Abortion and reproductive health rights address the legal framework surrounding access to abortion, contraception, maternal health, and reproductive autonomy. This includes laws defining permissible procedures, gestational limits, and the rights of pregnant people.
Patricia Mansilla Martínez, a member of the Bolivian Parliament, challenged the constitutionality of several articles of the Criminal Code on the basis that they discriminated against women. The Court held that some of the challenged articles were unconstitutional and upheld others.
Under the Brazilian Criminal Code, it is illegal to terminate a pregnancy, as well as to kill a child during childbirth, or shortly thereafter. Under Article 124, it is a crime for someone to cause an abortion on themselves or to allow others to cause it, either of which carries a sentence of 1-3 years of imprisonment. Article 125 prohibits anyone from practicing an abortion on a pregnant woman without her consent and imposes a sentence of 3-10 years of imprisonment. Article 126 imposes a 1-4-year prison sentence to anyone who practice an abortion with pregnant woman’s consent.
In 2004, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court (Supremo Tribunal Federal or “STF”) considered a claim brought by the National Trade Union of Health Workers and ANIS (Institute of Bioethics, Human Rights, and Gender) to determine whether terminating a pregnancy in which the fetus suffers from anencephaly (absence of major portion of the brain, skull, and scalp) violates the prohibition on abortion as set forth in Brazil’s Penal Code.
The case concerned abortion, the right to life, the right to health, and the right to self-determination. The court ruled for the partial decriminalization of abortion and set circumstances under which voluntary termination of pregnancy would be permissible. The Criminal Code previously criminalized voluntary abortion with one to three years of imprisonment.
The law outlines clinic conditions to perform safe abortions, provisions for post-abortion care, the situations in which abortions can be given, definitions of the different types of pregnancies and abortions, and instructions for how to handle situations in which the woman is incapable of giving a written or verbal consent. Some acceptable abortion circumstances include if the woman’s life or physical health is at risk, the pregnancy is a result of a sexual assault or failed contraceptive, or if the woman has HIV or AIDS.
A Mississippi abortion clinic and one of its physicians challenged a Mississippi state law, called the Gestational Age Act (“GAA”), which made it illegal for women to obtain abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The plaintiffs sought a temporary restraining order to prevent the GAA’s enforcement during the trial, which was granted. The district court, and later the Fifth Circuit, found that the GAA was unconstitutional pursuant to Roe v.
A Massachusetts statute made it illegal to give “drugs, medicine, instrument or article whatever for the prevention of contraception” to any unmarried person. The plaintiff, found guilty of violating the statute, challenged its constitutionality, claiming it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. The Court held that a statute preventing unmarried people from obtaining contraception was unconstitutional.
Article 317 states that causing or directly aiding in causing an abortion, by any means, is punishable by two to five years in prison. This includes women who undergo an abortion, provided that the abortion is successful.
The Employment of Women (Maternity Leave) Act of Barbados provides all employees who can become pregnant the right to maternity leave and the protection of their employment during such leave.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits covered employers from discriminating against applicants, as well as current and former employees, based on race, gender, color, religion, or national origin. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 amended Title VII to include a prohibition of discrimination based on pregnancy in its prohibition of gender discrimination. The Act prohibits discrimination based on current, past, or potential pregnancy.
