The Religious Views of Judges and Human Rights Adjudication: A Reply to Bamforth and Barber
Two blog contributions have recently discussed the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the US Supreme Court and what should be made of his conservative and theologically-derived views supported by...
France Risks Violating the Right to Freedom of Expression with New Abortion Law Proposals
France is set to introduce a controversial new law which criminalizes the online ‘obstruction’ of abortion. The legislation will extend existing provisions that have made it a criminal offence in...
A and B v Secretary of State for Health: a step in the right direction?
On the 2 of November 2016 the UK Supreme Court considered the case of A (by her litigation friend B) and B v Secretary of State for Health. By way...
Sexual and Reproductive Rights in the Courtroom: Litigation Strategies in Light of the Zika Outbreak
Earlier this year the World Health Organization declared a public health emergency in response to the Zika virus, stating that “the level of alarm is extremely high.” It has taken...
UN Rights Experts Warn Against the Grave Threat of Unsafe Abortions
A group of United Nations human rights experts have called on States to repeal restrictive abortion laws and policies; dismantle discriminatory barriers to access to safe reproductive health services; decriminalise...
Whole Women’s Health: A Call for Evidence-Based Regulation of Abortion
Decades ago, the medical profession helped build the public-health case for decriminalising abortion, and the Supreme Court of the United States appealed to medical science in deciding Roe v Wade....
Ireland’s Abortion Ban: Subjecting Women to Suffering and Discrimination
Ireland has one of the world’s most restrictive abortion law regimes. Following a referendum in 1983, the 8th Amendment of the Irish Constitution was inserted in the form of Article...
Conscientious Objection or Oppression: That is the Question
On 11th of August last year, the Supreme Administrative Court of Uruguay issued a judgment that recognises the fundamental right of physicians and healthcare personnel to conscientiously object to participating...
Judging Abortion in Northern Ireland: Facing the Challenges, Taking the Opportunities
The Northern Ireland legal system and, more specifically, Northern Irish courts have been thrust into the national spotlight this week following the prosecution of a 21 year old woman who...
Justice Scalia’s Repudiation of Women’s Health and Reproductive Rights
Throughout the three decades that Justice Antonin Scalia served on the United States Supreme Court, he was invariably viewed as one of the Court’s staunchest opponents of sex equality and...
Abortion in Texas: Does Casey Still Have Content?
On March 2, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court heard much awaited arguments in Whole Women’s Health v. Hellerstedt, the most important abortion case since the Court decided Planned Parenthood of...
Conscientious Objection or Conscious Oppression?: The Uphill Battle to Access Abortion Services in Uruguay
In October 2012, Uruguay passed Law 18,987 that waives criminal penalties for abortion in the first 12 weeks of gestation. Where the pregnancy results from rape, abortion is permitted in...
