The Impact of the Reagan Administration's International Population Policy on Human Rights Relating to Health and the Family

The U.S. Mexico City Policy is an international population policy implemented in developing countries that undercuts the very values it claims to strengthen. The author argues that it also violates accepted and developing norms of international law, including the right to health and developing standards linking family planning and the rights of women. The author notes that it also violates basic principles of non-retrogression in the promotion of economic and social rights and respect for the sovereignty of other nations. The article ends with a note of caution on the utility of litigation premised on international standards, but suggests that international legal principles can form an integral part of legislative and public education strategies critical of the Mexico City Policy. [Descriptors: Reproductive Rights - Overview, International]