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...
An important step forward for victims of sexual violence in Colombia
On paper, it looked like a victory for women’s rights. The government of Colombia enacted historic legislation to address the country’s epidemic of sexual violence – one heightened by decades...
Let’s Talk about Sex Education and Human Rights
Despite a proposal by four prominent House of Commons Committees and various professional organisations, the Minister of Education announced on February 11, 2016 that age-appropriate sex and relationship education, including...
State-sponsored virginity: South Africa’s Maidens’ Bursary Scheme
It’s clearly not yet 2016 in the UThukela District in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, where the municipality recently decided (for a second year) to institute the “Maidens’ Bursary Awards”. These...
China’s Two-Child Policy: An Assault on Human Rights
At the end of October 2015, the Chinese government announced that it would end its one-child policy by replacing it with the two-child policy. China’s two-child policy is a false...
Regulating Assisted Reproductive Technologies in India
India’s reported decision to ban surrogacy for foreigners has received plenty of news coverage and analysis in Indian and international media over the past week. This post is a comment...
The High Court of Delhi on Pregnancy and Sex Discrimination
This July, the High Court of Delhi handed down a landmark decision concerning sex discrimination under the Indian Constitution. Article 15(1) of the Constitution prohibits the State from discriminating “on...
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...
Grand Chamber of the ECtHR to Review Limitations on Choice of Birthplace for Women
Dubská and Krejzová v the Czech Republic has been referred to the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights after the successful submission of the League of Human...
Abortion Law in Ireland: A Model for Change
Ireland has an extremely restrictive abortion law regime. Since the introduction of the 8th Amendment in 1983, the Constitution has recognised the “right to life of the unborn” in a...
