Abortion Law in Transnational Perspective: Cases and Controversies - (Introduction) (El aborto en el derecho transnacional: Casos y controversias: Introducción)

Spanish: (Mexico: CIDE/FCE, 2016), pp. 15-24; English: (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014), pp. 1-10

20 Pages Posted: 9 Jan 2017

See all articles by Rebecca J. Cook

Rebecca J. Cook

University of Toronto - Faculty of Law

Joanna N. Erdman

Dalhousie University - Schulich School of Law

Bernard Dickens

University of Toronto - Faculty of Law

Date Written: 2016

Abstract

English Abstract: As this introduction illustrates, Abortion Law in Transnational Perspective: Cases and Controversies offers a fresh look at significant transnational legal developments in recent years, examining key judicial decisions, constitutional texts, and regulatory reforms of abortion law in order to envision ways ahead.

While the United States and Western Europe may have been the vanguard of abortion law reform in the latter half of the twentieth century, Central and South America are proving to be laboratories of thought and innovation in the twenty-first century, as are particular countries in Africa and Asia. Abortion Law in Transnational Perspective offers a fresh look at significant transnational legal developments in recent years, examining key judicial decisions, constitutional texts, and regulatory reforms of abortion law in order to envision ways ahead.

The chapters summarized in this introduction investigate issues of access, rights, and justice, as well as social constructions of women, sexuality, and pregnancy, through different legal procedures and regimes. They address the promises and risks of using legal procedure to achieve reproductive justice from different national, regional, and international vantage points; how public and courtroom debates are framed within medical, religious, and human rights arguments; the meaning of different narratives that recur in abortion litigation and language; and how respect for women and prenatal life is expressed in various legal regimes. By exploring how legal actors advocate, regulate, and adjudicate the issue of abortion, this timely volume seeks to build on existing developments to bring about change of a larger order.

Spanish Abstract: El debate jurídico y judicial sobre el aborto ha tenido, a lo largo del siglo XX y principios del XXI, importantes revoluciones en su abordaje teórico y práctico, que son expresión de estrategias de sectores sociales, religiosos y políticos que en ocasiones resultan contrapuestas.

Éste es un completo balance dinámico sobre las nuevas transiciones actuales y posibles y los desarrollos jurídicos más significativos a nivel transnacional en el tema del aborto, y da cuenta del nuevo desarrollo conceptual que concibe la idea de que no sólo la sanción penal, sino también la amenaza de la sanción penal, ponen en riesgo derechos fundamentales de las mujeres.

Note: Downloadable document is available in Spanish and English.

Keywords: abortion law, abortion, termination of pregnancy, jurisprudence, human rights, el aborto, interrupción del embarazo,jurisprudencia, derechos humanos

JEL Classification: K10, J13, I18

Suggested Citation

Cook, Rebecca J. and Erdman, Joanna N. and Dickens, Bernard, Abortion Law in Transnational Perspective: Cases and Controversies - (Introduction) (El aborto en el derecho transnacional: Casos y controversias: Introducción) (2016). Spanish: (Mexico: CIDE/FCE, 2016), pp. 15-24; English: (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014), pp. 1-10, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2882243

Rebecca J. Cook (Contact Author)

University of Toronto - Faculty of Law ( email )

78 Queen's Park Cr.
Toronto, Ontario M5S 2C5
Canada
416-978-4446 (Phone)
416-978-7899 (Fax)

Joanna N. Erdman

Dalhousie University - Schulich School of Law ( email )

6061 University Avenue
6061 University Ave
Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4H9
Canada

Bernard Dickens

University of Toronto - Faculty of Law ( email )

78 and 84 Queen's Park
Toronto, Ontario M5S 2C5
Canada
416-978-4849 (Phone)
416-978-7899 (Fax)

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