Defending Rights & Saving Lives: 2010 Accomplishments
No woman should have to risk her life because she cannot get the essential reproductive care she deserves. This tenet is the cornerstone of the Center for Reproductive Rights work. Looking back at 2010, the Center is proud of how it has advanced toward that vision and has helped to restore dignity and freedom for thousands of women here at home and around the world.
As this year comes to an end, and we prepare for the challenges of a new year, the Center would like to take a moment to remember all that was accomplished in 2010. Below is a just a partial list of our efforts to ensure that access to reproductive healthcare is a core part of every woman’s essential human rights.
- Litigated more than 20 cases in nine states, directly affecting more 12 million women’s access to the full range of legal options for choosing when and whether to have children.
- Tracked more than 600 anti-choice bills in state legislatures across the U.S. and immediately monitored those that passed for legal action.
- The Center completed its second major fact-finding mission in the Philippines and published a report, Forsaken Lives: The Harmful Impact of the Philippine Abortion Ban, which exposes the devastating consequences of the ban on women’s health and human rights.
- Blocked two laws in Oklahoma that included a host of abortion restrictions, including a requirement for women seeking abortion to hear a detailed description of an ultrasound.
- Protected patient privacy and abortion providers’ rights in Arizona by favorably settling our long-time challenge to a 1999 law regulating abortion providers.
- Fought on Capitol Hill to strike down federal bans on abortion funding and combat the sacrifice of reproductive rights in the healthcare debate.
- Released the fact-finding report, Whose Choice? How the Hyde Amendment Harms Poor Women, at a briefing on Capitol Hill with Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), and Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL).
- Provided critical legal assistance in 10 reproductive rights cases in courts across the globe, four cases before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and six cases before the European Court of Human Rights.
- Brought cases to ensure that Poland’s abortion laws are upheld by medical staff and that women who seek abortions are not harassed.
- Advocated successfully for changes in Kenya’s constitution to better protect women’s reproductive rights and issued a hard-hitting report on abortion in Kenya, where 35% of maternal deaths are caused by unsafe, illegal abortions.
- Convened representatives from dozens of NGOs in Central America, Mexico, and the Spanish Caribbean to meet with a high-ranking United Nations’ representative to discuss sexual and reproductive health challenges in their countries.
- Issued a hard-hitting report, Dignity Denied: Violations of the Rights of HIV-Positive Women in Chilean Health Facilities, exposing widespread abuses against HIV-positive Chilean women.
