In September 2005, the Center filed an amicus brief on behalf of Tysiac—a visually impaired Polish woman who was denied access to legal abortion on health grounds—arguing for States’ duty to ensure effective access to legal abortion by establishing appeals and review mechanisms for medical decisions about abortion, regulating the practice of conscientious objection, and […]
UN Committee Establishes States’ Obligation to Address Maternal Mortality (Updated 3.18.21) In the first-ever maternal mortality case decided by an international human rights body, the United Nations’ Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW Committee) condemned Brazil for failing to provide timely, nondiscriminatory, and appropriate maternal health services to Alyne Da Silva. The Committee recognized that States have a human rights obligation to […]
This state court action is a companion case to CRR’s federal court action against a Louisiana civil liability law that allows abortion providers to be sued for every single abortion they perform. See our federal case, Hope Medical Group for Women v. Lorraine LeBlanc >, Filing date: 07/23/2007 State: Louisiana Plaintiff(s): Brittany Prudhome Center Attorney(s): Stephanie Toti, Bonnie Scott Jones, Michelle Movahed, Rebecca Hart Co-Counsel/Cooperating Attorneys: Allison […]
Nepal’s Supreme Court Orders Access to Legal Abortion Services (Updated 3.18.21) Nepal’s Supreme Court concluded that the government must guarantee access to safe and affordable abortion services. The court ordered Nepal to adopt a comprehensive abortion law establishing a national fund for abortion costs, ensuring stronger safeguards for women’s privacy, promoting access to safe services for all women, and widely disseminating information […]
Landmark Ruling Will Help Protect Schoolgirls from Sexual Violence Throughout Latin America
Filing date: Case admitted to IACHR in March 2004 Country/Region: , LAC Plaintiff(s): Patients of Dr. Gerardo Escalante López and Dr. Delia Ribas who were fertilized with in-vitro fertilization techniques Center Attorney(s): , Luisa Cabal and Lilian Sepúlveda Partners: Gerardo Trejos Salas Summary: In December 2004, the Center submitted an amicus brief before the Inter-American […]
CRR, along with the California Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (CARAL), California Planned Parenthood Education Fund, and the California Medical Society, participated as amici (friends-of-the-court) in this case, arguing in favor of the constitutionality of the Women’s Contraception Equity Act (WCEA), a law that requires California employers who provide health care coverage and a […]
European Court of Human Rights Rules Poland’s Denial of Legal Reproductive Care Violates Human Rights (Updated 4.01.21) The European Court of Human Rights ruled that Poland’s failure to ensure the applicant’s timely access to prenatal diagnostic examinations and information, which would have enabled her to decide whether or not to seek a legal abortion, violated her rights under the European Convention […]
The Center for Reproductive Rights participated as an amicus (friend-of-the-court) in this case, in order to support the validity of New York’s Women’s Health and Wellness Act (WHWA), which requires employee health plans that cover prescription drugs to include coverage of FDA-approved contraceptive drugs and devices (such as oral contraceptives, diaphragms, Norplant, Depo Provera, cervical […]
UN Human Rights Committee Establishes Right to Abortion as a Human Right (Updated 3.18.21) The Center for Reproductive Rights persuaded the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) to recognize that women have a human right to access safe and legal abortion. In a ruling that has been cited extensively as precedent in other national-level court decisions on abortion access, the UNHRC established that denying access to legal abortion violates the International Covenant on […]
