Are My Human Rights Respected If I Am Denied Abortion?

Three weeks ago, we celebrated International Women’s Day worldwide. Although women’s rights are at the forefront on the 8th March each year, for the rest of the year a grey heavy cloud of disregard slowly clouds this picture and significant issues affecting women’s rights are ignored.

Amongst these increasingly forgotten issues is the curtailing of the right to abortion. It seems irrelevant to even consider abortion problematic in our liberal and democratic society, yet we do not have to go far away to understand that “Medieval times” have followed us, bringing with them dogmas and taboos as inseparable shadows. We wash our hands of these issues, assuming they only are limited to developing or least-developed countries. Yet, numerous of our European neighbours don’t allow legal abortion, or, if

they do so, only in extremely strict and exceptional circumstances, such as rape or the mother’s precarious health.

Although the international human rights framework has developed measures to legalise abortion, therefore influencing regional and domestic legislations and policies, it is only recently that Ireland, for example, overturned the abortion ban. Until May 2018, under the Irish Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013, Abortion was criminalised in almost all circumstances, and a woman who obtained an abortion could be imprisoned for a period of up to 14 years. Data show that prior to the repeal of the Eighth Amendment, 7 women travelled every day to access abortion outside Ireland. Even more shocking are the cases of Savita Halappanavar, who died after being denied abortion, and of the suicidal teenager asylum-seeker who, as a consequence of rape and torture, was not allowed to get an abortion. Yet, as of January 2019, only 200 medical practitioners are willing to perform abortions. This shows how, unfortunately, stigma and isolation of women who want to get an abortion still persist in Irish society.

Ireland, however, is not the only European country in the list. According to the World Economic Forum, Malta, Andorra and San Marino, for example, do not allow abortion in any circumstance. In particular, a recent article from an Italian newspaper discusses how in the Republic of San Marino, the women’s voice is only taken into consideration if she consents to die for the foetus’ survival. Furthermore, Liechtenstein, Poland and Monaco only allow abortion to save a woman’s life.

In South America, countries such as Colombia, Jamaica, and Bolivia have liberalised abortion laws by directly incorporating international human rights standards into their domestic legal systems, but only four countries in this region do not impose restrictions on abortion. A few weeks ago, an 11 year old Argentinian girl was forced to give birth to her rapist’s child, even after two suicide attempts. She was entitled to her right to abortion, which is legal under Argentinian law solely in extreme cases, such as sexual abuse. Yet, she was not given the choice.

These are only some examples of extreme situations in which women may find themselves. The right to abortion is a fundamental human right, to which every woman shall be entitled to, without any discrimination. As suggested by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, criminalisation of health services that only women require is a form of discrimination against women. Every woman shall be entitled to her reproductive rights, and prejudice and shame for carrying out or supporting such a practice must not be endorsed.

However, there is more to this issue. Both Human Rights Watch and the United Nations suggest that criminalisation of health services and, therefore, restrictive abortion policies increase the number of unsafe abortions and dangerous consequences, such as mortality and incurable diseases. Indeed, 47,000 women die each year as a consequence of unsafe abortions.

In the UN Human Rights Committee General Comment No 36 of 2018 on the right to life, a separate paragraph is directed to issues relating to abortion. The Human Rights Committee calls for measures that must not violate Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, encompassing the prohibition of torture and degrading treatment, nor violate the right to privacy. States must now allow safe and legal abortion procedures for all women and girls.