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.
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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.
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Roe v. Wade, |
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| Opinion* | HTML | External Link |
*HTML is from Altlaw.org. External Link is from the Cornell University Legal Information Institute.
Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania et al. v. Casey, |
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| United States Reports | External Link* | |
*The opinion begins on p. 883.
Gonzales v. Carhart, |
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| United States Reports | External Link | |
Huamán v. Peru, 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.
Human Rights Committee, General Comment 28, Equality of Rights between Men and women 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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| UN High Comm'r for Human Rights | HTML | External Link |
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.10 (2000). |
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| Original | External Link* | |
| UN High Comm'r for Human Rights | External Link | |
*Scroll to and click on 2200(XXI).
Concluding Observations by U.N. Treaty Bodies |
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| U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights | External Link* |
| University of Minnesota Human Rights Library | External Link |
| Bayefsky.com | External Link |
*Select relevant treaty-based body, select "Sessions" from the left-side toolbar, then
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* | |
*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 | |
A.S. v. Hungary, 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.
White v. United States, 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 |
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 |
Vo v. France, 40 Eur. H.R. Rep. 259 (2004). |
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| European Court of Human Rights | HTML | External Link* |
*Search for "Vo v. France" and click on the first result.
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 | |
[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 |
CEDAW Committee, Concluding Observations: China (1999)U.N. Doc. A/54/38 (1999), paragraphs 251-336. |
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| UN High Comm'r for Human Rights | External Link* | |
CEDAW Committee, Concluding Observations: India (2000)U.N. Doc. A/55/38 (1999), paragraphs 30-90. |
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| UN High Comm'r for Human Rights | External Link* | |
Convention on the Rights of the Child, 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. |
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| Original | External Link* | |
| UN High Comm'r for Human Rights | External Link | |
*Search for symbol "A/44/49" and click on the second result.
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 | |
Committee on the Right of the Child, General Comment No. 4 (2003), |
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| United Nations | External Link | |
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, General Recommendation 21, Equality in Marriage and Family Relations (Thirteenth session, 1994), 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 153 (2003). |
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| United Nations | 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.