Reproductive Rights are Human Rights 2009
Women’s reproductive rights are essential to realizing a wide range of fundamental human rights. In particular, women’s lives, liberty and security, heath, autonomy, privacy, equality and non-discrimination and education, among others, cannot be protected without ensuring that women can determine when, how and whether to bear children, control their bodies and sexuality, access essential sexual and reproductive health information and services, and be free from violence.
There is reciprocity between women’s reproductive rights and a larger human rights framework. Just as women’s human rights cannot be realized without promoting women’s reproductive rights, reproductive rights draw their meaning and force from long-recognized human rights. Together, they form a constructive dialogue about the meaning of human rights, revealing the impact of laws and policies upon women.
The publication Reproductive Rights are Human Rights was created to facilitate greater understanding of the legal foundations of women’s reproductive rights. Specifically, the publication reviews the core human rights that underlie reproductive rights, including provisions of internationl and regional human rights treaties and statements from international consensus documents adopted at United Nations conferences. The book is a tool for activists, scholars, non-governmental organizations and other civil society actors seeking to protect and promote reproductive rights.
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