by U.S. Women|journal=Women's Health Issues|volume=23|issue=3|pages=173–178|doi=10.1016/j.whi.2013.03.001|pmid=23660430|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Bearak|first1=Jonathan M.|last2=Burke|first2=Kristen L.|last3=Jones|first3=Rachel K.|date=2017|title=Disparities and change over time in distance women would need to travel to have an abortion in the USA: a spatial analysis|journal=The Lancet Public Health|volume=2|issue=11|pages=493–500|doi=10.1016/S2468-2667(17)30158-5|pmid=29253373|pmc=5943037}}</ref>{{Globalize inline|US|date=October 2020|reason=Any financial barriers outside the US?}} Concerns have been raised about these practical considerations; the UN in its 2017 resolution on ''Intensification of efforts to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls: domestic violence'' urged states to guarantee access to "safe abortion where such services are permitted by national law".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/71/170|title=Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 19 December 2016: 71/170. Intensification of efforts to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls: domestic violence |date=7 February 2017 |access-date=23 October 2020 |website=United Nations}}</ref> In 2008, [[Human Rights Watch]] stated that "In fact, even where abortion is permitted by law, women often have severely limited access to safe abortion services because of lack of proper regulation, health services, or political will" and estimated that "Approximately 13 percent of maternal deaths worldwide are attributable to unsafe abortion—between 68,000 and 78,000 deaths annually."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/legacy/women/abortion.html|title=Women's Human Rights: Abortion|website=Human Rights Watch}}</ref>

The [[Maputo Protocol]], which was adopted by the [[African Union]] in the form of a protocol to the [[African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights]], states at Article 14 (Health and Reproductive Rights) that: "(2). States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to: [...] c) protect the reproductive rights of women by authorising medical abortion in cases of sexual assault, rape, incest, and where the continued pregnancy endangers the mental and physical health of the mother or the life of the mother or the foetus."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.achpr.org/instruments/women-protocol/#14|title=Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa / Legal Instruments / ACHPR|website=ACHPR|access-date=19 June 2019}}</ref> The Maputo Protocol is the first international treaty to recognize abortion, under certain conditions, as a woman's human right.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.achpr.org/instruments/general-comment-two-rights-women/|title=General Comment No. 2 on Article 14.1 (a), (b), (c) and (f) and Article 14. 2 (a) and (c) of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa / Legal Instruments / ACHPR|website=ACHPR|access-date=19 June 2019}}</ref>

The ''General comment No. 36 (2018) on article 6 of the [[International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights]], on the right to life'', adopted by the [[Human Rights Committee]] in 2018, defines, for the first time ever, a human right to abortion – in certain circumstances (however these UN general comments are considered [[soft law]],<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/un-human-rights-treaty-bodies/general-comments-of-the-human-rights-committee-and-their-legitimacy/EF8328BB5B2B3EC932E44C45E192EB9B|title=General Comments of the Human Rights Committee and their legitimacy|last1=Grover|first1=Leena|last2=Keller|first2=Helen|editor1-first=Helen|editor1-last=Keller|editor2-first=Geir|editor2-last=Ulfstein|date=April 2012|website=UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies: Law and Legitimacy|pages=116–198|doi=10.1017/CBO9781139047593.005|isbn=9781139047593|access-date=19 June 2019}}</ref> and, as such, not legally binding).

<blockquote>Although States parties may adopt measures designed to regulate voluntary terminations of pregnancy, such measures must not result in violation of the right to life of a pregnant woman or girl, or her other rights under the Covenant. Thus, restrictions on the ability of women or girls to seek abortion must not, inter alia, jeopardize their lives, subject them to physical or mental pain or suffering which violates article 7, discriminate against them or arbitrarily interfere with their privacy. ''States parties must provide safe, legal and effective access to abortion where the life and health of the pregnant woman or girl is at risk, and where carrying a pregnancy to term would cause the pregnant woman or girl substantial pain or suffering, most notably where the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest or is not viable.'' In addition, States parties may not regulate pregnancy or abortion in all other cases in a manner that runs contrary to their duty to ensure that women and girls do not have to undertake unsafe abortions, and they should revise their abortion laws accordingly. For example, they should not take measures such as criminalizing pregnancies by unmarried women or apply criminal sanctions against women and girls undergoing abortion or against medical service providers assisting them in doing so, since taking such measures compel women and girls to resort to unsafe abortion. States parties should not introduce new barriers and should remove existing barriers that deny effective access by women and girls to safe and legal abortion, including barriers caused as a result of the exercise of conscientious objection by individual medical providers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CCPR/Shared%20Documents/1_Global/CCPR_C_GC_36_8785_E.pdf |title=General comment No. 36 (2018) on article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, on the right to life |author=Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights |publisher=UN Human Rights |date=30 October 2018 |access-date=23 October 2020}}</ref></blockquote>

When negotiating the Cairo Programme of Action at the 1994 [[International Conference on Population and Development]] (ICPD), the issue was so contentious that delegates eventually decided to omit any recommendation to legalize abortion, instead advising governments to provide proper post-abortion care and to invest in programs that will decrease the number of unwanted pregnancies.<ref>{{cite book|title=Reproductive Rights in a Global Context |last= Knudsen |first=Lara |year=2006 |publisher=Vanderbilt University Press |isbn=978-0-8265-1528-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/reproductiverigh0000knud/page/6 6] |url=https://archive.org/details/reproductiverigh0000knud |url-access=registration}}</ref>

On 18 April 2008 the [[Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe]], a group comprising members from 47 European countries, adopted a resolution calling for the decriminalization of abortion within reasonable gestational limits and guaranteed access to safe abortion procedures. The nonbinding resolution was passed on 16 April by a vote of 102 to 69.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.guttmacher.org/media/inthenews/2008/04/18/index.html |title=Council of Europe Urges Member States to Decriminalize Abortion |publisher=Guttmacher.org |date=18 April 2008 |access-date=17 February 2015}}</ref>

During and after the ICPD, some interested parties attempted to interpret the term "reproductive health" in the sense that it implies abortion as a means of family planning or, indeed, a right to abortion. These interpretations, however, do not reflect the consensus reached at the Conference.
For the European Union, where legislation on abortion is certainly less restrictive than elsewhere, the Council Presidency has clearly stated that the Council's commitment to promote "reproductive health" did not include the promotion of abortion.<ref>European Parliament, 4 December 2003: Oral Question (H-0794/03) for Question Time at the part-session in December 2003 pursuant to Rule 43 of the Rules of Procedure by Dana Scallon to the Council. In the written record of that session, one reads: Posselt (PPE-DE): "Does the term 'reproductive health' include the promotion of abortion, yes or no?" – Antonione, Council: "No."</ref> Likewise, the European Commission, in response to a question from a Member of the European Parliament, clarified:<ref>European Parliament, 24 October 2002: Question no 86 by Dana Scallon (H-0670/02)</ref>

<blockquote>The term reproductive health was defined by the United Nations (UN) in 1994 at the Cairo International Conference on Population and Development. All Member States of the Union endorsed the Programme of Action adopted at Cairo. The Union has never adopted an alternative definition of 'reproductive health' to that given in the Programme of Action, which makes no reference to abortion.</blockquote>

With regard to the U.S., only a few days prior to the Cairo Conference, the head of the U.S. delegation, Vice President Al Gore, had stated for the record:<ref>Jyoti Shankar Singh, Creating a New Consensus on Population (London: Earthscan, 1998), 60</ref>

<blockquote>Let us get a false issue off the table: the US does not seek to establish a new international right to abortion, and we do not believe that abortion should be encouraged as a method of family planning.</blockquote>

Some years later, the position of the U.S. administration in this debate was reconfirmed by U.S. Ambassador to the UN, [[Ellen Sauerbrey]], when she stated at a meeting of the UN Commission on the Status of Women that: "nongovernmental organizations are attempting to assert that Beijing in some way creates or contributes to the creation of an internationally recognized fundamental right to abortion".<ref>Lederer, AP/''San Francisco Chronicle'', 1 March 2005</ref> She added: "There is no fundamental right to abortion. And yet it keeps coming up largely driven by NGOs trying to hijack the term and trying to make it into a definition".<ref>Leopold, Reuters, 28 February 2005</ref>

Collaborative research from the [[Institute of Development Studies]] states that "access to safe abortion is a matter of human rights, democracy and public health, and the denial of such access is a major cause of death and impairment, with significant costs to [international] development".<ref name=IDS2009>{{cite journal|url=http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/121649491/issue |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130105065424/http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/121649491/issue |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 January 2013 |title=Unsafe Abortion: A Development Issue |journal=Institute of Development Studies (IDS) Bulletin |volume=39 |date=July 2009 |issue=3}}</ref> The research highlights the inequities of access to safe abortion both globally and nationally and emphasises the importance of global and national movements for reform to address this. The shift by campaigners of reproductive rights from an issue-based agenda (the right to abortion), to safe, legal abortion not only as a human right, but bound up with democratic and citizenship rights, has been an important way of reframing the abortion debate and reproductive justice agenda.<ref name=IDS2009 />

Meanwhile, the [[European Court of Human Rights]] complicated the question even more through a landmark judgment (case of ''[[A. B. and C. v. Ireland]]''), in which it is stated that the denial of abortion for health and/or well-being reasons is an interference with an individual's right to respect for private and family life under Article 8 of the [[European Convention on Human Rights]], an interference which in some cases can be justified.