The Center celebrated the recent concluding observations on Ecuador, Croatia and Moldova from the U.N. Human Rights Committee, which reaffirm the obligation of these states to guarantee reproductive rights. The Committee’s concluding observations responded directly to issues the Center raised in shadow letters as well as in a briefing before Committee members in October 2009. […]
Last month, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights heard a challenge to Ireland’s restrictive abortion law, one of the most stringent in the region. The Center for Reproductive Rights and the University of Toronto Law School filed an friend-of-the-court brief in the case in September 2008. Ireland Bans Abortion to Protect […]
On September 25, the Center and its Slovak partners organized a seminar in Bratislava, Slovakia on the affordability of birth control. Many Slovak women are unable to get birth control because of its high cost. The seminar is part of a larger effort by the Center, ProChoice Slovakia, and Citizen and Democracy to get the […]
The Slovak Parliament has recently passed amendments to the abortion law that would restrict access to legal abortion services. The Center and its partners are steadfastly advocating against their passage. In early June 2009, the Center initiated a sign-on letter which was joined by dozens of other international Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) to Slovak government officials […]
Dear Honorable: Prime Minister of the Government of the Slovak Republic, Robert Fico Deputy Prime Minister for Knowledge-based Society, European Affairs, Human Rights and Minorities, Dušan Čaplovič Minister of Health Care, Richard Raši Minister of Labour, Social Affairs and Family, Viera Tomanová Minister of Foreign Affairs, Miroslav Lajčák, Speaker of the National Council of […]
The Romanian Parliament has revised a proposed amendment that would have effectively banned abortion after the 24th week or pregnancy, even if the woman’s life or health is in danger. The revision came after the Center for Reproductive Rights and a coalition of Romanian human rights groups voiced opposition to the amendment. As originally written, […]
In April 2005, the Center filed an amicus brief with the European Court of Human Rights in support of a woman, D., who alleged that Ireland’s prohibition of abortion constitutes a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. Filing date: April 2005 Country/Region: Ireland Plaintiff(s): D., a woman who was pregnant with twins, decided […]
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 […]
For Teen Girl in Poland, Even a Legal Abortion Is Hard to Get P (formerly referred to using the psuedo name Agata), a 14-year-old girl was legally entitled to an abortion under Polish law. But when she sought to end her unwanted pregnancy, multiple hospitals refused to perform the procedure. One even went so far […]
The European Court of Human Rights held on March 20, 2007, for the first time, that governments have a duty to establish effective mechanisms for ensuring that women have access to abortion where it is legal. The case centers on the tragic story of Alicja Tysiąc, a Polish woman who nearly went blind because she […]