Defending Human Rights: Glossary
Abortion Providers Facing Threats, Restrictions, and Harassment
40 Days for Life: An anti-choice religious organization that organizes bi-annual campaigns of forty-day long protests outside abortion clinics across the country. Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASC): Healthcare centers licensed by states to provide outpatient surgical services. In some states, abortion providers are required to meet burdensome and unnecessary personnel requirements and onerous administrative policies, as well as extensive renovations to physical facilities. These requirements are generally cost prohibitive and cannot be met by clinics or private physicians’ offices. Committee against Torture: A U.N. body charged with monitoring nations’ compliance with the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT). Countries that have ratified CAT, including the United States, report to this body every four years. Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) (adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1984): An international treaty prohibiting torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The U.S. has signed and ratified CAT. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) (adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1979): A comprehensive international treaty often described as an international bill of rights for women. It defines what constitutes discrimination against women and sets forth a national action plan for ensuring women’s equality — a framework for governmental policy to combat gender inequality. The U.S has signed, but not ratified, CEDAW. Declaration on Human Rights Defenders (adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1998): An international consensus document that does not create new rights, but rather sets forth human rights pertaining to human rights defenders, and government obligations to protect them, as provided in international human rights treaties.
Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act: A federal statute, enacted in 1994, that prohibits the use of force to obstruct, intimidate, or interfere with someone who is providing or receiving reproductive health services. The Act includes criminal penalties and provides for civil actions to obtain injunctive relief. Harris v. McRae (1980): U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld the Hyde Amendment, prohibiting federal Medicaid funding for medically necessary abortions, except in cases of rape, incest, or life endangerment. The Court also held that states are not required to fund abortions under their state Medicaid programs for which federal funds are unavailable. Human Rights Committee: A U.N. body charged with monitoring nations’ compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), one of the foundational international human rights treaties. Countries that have ratified the ICCPR, including the U.S., report to this body every four years. Human Rights Defenders: Individuals who work individually or with others to promote or protect human rights. Depending on the context in which they work, they frequently put their own lives, safety, and security on the line to defend the human rights of others. Because these courageous individuals often face heightened risks for the work they do, governments have a duty to ensure their protection. Hyde Amendment: First enacted in 1977, this amendment prohibits federal funding for abortion under the Medicaid program even when an abortion is medically necessary, except in cases of rape, incest, or life endangerment.
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) (adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1966): An international treaty protecting individuals’ civil and political human rights, such as the right to vote and the right to freedom of expression. The U.S. has signed and ratified the ICCPR.
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) (adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1966): An international treaty protecting economic, social, and cultural rights, including the rights to health and education and labor rights. The U.S. has signed, but not ratified, the treaty. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR): As one of the two principal human rights organs of the Organization of American States, monitors human rights activity throughout the Americas, including the U.S. The IACHR has a special unit within its Secretariat dedicated to working with states to improve protections for human rights defenders. KL v. Peru (2003): Decision from the U.N. Human Rights Committee that found that denying a 17-year-old, who was pregnant with an anencephalic fetus, access to a therapeutic abortion recommended by her doctors and permitted by Peruvian law violated her rights to privacy, to be free from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and to special protections for minors protected by the ICCPR. Mandatory Delay and Biased Counseling Laws: Mandatory delay refers to a requirement that a woman delay her abortion a certain number of hours or days after receiving or being offered specified state-mandated information (biased counseling). However, abortion providers routinely explain the risks and process of abortion to patients, and assure that women are making an informed decision free from coercion. Mandatory delays and biased counseling requirements serve no actual health purpose and are intended only to discourage abortion provision and decrease women’s access to abortion. Operation Rescue, Operation Save America (which originally used the name Operation Rescue): Anti-abortion organizations that seek to end all abortion in the U.S. Planned Parenthood: A non-profit organization that engages in healthcare advocacy and provides reproductive health services through affi liates throughout the U.S.
Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992): U.S. Supreme Court case that diminished the constitutional protections for abortion from the “strict scrutiny” standard for impingements on constitutional rights, replacing it with the “undue burden” test. The Court held that states may regulate abortion as long as the regulations do not place a “substantial obstacle” in a woman’s path. This ruling opened the door to a host of previously unconstitutional legal restrictions designed to deter abortion. Reproductive Rights: Reproductive rights embrace the rights to health, life, equality, information, education, privacy, freedom from discrimination, freedom from violence, and decision-making regarding whether and when to have children. These fundamental rights are found in national laws as well as international human rights treaties and consensus documents. Roe v. Wade (1973): Seminal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a woman’s right to obtain an abortion was protected under the due process clause of the Constitution. The core holding of Roe, which remains the law today, is that the government may not prohibit a woman from obtaining an abortion prior to fetal viability, but may do so after viability as long as a woman may still legally obtain an abortion to protect her life or health. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders: In 2000, following the adoption of the 1998 Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, the UN appointed a human rights expert to encourage compliance with the Declaration and to investigate and publicize the situation of human rights defenders around the world. Since 2008, this expert has been known as the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders. Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP): Laws that regulate medical practices or facilities that provide abortions by imposing burdensome requirements that are different and more stringent than regulations applied to comparable medical practices. For example, such regulations may require extensive renovations of the abortion provider’s physical facility, or require that registered nurses—who are generally in short supply and high demand nationwide—carry out functions outside their normal duties.