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May 10, 2007
Kenyan woman
Amnesty’s decision follows rulings by international human rights bodies that acknowledge the obligations of states to ensure safe abortion care.
Photo courtesy of Richard Lord

Reuters reported yesterday that human rights organization Amnesty International has adopted a broader sexual and reproductive health policy that calls on states to ensure that women have access to safe abortion care under certain circumstances.  The agency took this step following two years of consultations with health and human rights experts, and Amnesty International’s 2.2 million members in 74 countries.  The process grew out of its Campaign to Stop Violence Against Women, which has been documenting human rights violations against women that may lead to unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortions.

Ipas welcomes Amnesty’s new position.  “This is an important step from an outspoken advocate for human rights,” said Charlotte Hord Smith, Ipas Policy Director.  “Every year, 19 million women with no better option will seek an unsafe abortion, causing nearly 70,000 preventable deaths and hospitalizing approximately 5 million women.  The policy recognizes that women are unfairly penalized for exercising their basic human rights.”

In its new policy, Amnesty calls on nations to

The Programme of Action of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, and the Platform for Action of the 1995 World Conference on Women in Beijing each called on nations to make abortion safe and accessible where the procedure is legal.  Only a handful of countries ban abortion entirely without exception; most permit abortions under at least some circumstances, such as to protect a woman’s life or health.  However, even if they meet the conditions for legal abortion, women may not be able to find safe abortion care.

Amnesty’s decision follows rulings by international human rights bodies that acknowledge the obligations of states to ensure safe abortion care.  In 2005, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the primary body that monitors human rights in the Americas, declared that Mexico had violated the human rights of Paulina Ramirez, a 13-year old Mexican girl who was denied a legal abortion by the public-health system after she was raped — even though abortion is legal following rape in that country. In the case of KL v Peru that same year, the United Nations Human Rights Committee ruled that the rights of a 17-year old Peruvian girl had been violated when health officials denied her a therapeutic abortion although her fetus carried a fatal abnormality. Finally, in April, the European Court of Human Rights awarded damages to a 36-year old Polish woman whose eyesight was threatened by an unplanned pregnancy and called on Poland to establish clear guidelines to ensure access to legal abortion when pregnancy threatens a woman's health.

Amnesty International joins Human Rights Watch (HRW), which in 2005 adopted a policy that states “equitable access to safe abortion services is first and foremost a human right,” and acknowledges the impact of restrictive abortion laws on women’s health.   According to HRW’s website, “Where abortion is safe and legal, no one is forced to have one. Where abortion is illegal and unsafe, women are forced to carry unwanted pregnancies to term or suffer serious health consequences and even death.”

“In countries with restrictive abortion laws, women – particularly poor, rural and young women – will risk their lives to end an unwanted pregnancy,” Hord Smith said. “By adopting this policy, Amnesty will be better able to expose these egregious human rights violations.”  

For more information, contact:
Kirsten Sherk
Senior Associate, Media Relations
e-mail: sherkk@ipas.org
phone: 919.960.5612
fax: 919.929.0258