Human Rights and Abortion Laws

Abstract:     
Human rights protections have developed to resist governmental intrusion in private life and choices. Abortion laws have evolved in legal practice to protect not fetuses as such but state interests, particularly in prenatal life. National and international tribunals are increasingly called upon to resolve conflicts between state enforcement of continuation of pregnancy against women's wishes and women's reproductive choices. Legal recognition that human life begins at conception does not resolve conflicts between respect due to women's reproductive self-determination and due to prenatal life. Human rights protect healthcare providers' claims to conscientious objection, but not at the cost of women's lives and enduring health.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 7

Keywords: Abortion, Prenatal life, Maternal mortality, Conscientious objection, Reproductive self-determination, Human rights

JEL Classification: I18, K19

Accepted Paper Series