|
Victory
in Nebraska - Court Strikes Down Federal Abortion Ban
On September 8, the Center scored a significant victory in our challenge to the "Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003," when U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf ruled that the federal abortion ban signed into law by President Bush in November was unconstitutional and "a significant health hazard to women."
In Carhart v. Ashcroft, Judge Kopf said that the ban would outlaw some of the safest and most common methods of abortion, starting early in the second trimester of pregnancy.
He also said that in passing the ban, Congress tried to turn "on its head" an earlier Supreme Court decision that found a similar ban unconstitutional (Stenberg v. Carhart). The Center for Reproductive Rights represented the lead plaintiff, Dr. LeRoy Carhart, in that case as well.
This is the third time a federal judge has ruled against the bill in challenges mounted by pro-choice organizations. Last month, a New York judge declared the ban was unconstitutional. And in June, a San Francisco judge also enjoined the law. The Justice Department has already filed an appeal of the San Francisco case and will likely seek appeals in the other two cases as well.
Learn
more about Carhart v. Ashcroft
|
|
|
Countdown
2015: Achieving Abortion Rights
Although women’s access to safe and legal abortion has improved over
the past ten years, there are still many countries where abortion remains
inaccessible and illegal. In late August, the Center’s Laura Katzive,
along with representatives of two other organizations, led a workshop
identifying successful strategies for achieving abortion rights and women-centered
abortion care. The workshop, "From Controversy to Consensus on Abortion,"
was part of Countdown 2015: Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
for All, a London conference marking the tenth anniversary of the International
Conference on Population and Development. At Countdown 2015, 500 delegates
from the global NGO community affirmed their commitment to work for basic
sexual and reproductive health care services to all women by 2015—through
their own efforts and by pressing their governments to meet the commitments
they made at ICPD in 1994.
Learn
more about Countdown 2015: Achieving Abortion Rights
Reproductive
Rights in the European Court of Human Rights
In the past few decades, European countries have made significant advances
in women’s reproductive rights, but the struggle is far from over.
A new briefing paper from the Center, Reproductive Rights in the European
Court of Human Rights, describes how the court can be used to further
women’s reproductive rights.
Because the Court enforces the European Convention on Human Rights, it
can be an important tool to advance reproductive rights in the region.
The Court can receive complaints charging a country with violations of
the Human Rights Convention and can issue legally binding judgments. The
paper gives a background on the European human rights system, and examines
the most important judgments on reproductive rights and how they can be
used to advance related reproductive rights issues. It also includes information
on how to bring a claim before the Court. The paper is particularly useful
for advocates in East Central Europe and the Newly Independent States
of the Former Soviet Union because compliance with reproductive rights
standards in those regions is generally weaker than in Western Europe.
Center Seeks Justice
for Romani Women Forcibly Sterilized
For two years, the Center has sought justice on behalf of Romani women who were forcibly sterilized in state-run hospitals in Slovakia. Now the Center and two European-based legal partners have filed a case before the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of three women, demanding that the government of Slovakia be held accountable. The action comes after both the government and the courts failed to address the women's complaints.
The case charges that the government violated the women's right to privacy, to have a family, and to be free from inhuman and degrading treatment. It also accuses the government of discriminating against the women, based on their gender and on their Romani ethnicity.
Learn more about the Center's work in Slovakia
|
|
|
|
