Right to Reproductive Health As Legal Avenue for Access to Safe Abortion in Ireland, Poland and Croatia
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Right to reproductive health as legal avenue for access to safe abortion in Ireland, Poland and Croatia by Lejla Hodžić LL.M in Human Rights, Long Thesis Professor: Judit Sandor CEU eTD Collection Legal Studies Department Central European University 1051 Budapest, Nador utca 9. Hungary © Central European University November 2018 Table of Contents Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................ iii Executive Summary .................................................................................................................. iv Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 1 a) Gap in the research .......................................................................................................... 1 b) Explanation of jurisdictions ............................................................................................ 1 Chapter I Access to safe abortion in international human rights framework and in legislation of Ireland, Poland and Croatia ............................................................................. 2 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 2 Development of reproductive rights and access to safe abortion ........................................... 4 Right to reproductive health and its importance for access to safe abortion ...................... 7 Women’s right to life ........................................................................................................ 13 Woman’s right to private life/privacy ............................................................................... 14 Woman’s right to freedom from cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment ..................... 16 Legal framework on abortion in Ireland, Poland and Croatia .............................................. 17 Abortion as an inextricable part of national identity – shaping legal history of abortion in Ireland, Poland and Croatia ............................................................................................... 17 Ireland ............................................................................................................................... 22 Poland ............................................................................................................................... 29 Croatia ............................................................................................................................... 33 Unsafe abortion as a health concern and liberal theory of rights ......................................... 37 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 38 Chapter II Practical realities determining effective access to abortion ........................... 39 Looking beyond substantive law in assessing effective access to abortion.......................... 39 General Comment No. 14 of the CESCR and accessibility of abortion ............................... 40 Factors determining accessibility of abortion in practice ..................................................... 41 Legal certainty................................................................................................................... 42 Criminalization of abortion ............................................................................................... 46 CEU eTD Collection Conscientious objection .................................................................................................... 50 Procedural rights in accessing abortion ................................................................................ 57 Analysis of procedural rights of women accessing abortion in legislative framework of Ireland, Poland and Croatia ............................................................................................... 59 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 63 Chapter III Right to health and reproductive health in Ireland, Poland and Croatia ... 64 i Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 64 Right to health and reproductive health in Ireland, Poland and Croatia: Analysis of the legal framework ............................................................................................................................. 65 Economic accessibility of abortion ....................................................................................... 72 Enforcement and justiciability of the right to reproductive health ....................................... 78 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 83 Chapter IV Gender in health care ....................................................................................... 83 The importance of gender responsive laws and policies in protecting women’s rights ....... 83 Nature of reproductive health care ....................................................................................... 85 Gender discrimination in health care .................................................................................... 91 International obligations on gender equality in health care .............................................. 92 Gender discrimination in health care of Ireland, Poland and Croatia ............................... 93 Eradicating gender discrimination in health care ................................................................. 99 Using scientific evidence in creation of abortion laws ................................................... 100 Increasing women’s decision-making power .................................................................. 103 Reproductive rights and other human rights ....................................................................... 105 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 107 Chapter V Recommendations ............................................................................................ 107 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 107 What human rights-based approach in reproductive health care means? ........................... 110 Applying human rights-based approach in substantive law on abortion in Ireland, Poland and Croatia .......................................................................................................................... 113 Human rights-based approach application on procedural law on abortion in Ireland, Poland and Croatia .......................................................................................................................... 117 Application of human rights-based approach on procedural law in Ireland ................... 119 Application of human rights-based approach on procedural law on abortion in Poland 121 Application of human rights-based approach to procedural law on abortion in Croatia 122 Right to remedy .................................................................................................................. 123 CEU eTD Collection Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 124 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................... 126 ii Abbreviations CESCR - Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights CEDAW Committee - Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women ECHR - European Convention on Human Rights ECtHR - European Court on Human Rights CEDAW - International Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women ICCPR - International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ICESCR - International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights NHF - National Health Fund ICPD Programme of Action Cairo - Programme of Action: Adopted at the International Conference on Population and Development, Cairo PLAC - Pro-life Amendment Campaign SFRY - Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia UDHR - Universal Declaration of Human Rights OHCHR - UN High Commissioner for Human Rights CEU eTD Collection WHO - World Health Organization iii Executive Summary Fight for access to safe abortion and legal guarantee of it have mainly focused on the right to reproductive choice and women’s autonomy. Despite unsafe abortion being a public health concern, abortion is rarely discussed as a matter of reproductive health endangering women’s health and lives. While reproductive autonomy remains the pillar of women’s access to safe abortion, alone it is insufficient to guarantee legal and effective abortion in societies which have a history of institutionalized gender discrimination and where abortion is a complex social construct. The thesis argues how right to reproductive health can be a legal ground for ensuring effective access to safe abortion, since it imposes positive obligations on states to fulfill elements and conditions of reproductive health care in domestic systems. The thesis analyzes how