Cook, Rebecca J.

This article summarizes a decision given by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, which was created to monitor CEDAW compliance by its member states. In the case, Alyne da Silva Pimentel Teixeira v. Brazil, the Committee held that the Brazilian government was accountable for a preventable maternal death, in breach of CEDAW. The article goes on to analyze the effects of the Alyne decision, which was groundbreaking in legitimizing the need for countries to implement and effectively monitor policies to prevent maternal mortality. The

The authors note that a systmatic review of national and international developments regarding abortion showed that the progressive liberalization of abortion laws between 1967-1977 and 1977-1988 generally has been maintained during the last decade. This article traces devlopments in national legislation, leading court decisions, and constitutional provisions on abortion worldwide and analyzes United Nations conference documents, observations made by the committees that monitor government compliance with international human rights conventions, and the interpretative literature since 1988.

This article looks at the causes and potential solutions to the high incidence of unsafe motherhood in developing countries. Various causes include social conventions favoring early marriage or creating women's powerlessness to resist unprotected intercourse with HIV/AID infected men; inadequate access to health care and qualified health care providers; and religiously based laws. Part of the article focuses on abortion rights and their socio-economic dimensions.

This article proposed that the legal approach to abortion is evolving from criminal prohibition towards accommodation as a life-preserving and health-perserving option, particularly in light of data on maternal mortality and morbidity. The authors assert that the modern momentum for liberalization comes from international adoption of the concept of reproductive health, and wider recognition that the resort to safe and dignified healthcare is a major human right.

This paper addresses the application of international human rights law to women, using cases of alleged discrimination based on sex or marital status, arising under international, regional, and specialized treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The author assesses the extent to which such discrimination interferes with the right to enjoy private or family life, attain resident status, receive social security, and receive equal protection of the law.

This article considers legal principles being adopted by states globally that help shape the scope of laws and regulations that improve access to women's reproductive and sexual health services. First, the authors stress the importance of evidence-based treatment and decision- making, unbiased by religious, political and moral beliefs. For example, emergency contraception has become increasingly available to women in countries that have embraced an evidence-based approach to creating and applying laws. Second, they identify a movement towards clearer and

This Article addresses the specific duties of

This article explores how developments in the international law of state responsibility can be applied to ensure more effective protection of women's human rights. Part II explores the scope of state responsibility and discusses the advantages of using feminist legal methods, empirical data, and documentation of actual abuses to expose violations of human rights. Part III explores how to redress violations under the traditional law of state responsibility, and how to strengthen supportive legal doctrines to prevent, remedy, and punish violations.

The authors note that in many countries a spouse, usually the husband, can veto a partner's use of family planning services and that where spousal veto acts as a barrier to family planning services, it represents a serious threat to the lives and health of women and children. The authors point out that removal of spousal authorization requirements has been shown to increase the use of family planning services and that courts of several countries have held that spousal veto practices violate principles of personal privacy and autonomy and the right to health care.

This article explores the nature of states' duties to respect, protect and fulfill reproductive rights.It outlines the means to hold states accountable at the international level to implement reproductive rights. It analyzes how events-based and standard-based data can be used to show whether states are in compliance with or in violation of their obligations to implement reproductive rights and to determine the effectiveness of remedies.