Reproductive rights are the most controversial of all women’s rights. Impassioned defenders of women’s autonomy rights argue with equally impassioned defenders of fetal rights. The former contend that women can never be free to determine their own destiny in life if they cannot decide when and whether to bear children, a right ultimately guaranteed only by the right to choose abortion at any time. The latter contend that a fertilized cell (zygote), an embryo, or a fetus is an “unborn baby” whose innocent life must always take precedence over the rights of the pregnant woman, even if she must die as a consequence of giving birth. Between these two extremes lie many variations. For example, most abortion rights advocates accept some limits on the availability of abortion. They would concede that once the fetus is viable, the woman should have the right to choose abortion only where her life or health is at stake. Similarly, many fetal rights proponents would allow abortion where the woman might die during childbirth or the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.
Each document has its own box. The box contains, on the top bold line, the name of the document. This is followed by the legal citation (not in bold). Under these lines, the box contains one or more sources for opening the document. In the left-hand column (“HTML”or “PDF”), the reader can access the official document copy, hosted on RossRights. This permits rapid access to the document. In the right-hand column (“External Link”), the reader can access the same document on an official website. This link will often take more time to appear than the PDF or HTML copy, but should be used for official legal citations. Where there is an asterisk (*) in the box, it indicates that there is an explanatory footnote directly below the box, which tells the reader how to access/locate the document.
For all United Nations Treaties, the source marked "Original" contains the UN General Assembly Resolution (G.A. res.) adopting the relevant treaty, which is found in the "Annex" following the Resolution. The source marked "UN High Comm'r for Human Rights" contains the relevant treaty, without the G.A. res. When following a link that requires searching for a symbol, there are several preliminary steps: first, copy the listed symbol and click the link, second; select a language; third, clicking the "Simple Search" button; and fourth, paste the symbol into the "Symbol" blank and click the "Search" button.
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Huamán v. PeruA. S. v. Hungary
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410 U.S. 113 (1973). |
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| AltLaw | HTML | External Link |
Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania et al. v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992). |
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| United States Reports | External Link* | |
*Scroll Down to numbered page 833; the text of the opinion begins on numbered page 843.
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550 U. S. ___ (2007) (slip opinion). |
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| United States Reports | External Link* | |
*Note: The text of the opinion begins on the eighth page of the .pdf, or the second page that is numbered "1."
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Communication No. 1153/2003, UN Doc. CCPR/C/85/D/1153/2003 (2005). |
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| UN Human Rights Committee | External Link* | |
*Search for Symbol: CCPR/C/85/D/1153/2003
Peru is located in Western South America, bordering the South Pacific Ocean, between Chile and Ecuador.
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U. N. Doc. CEDAW/C/36/D/4/2004 (2006). |
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| Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women | External Link | |
Hungary is located in Central Europe, northwest of Romania.
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Case 2141, Inter-Am. C.H.R. Resolution 23/81, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.54, Doc. 9 rev. 1 (1981). |
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| Inter-American Commission on Human Rights | HTML | External Link |
| Concurring Decision of Dr. Andres Aguilar M. | HTML | External Link |
| Dissenting Opinions of Drs. Marco Gerardo Monroy Cabra and Luis Demetrio Tinoco Castro | HTML | External Link |
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40 Eur. H.R. Rep. 259 (2004). |
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| European Court of Human Rights | HTML | External Link* |
*Instructions: Search for Case Title: "Vo v. France"; select CASE OF VO V. FRANCE
from result list.
Written Comments by Center for Reproductive Rights on Vo v. France, Vo v. France, 40 Eur. Hr.R. Rep. 259 (2004). |
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| Center for Reproductive Rights | External Link | |
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), G.A. res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 52, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), 999 U.N.T.S. 171, entered into force Mar. 23, 1976. |
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| Original | External Link | |
| UN High Comm'r for Human Rights | External Link | |
| U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights | External Link* |
| University of Minnesota Human Rights Library | External Link |
| Bayefsky.com | External Link |
*Instructions: Select relevant treaty-based body and then select "Sessions" from the
left-side toolbar, select desired session
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, G.A. res. 34/180, 34 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 46) at 193, U.N. Doc. A/34/46, entered into force Sept. 3, 1981. |
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| Original | External Link | |
| UN High Comm'r for Human Rights | External Link* | |
*Note: To view the text of the Convention, scroll past the "Introduction."
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, General Recommendation 24, Women and Health (Twentieth session, 1999), U.N. Doc. A/49/38 at 1 (1994), reprinted in Compilation of General Comments and General Recommendations Adopted by Human Rights Treaty Bodies, U.N. Doc. HRI/GEN/1/Rev.6 at 250 (2003). |
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| United Nations | External Link | |
[European] Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, (ETS 5), 213 U.N.T.S. 222 entered into force Sept. 3, 1953, as amended by Protocol 11 (ETS 155) which entered into force May 11, 1994. |
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| European Court of Human Rights | External Link | |
Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, Adopted by the 2nd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union, Maputo, CAB/LEG/66.6 (Sept. 13, 2000); reprinted in 1 Afr. Hum. Rts. L.J. 40, entered into force Nov. 25, 2005. |
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| African Union | External Link | |
| African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights | HTML | External Link |
| G.A. res. 44/25, annex, 44 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 49) at 167, U.N. Doc. A/44/49 (1989), entered into force Sept. 2 1990. | ||
| Original | External Link* | |
| UN High Comm'r for Human Rights | External Link | |
*Scroll to and click on A/RES/44/25.
American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, O.A.S. Res. XXX, reprinted in Basic Documents Pertaining to Human Rights in the Inter-American System, OAS/Ser.L/V/I.4 Rev. 9 (2003); 43 AJIL Supp. 133 (1949). |
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| Inter-American Commission on Human Rights | HTML | External Link |
American Convention on Human Rights, O.A.S.Treaty Series No. 36, 1144 U.N.T.S. 123, entered into force July 18, 1978, reprinted in Basic Documents Pertaining to Human Rights in the Inter-American System, OEA/Ser.L.V/II.82 doc.6 rev.1 at 25 (1992). |
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| Inter-American Commission on Human Rights | HTML | External Link |
| Organization of American States Office of International Law | HTML | External Link |
African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, OAU Doc. CAB/LEG/24.9/49 (1990), entered into force Nov. 29, 1999. |
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| African Union | External Link | |
Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery, 226 U.N.T.S. 3, entered into force April 30, 1957. |
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| UN High Comm'r for Human Rights | External Link | |
China is located in Southeast Asia, on the Pacific Ocean and the China Sea, between North Korea and Russia on the North and Vietnam and Laos on the South.
India is located in South Asia, on the Indian Ocean between Burma and Bangladesh on the East and Pakistan on the West; it is bordered in the North by the Himalayas, including China, Nepal, and Bhutan.