UN Ruling: Ecuador and Nicaragua Must Legalize Abortion to End Violations of Girls’ Human Rights

22.01.2025 (PRESS STATEMENT) — In a major victory for girls’ and women’s rights, the United Nations Human Rights Committee ruled Monday that Ecuador and Nicaragua violated the human rights of three girls who were forced into motherhood due to abortion bans in those States. In its decision, the Committee recognized that forced pregnancies and forced motherhood disrupts the personal, family, educational, and professional goals of girls, and constitutes a form of cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment by severely restricting their right to a dignified life. 

The cases of Norma (Ecuador), and Susana and Lucia (Nicaragua), were brought before the Committee in 2019 by the Center for Reproductive Rights and allied organizations. The girls were 12 and 13 years old when they became pregnant after being raped by men in positions of power and authority whom they trusted (the biological father, the grandfather, and a priest, respectively). 

Learn more about the girls’ stories 

In its decision, the Committee stated that States are obligated to ensure safe, legal, and accessible abortion services, particularly when a pregnant woman or girl’s life or health is at risk, or when the pregnancy causes significant pain or suffering, such as in cases of rape or incest. 

To fulfill this obligation, the Committee called on States to guarantee access to comprehensive health care services, including abortion, and eliminate all barriers to care. The Committee also underscored the need for States to address sexual violence through education initiatives and training for health care professionals and the legal community to deliver comprehensive care to victims of sexual violence. 

These rulings are binding to the 173 States that signed and ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which includes the United States. 

Statement from Nancy Northup, President & CEO at the Center for Reproductive Rights: 

“These rulings are a forceful and sweeping rejection of governments who deprive women and girls of their fundamental human right to bodily autonomy. For the first time in its history, the Committee acknowledged that denying abortion leads to forced pregnancies and forced motherhoods that violate girls’ rights to live with dignity, free from discrimination.  

The Committee established a necessary global standard that responds to the realities of thousands of women and girls—and affirms their right to reproductive health care. The ruling demands that governments adjust their laws to guarantee access to abortion and sex education and to increase public awareness of sexual violence.  

These decisions have the potential to change the reality of girls around the world and are a strong rebuke to U.S. President Trump’s deadly anti-abortion agenda. 

No law, religion, or tradition can ever justify forcing children to have children. Abortion bans, lack of access to reproductive health care, sexual violence, and entrenched social stigma jeopardize the lives and steal the futures of far too many girls and women like Norma, Lucia, and Susana. We are grateful to the Committee for honoring their stories. We will now work to ensure that this ruling leads to changes in the laws that caused them to suffer.”

Statement from Catalina Martínez Coral, Vice President, Latin America and the Caribbean at the Center for Reproductive Rights: 

“This is a global triumph for the feminist fight for reproductive autonomy, particularly for girls who have survived sexual violence. It stands as a powerful example of how progressive movements in Latin America and the Global South are fighting back against entrenched structures of misogyny and putting all countries on notice that international law protects reproductive rights as human rights. We cannot accept a world where girls are forced to give up their dreams to become mothers. It is essential to guarantee that all people, especially girls, have access to essential healthcare services like abortion. As a society, we have a duty to protect girls and let them live as who they truly are: girls, not mothers.”

Learn more about the Committee’s Rulings 

Allied organizations of the Center for Reproductive Rights in this litigation are: Planned Parenthood Global (Global), Mujeres Transformando el Mundo (Guatemala), El Observatorio en Salud Sexual y Reproductiva (Guatemala), Surkuna (Ecuador), Promsex (Peru) and Debevoise & Plimpton. 

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