Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Law on abortion'

Background: Restrictions on induced abortion varies widely across the globe and so does the rate of induced abortion and maternal mortality (MM). Safe abortions – done by trained providers in hygienic settings and early medical abortions carry fewer health risks and reduce maternal mortality rates (MMR). However, nearly 7 million women in developing countries are treated for complications from unsafe abortions annually, and at least 22,000 die from abortion-related complications every year. Aim: The aim was to explore national and regional patterns of abortion laws, the abortions percentages and the maternal mortality rates (MMR), to see if patterns could be distinguished and how they differentiate to each other. Method: With a shape-file containing polygons representing the world’s countries, and the computer program ArcMap, was used to gather and join data. Result: The result showed that many African countries has a restrictive abortion law, and they also have a high MMR. In the Nordic countries they have a liberalized abortion law and they have low MMR. Another finding is that a restricted abortion law does not correspond to a low percentage of abortions. This is clearly demonstrated in South America, where they have a high abortion percentage, and extremely restricted abortion laws. Conclusion: This result revealed patterns showing that countries with restricted abortion laws, does not contribute to a low MMR, and restricted abortion law does not decrease the percentage of abortions.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--George Mason University, 2007.
Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Jan. 17, 2008). Thesis directors: Charles K. Rowley, Duncan Black. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Economics. Vita: p. 206. Includes bibliographical references (p. 201-203). Also available in print.

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Este trabalho analisa os aspectos legais, princípios e axiomas jurídicos diante do julgamento da Arguição de Descumprimento de Preceito Fundamental 54 no Supremo Tribunal Federal, referente à descriminalização do aborto de feto anencéfalo, por conta da ação da Confederação Nacional dos Trabalhadores da Saúde. Para justificar o posicionamento final adotado neste estudo a respeito da temática central, perante o discurso jurídico de aborto de anencéfalos, qual seja, a inadequação do decisum pela Suprema Corte frente à defesa da vida humana, frisam-se as conquistas constitucionais, o respeito à separação dos Poderes, tendo por consequência ilegitimidade da Corte Máxima para admissão de terceira hipótese de abortamento e a valoração jurídica pela sociedade brasileira do bem supremo da vida humana; enfatiza a necessidade de invocação de princípios, observados como máximas de otimização; destaca a prevalência do princípio da dignidade da pessoa humana como um verdadeiro norteador dos demais; verifica que os princípios gerais do Direito, incluindo-se ainda os princípios bioéticos, são de suma importância para a proteção do bem maior defendido pelo princípio basilador da dignidade da pessoa humana: a preservação da vida humana. A necessidade de proteção da vida humana é corroborada com o método da redução eidética de Edmund Husserl, posto que seu enfoque central se define, na análise reducionista, pela existência de vida humana e ainda pelo denominado bioconsequencialismo. Demonstra que o caminho de autorização do abortamento de anencéfalos escolhido pela Suprema Corte causa risco aos nascituros brasileiros, como já averiguado pela propositura do anteprojeto de Reforma de Código Penal em malefício dos embriões. Finalmente, ressalta que a problemática tem incomodado diversos setores sociais, que reagem ao dilema, a ponto de ser discutido no Congresso Nacional a promulgação do Estatuto do Nascituro.
Salvador

Abortion is a difficult topic to discuss and grasp. Whether it is a dilemma of personal morals and ethics, religion, or simply the nature of the act – the privacy and intimacy of an abortion often causes uneasiness when discussing. To make matters more difficult, there are many issues to consider in addition to deciding whether one wants to attain an abortion; social stigma, cost, parental consent, procedure availability, and more may exacerbate the woman’s situation. In Hong Kong, where the number of legal abortion procedures are limited in public hospitals and costs soar to extreme amounts, many women seeking abortions fall through the cracks and must seek alternative ways of having this time-sensitive procedure fulfilled. As Hong Kong continues to Westernize and liberally develop into comparably one of the most advanced cities in the world, it is important to note that Hong Kong law does not permit a women to rightfully attain a abortion by mere free will. This report seeks to analyze the trials and tribulations that women must face to prevent the need of an abortion as well as the difficulties in procuring one. The methods of researching articles through scholarly sources is detailed and depicted with a flowchart; reasons for inclusion and exclusion are noted. Entailed in the results section is also a comprehensive analysis of the gaps in Hong Kong’s abortion laws; discussed are the problems women endure when trying to satisfy Hong Kong’s legal requirements for abortion procedures as well as when they avoid the legal and/or medical system altogether. Supporting evidence, facts, and figures of historical prices and methods of abortions are displayed in the results section to support the dissertation argument. Finally, a discussion involving recommendations and how to move forward are suggested in order to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies and therefore abortions in Hong Kong.
published_or_final_version
Public Health
Master
Master of Public Health

This thesis is about the legal and moral status of abortion. It is primarily concerned with the metaphysical status of the foetus, with particular attention to the question whether the foetus is properly characterised as a person in the philosophical sense. The argument of the thesis proceeds in two parts. The first part surveys certain lines of argument to the effect that the question of prenatal personhood is immaterial to the moral and legal permissibility of abortion. Against these claims, it argues that the personhood status of the foetus is indeed central to the moral and legal appraisal of abortion practice. The second part focuses on the metaphysical question in its own right. The thesis proposes a theoretical underpinning for the ‘gradualist’ view of human life before birth, according to which the human foetus is a fuller instantiation of a person the more biologically developed it is. It sets out to defend the kernel of the gradualist thesis against a cluster of criticisms, commonly advanced by those who endorse the belief that the personhood of human beings begins at conception. One notable challenge of this sort, which the thesis aims to address, asserts that any graduated account of personhood before birth is logically inconsistent with basic human equality. Finally, the thesis considers a few practical implications for the legal regulation of abortion stemming from the gradualist thesis, and the rule of law standards by which a regulatory framework must abide.

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Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES
Abortion is considered an ethical problem of public health, and this stands just when there are conflicts between moral rights and obligations. So, actors are perceived in different scenes claiming a decision-making power about the life. They are doctors, lawyers, government officials and others. The reasons to investigate the abortion from these professionals are justified by the fact that these are representatives of biopower from an institutional place, whether in the health care of women in situations of abortion or in formulating the complaint and in the judgment and interpretation of the rights. Objectives: to analyze the beliefs of health-care professionals and jurists about the abortion and selective abortion. Method: the sample was composed of 16 health professionals (doctors, nurses and psychologists), as well as by 10 professionals of law (prosecutors and judges). Initially, a type structured interview was conducted with the participants in order to investigating their beliefs about selective abortion and the abortion. Then, they replied to a questionnaire. Quantitative data were analyzed through descriptive statistics (frequency, average, standard deviation). The interviews were operationalized based in categories, processed in a series of steps. Results: the data of questionnaire pointed out a rigid position of the participants regarding the change in criminal legislation on abortion, which are greatly influenced by their religious beliefs. There was a lack of information from professionals about the documentation required for the authorization of the practice of legal abortion and fetal malformation. For interviews, emerged two thematic classes: abortion and selective abortion. The first covered the categories: attitude, legal aspects, bio psychosocial aspects and coping proposals. The second covered the categories attitude and legal aspects. The beliefs contrary to abortion practice focused on heteronomy and sacredness of life. Favorable beliefs, in turn, emerged only among health professionals, anchored in the perspective of reproductive and sexual rights, reducing risks and damage and, finally, on women's autonomy over their own body. Jurists had a stiffer punishment on the positioning of women who practice abortion. The participants suggested the public politics and education, as sexual education, adoption programs, psychological and social assistance and, for the ones who showed favorable beliefs, its decriminalization in order to reduce risk and damage of unsafe abortion for the confrontation of abortion. In General, some beliefs have referred strictly to the group of jurists, because of the peculiarities of this profession. Others, however, seemed not to relate to the professional group itself, but other aspects which may demarcate groups, following the example of beliefs linked to heteronomy of life and, in contrast, reproductive autonomy. Conclusion: the Brazilian society needs to broaden the discussion of abortion. It s necessary to exit of the extremes "against" and "favour" abortion and see that this topic is of a complexity that cannot be summarized by these words, or terminate the legal or ethical point of view, unlike, cover a wide range of considerations, which might be observed throughout this study.
O aborto é considerado um problema ético de saúde pública, e este se sobressai justamente quando existem conflitos entre os direitos e os deveres morais. Nesse sentido, são percebidos vários atores, em cenas diferentes, que reivindicam um poder de decisão sobre a vida, sejam médicos, juristas, governantes e outros providos de poderes Os motivos de se investigar o aborto a partir desses profissionais justificam-se pelo fato destes serem representantes do bio-poder, de um poder de decisão sobre a vida a partir de um lugar institucional, seja na assistência à saúde das mulheres em situações de aborto, seja na formulação da denúncia, no julgamento e interpretação dos direitos. Objetivos: Analisar as crenças dos profissionais de saúde e dos profissionais de direito sobre o aborto provocado e o aborto seletivo. Método: A amostra foi composta por 16 profissionais de saúde (médicos ginecologistas/obstetras, enfermeiros e psicólogos), bem como por 10 profissionais de direito (promotores de justiça e juízes de direito). Inicialmente, foi realizada uma entrevista do tipo semi-estruturada com os participantes da pesquisa com a finalidade de investigar suas crenças sobre o aborto seletivo e o aborto provocado. Em seguida, estes responderam a um questionário auto-aplicável. Os dados quantitativos foram analisados através de estatística descritiva (frequência, média, desvio padrão). As entrevistas foram operacionalizadas com base em categorias determinadas a partir dos sentidos suscitados, processados em uma série de etapas. Resultados: Os dados do questionário apontaram uma posição rígida dos participantes quanto à mudança na legislação penal sobre o aborto, os quais são influenciados sobremaneira por suas crenças religiosas. Observou-se um desconhecimento dos profissionais sobre a documentação necessária para a autorização da prática do aborto legal e em caso de malformação fetal grave. Em relação às entrevistas, emergiram duas classes temáticas: Aborto provocado e aborto seletivo. A primeira abarcou as categorias: atitude, aspectos jurídicos, aspectos biopsicossociais e propostas de enfrentamento. A segunda abrangeu as categorias atitude e aspectos jurídicos. As crenças contrárias à prática do aborto centraram-se na heteronomia e sacralidade da vida. As crenças favoráveis, por sua vez, emergiram apenas dentre os profissionais de saúde, ancorados na perspectiva dos direitos reprodutivos e sexuais, na redução de riscos e danos e, por fim, na autonomia da mulher sobre seu próprio corpo. Os profissionais de direito apresentaram um posicionamento mais rígido quanto à punição das mulheres que praticam aborto. No tocante às propostas de enfrentamento a essa prática, os profissionais afirmaram a necessidade de políticas públicas e de educação, contemplando a educação sexual, os programas de adoção, a assistência social e psicológica e, para os que apresentaram crenças favoráveis, a sua descriminalização a fim de reduzir riscos e danos do aborto inseguro. No geral, algumas crenças referiram-se estritamente ao grupo de profissionais de direito, devido às especificidades desta profissão. Outras, no entanto, pareceram não se relacionar ao grupo profissional em si, mas a outros aspectos que também podem demarcar grupos, a exemplo de crenças vinculadas à concepção de heteronomia da vida e, contrariamente, de autonomia reprodutiva. Considerações finais: A sociedade brasileira precisa ampliar a discussão sobre o aborto. É necessário sair dos extremos contra e a favor do aborto e enxergar que essa temática é de uma complexidade que não pode ser resumida por essas palavras, nem se encerram no ponto de vista jurídico ou deontológico, ao contrário, abrangem um leque variado de considerações, as quais puderam ser observadas ao longo deste trabalho.

Abortion is a controversial issue. It is subject of heated debates stemming from morality and ethics. Abortion is also, however, a question of rights. Access to abortion weighs the rights of the foetus against the rights of the mother. Women being denied access to safe and legal abortion due to criminalisation and restrictive abortion laws, is also a matter of human rights. Women die every year as the result of unsafe abortion methods. This thesis focuses on access to safe and legal abortion, and examines if and how public international law protects women’s access to abortion. It addresses the topic of reproductive rights and health, and whether this set of rights constitutes any protection for access to safe and legal abortion. Human rights that are actualised in relation to abortion include for example the right to life, right to privacy and right to health. Relevant provisions in CEDAW, ICCPR and ICESCR are analysed, together with general comments and reports issued by the treaty monitoring bodies of the UN. The second part of the thesis focuses on access to safe and legal abortion under the ECHR and examines relevant case-law from ECtHR on the topic. In addition to the legal dogmatic method, a feminist legal theory is used to critically evaluate whether the current protection of access to safe and legal abortion is sufficient from a women’s rights perspective. The author concludes that public international law does not offer any direct protection of access to safe and legal abortion. Instead, access to safe and legal abortion can be protected indirectly by other human rights. Restrictive abortion laws that results in risking the health and life of the mother can violate women’s human rights. Case-law from the ECtHR shows that European states are under a positive obligation to provide an effective access to abortion under the right to privacy, if the national law guarantees such a right. The result from the discussion based on feminist legal theory shows that public international law fails to recognise the abortion issue as a question of gender equality and discrimination against women.

Šiame darbe yra gvildenama abortu legitimumo problema iš pradžių apžvelgiant pačią aborto sąvoką ir atsiradimo istoriją. Platesnė šios problemos analizė pateikiama žmogaus gyvybės kaip absoliučios vertybės, taip pat ir žmogaus privatumo kaip vertybės atžvilgiu. Čia bandoma išdėstyti katalikiškąją bei filosofinę pozicijas, pasisakančias už žmogaus gyvybės vertę bei saugojimą nuo pradėjimo momento. Apžvelgiamos ir priešingos koncepcijos, moters teise į abortą priskiriančios prie privačių interesų. Šių vertybių santykio kolizija analizuojama tiek Europos Sąjungos viršnacionalinės, tiek ir kai kurių Europos valstybių nacionalinės teisės lygmenyje. Atskirai nagrinėjama Lietuvos bei Jungtinių Amerikos Valstijų pozicija sprendžiant abortų legitimumo problema.
In this work the problem of legitimacy of abortions is analyzed by reviewing, first of all, the definition of abortion and history of its’ occurrence. Wider analysis of this problem is given from the point of view of human life as an absolute value as well as human privacy as a value. Herein it is tried to set forth catholic and philosophic positions that speak for the value of human life and its preservation since the moment of its’ beginning. Opposite conceptions that attribute woman’s right to abortion to private interests are also reviewed. Collision of relation between these values is analyzed in the level of supernational law of the European Union as well as in the level of national law of certain European states. Position of Lithuania and the United States of America in solution of the problem of abortion legitimacy is analyzed separately.

Few issues divide leaders and policy-makers as much as abortion, which regularly sparks heated political, religious and philosophical debates. Numerous states choose to prohibit or criminalize abortion, despite the fact that it has been practiced throughout recorded history. In many of these states, women turn to unsafe abortion methods, such as consuming bleach or inserting a coat hanger, which may cause long-term damage or death. In the light of this tragic reality, one could ask whether these women have a right to safe abortion in human rights law or not. In order to answer this question, the author analyzes the status of abortion in public international law. The results are based on a thorough examination of the preparatory works (travaux préparatoires) and reservations to CEDAW, CRC, ECHR, and ICCPR, as well as documents by international and regional treaty bodies. The author applies a treaty-based international law methodology, analyzes the results through Hilary Charlesworth and Christine Chinkin’s theory of the public and private distinction in public international law and discusses the juridical- political context. The author concludes that there is neither an explicitly formulated human right to abortion, nor is abortion included within the right to family planning. However, she finds that domestic legislation which criminalizes or restrict access to safe abortions may be in violation of other fundamental human rights.

On June 30, 2014, the Supreme Court of the United States decided in favor of Hobby Lobby, Inc. in the landmark decision of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, Inc. This decision established a significant new legal principle, substantially changing the interpretation of the Affordable Care Act, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and for-profit business rights. This thesis uses hermeneutic rhetorical theory to study the majority and dissenting opinions of the Hobby Lobby, Inc. decision to explicate the inherent paternalistic function within the rhetorical arguments of protection, corporate personhood, choice, sincerity, and the burden versus entitlement binary. Beyond the Hobby Lobby, Inc. decision, I argue that paternalism lies at the heart of many of the differences in feminist hermeneutics on abortion. This thesis promotes a more tolerant and respectful examination of the abortion debate with the higher goal of reaching a greater understanding of our social condition.

This thesis interrogates the abortion debate in New Zealand and New South Wales over the period 1970 to the present from a feminist perspective. The arguments of this thesis are five fold. First, it argues that abortion was the central issue for second wave feminists in the 1970s because they believed that until women had complete control over their bodies any other gains made by the movement would be of little significance. Second, feminists who did not support abortion law reform left the mainstream movement and set up their own groups because that movement was not prepared to tolerate a diversity of opinions on the abortion issue. Third, not only was abortion a central issue for feminists; it became a central issue for parliament, illustrated by the establishment of royal commissions in both New Zealand and Australia to investigate abortion among a number of other issues. Fourth, from the 1970s New Zealand women travelled to Australia for abortions. After the 1977 restrictive law change this travel was made possible by women's groups in both New Zealand and New South Wales working together to help New Zealand women. Until now this trans-Tasman relationship has been invisible in the literature. Fifth, in the 1980s and 1990s, when there was a backlash against the women's movement, abortion was targeted by many groups because they too saw it as central to women's liberation. Despite the funding and active support of anti-abortionists in New Zealand and New South Wales, they were not able to restrict access to abortion. In short, this thesis addresses how feminists supported, or in some cases opposed, women's access to abortion during the 1970s and the challenges they faced in the 1980s and 1990s.

This thesis provides a normative exploration of abortion law in England and China from a feminist, ethical and comparative standpoint. It proceeds from the assumption that legal regulation of abortion should take account of the principle of respect for autonomy. While I accept that the value of embryos and putative fathers' interests should be accorded recognition, I argue that legally women's autonomy should be given priority in abortion decisions. Following my discussion of traditional ethical accounts of the concept of 'autonomy', I argue that women's exercise of autonomy over abortion decisions is essential to satisfy their basic needs for health and for control over their lives. I expand upon the traditional account of the principle of respect for autonomy by employing a broadly liberal feminist approach. I argue that this approach to empowering women in abortion decisions is more constructive because it not only requires law makers to protect women's decision-making from controlling influences, but also advocates law's commitment to a female-friendly environment where medical and state support are accessible. While the concept of 'autonomy' is close to liberalism, I also draw upon the radical, global and multi-cultural schools of feminist thought. Following my investigation of the English and Chinese regulatory models of abortion, I argue that the main reason for women's lack of control over their autonomously held abortion decisions is that these two models have produced the power imbalance in the two key relationships: one between women who need abortion and health professionals and the other between female citizens and the state. I also suggest that the differences between the English and Chinese politico-legal systems do not rule out the possibility that their law makers can learn from each other's regulatory experiences. Thus, this comparative study provides a basis for drawing up proposals for the reform of the two models.

The purpose of the study was to investigate how Irish pro-choice organizations work in respect of free choice in relation to abortion, since abortion is illegal except when there is a substantial risk to the mother’s life. This purpose was constructed with the significance of social work as a practical profession restricted by regulations, at the same time as it is a profession to support and help deprived people. This was a qualitative study with semi-structured interviews with seven different people from five different pro-choice organizations. The interviews indicated that in Ireland abortion was a stigmatized matter, as well as taboo to talk about. The results showed that the pro- choice organizations work to provide support and information and they viewed the right to abortion as a fundamental right and that women going through crisis pregnancy should be able to access a free choice. Still, it is the stigmatizing environment as well as the existing laws that become an obstacle for accessing free choice.

This dissertation explores the history of abortion law reform in Victoria between 1959 and 1974, contextualised in a feminist politics of reproduction. The aim of the research is to investigate the extent to which the history of abortion law reform in this state can be understood as part of the struggle of women for sexual self-determination and hence for full citizenship. As a result, one of the principal objectives of the thesis is to analyse the basis on which abortion is available in Victoria. The research draws on historical data, using the records of relevant contemporary organisations, the press, and interviews with some of the key people involved in advocating abortion law reform. In particular, the dissertation documents the abortion law reform experiences and struggles of Victorian women, including the attempts they made to contest their historic exclusion from participation in policy formulation and legislation related to reproduction. It begins with t he consolidation of the Crimes Act in 1958 and ends in 1974'with the passing of the national health and associated bills, which ensured public funding for abortion procedures. Social, political and economic changes in the preceding century led to overwhelming public support for abortion law reform in line with changing social mores and advances in reproductive science. But this did not result in legislative change enacted by a responsive and democratic government. Rather, the history of abortion law reform in Victoria is shown to be a case study of conflict, co-operation, co-option and collusion in five main arenas of vested interest. The first of these was state interest in fertility control, and thus women's sexual behaviour, as a reflection of national concerns about the size and composition of the Australian population. The second was a struggle for industrial control of a lucrative abortion industry, supported by systemic police corruption, medical corruption and collusion by politicians and officers of the Crown Law Department. The third factor was the political manoeuvring of a government determined to retain power by framing abortion as a medical rather than a legislativ e problem. Conflict between community calls for abortion law reform to protect doctors from prosecution on the one hand, and a political requirement for preference votes from the Democratic Labor Party on the other, was resolved in favour of the latter. The fourth factor was the professional struggle for medical control over reproduction, supported by civil liberties activists and liberal feminists seeking access to abortion without engaging in questions of political control over decision-making. The struggle by an increasingly organised feminist movement to reframe abortion as a political issue related to women's sexual self-determination, expressed as control over reproductive decision-making, was the final factor. As such, the dissertation is as much a case study of the factors at play in attempting to effect change in a capitalist patriarchy, as it is about abortion law reform per se. The thesis is organised within a historical framework that provides both an overview of the time period under consideration and a detailed account of the various struggles that took place within that period. The chapters are set out around the key events that shaped and were shaped by the struggle for law reform. These include the Menhennitt Ruling in 1969, the Kaye Inquiry into police corruption in 1970, the Medical Practices Clarification Bill in federal parliament in 1973 and the Proposed Abortion Inquiry in state parliament in 1973. I focus on those groups that had control over abortion policy and practice, as well as the main groups that worked to influence those bodies. These include churches, the media, political parties, and social movements - in particular the actions and attitudes of civil liberties and feminist groups. The conclusion locates the history of abortion law reform within the current socio-political and economic context, encouraging an examination of contemporary questions regarding women's control over reproductive decision-making. This includes an exploration of whether sexual self-determination and the human rights necessary to achieve full citizenship are possible for women given the deleterious impact ofneo-liberal ideology on funding those programs and policies that work towards equality, rather than 'choice', and freedom from oppression, rather than individual 'rights'.

This master's thesis is based on a Minor Field Study (MFS) and conducted in Nicaragua during seven weeks in the spring of 2011. Nicaragua has since 2006 been given international attention due to the National Assembly's decision to criminalize the previously allowed therapeutic abortion. The procedure could be used by women whose pregnancies turned out to be life threatening is now considered illegal and can result in years of imprisonment, both for women and doctors.This study focus upon the perception and opinions regarding this law among women living in Nicaragua. Distinction was made between women living in rural and urban settings. Further, women employed within organizations were chosen as a final group of interest. The aim of the study has been to explore if these women's perception have resulted in different levels of frustration and further how this variation in frustration can be explained. The study is mainly based on interviews conducted with these three groups of women. Relative deprivation was used as an analytical framework in order to explain how women's frustration could vary.It can be concluded that there were large differences in women's awareness and knowledge of the law and rural women appeared to have a rather small perceived frustration. The deprivation increased among women in urban areas, but became most intense among women active within organizations. The study has shown that religiosity, awareness and information about the law and its consequences, organization activity and to some extent level of education have the possibilities of affecting the level of frustration. The present frustration towards the law which criminalize therapeutic abortion is however not sufficient to cause collective violence or a similar reaction.

The abortion debate in the United States has come to split the contemporary electorate among party lines. Since the late 1970s, the Republican Party has taken a stand against abortion and has worked through various routes of legislation to pass restrictions on access to the procedure. Oregon however, provides a different interpretation of this partisan debate. Though Oregon has seen both Republican and Democratic leadership in all houses of state government and pro-life conservative groups have lobbied to restrict the procedure, no abortion restriction has been passed in the state since the United States Supreme Court invalidated many state abortion bans in 1973. This thesis analyzes the legislative history of Oregon beginning in the mid nineteenth century, when the Oregon Territory first passed an abortion ban. Oregon voters and lawmakers alike were continuously asked to debate the legality and morality of abortion. Though the state did participate in the national debate over access to abortion, made clear by dozens of attempts at restricting the procedure, Oregon's response to conservative political trends is distinctive. Oregon liberalized its abortion law before Roe was decided; and years before, prominent physicians provided abortions and advocated for reproductive health. After abortion was decriminalized, Oregon legislators protected abortion access further by rejecting all attempts to pass abortion restrictions and crafting legislation to make further restrictions more difficult to pass. Even as Republicans gained majorities in the Oregon legislature in the late 1980s and 1990s and the pro-life movement gained momentum on the statewide level nationally, Republican lawmakers remained unwilling to prioritize abortion legislation. So too, in the decades following the Roe decision, Oregon voters have rejected all pro-life attempts to restrict abortion access by ballot initiative. Instead of pointing to one explanation for Oregon's protection of abortion access, this thesis examines the societal and legislative developments that worked in tandem to create a legislative landscape that is protective of abortion.

One of the worst manifestations of violence against women: sexual violation. The intent of this act is to humiliate, degrade and punish. This causes serious suffering inhumane treatment in women, affecting not only their physical but also mental health. Sexual violation can result not only an “unwanted” pregnancy but imposed through the exercise of power. The criminalization of abortion exposes survivors of violence to further suffering, ill-treatment and cruel situations by extension could be considered torture. This paper addresses these reflections, raising expand the legal dissertations on what is considered a “forced pregnancy” to include the pregnancy product of sexual violation in a context of prohibition of the right to decide, as such. For these reflections is part of the rights approach and gender, while also stating that reproductive rights of women not violence against women persist are guaranteed.
Una de las manifestaciones más terribles de la violencia contra las mujeres es la violación sexual. La intencionalidad de este acto es humillar, degradar y castigar. Este trato inhumano genera graves sufrimientos en las mujeres, al afectar no solo su salud física sino también mental. Una violación sexual puede tener como consecuencia un embarazo no solo “no deseado”, sino impuesto a través del ejercicio del poder. La penalización del aborto, expone a las sobrevivientes de violencia a mayores sufrimientos, malos tratos y situaciones crueles que por extensión podrían considerarse tortura. El presente documento aborda estas reflexiones, planteando ampliar las disertaciones legales sobre lo que se considera un “embarazo forzado”, para incluir el embarazo producto de una violación sexual en un contexto de prohibición del derecho a decidir, como tal. Para estas reflexiones se parte del enfoque de derechos y de género, planteando además que en tanto los derechos reproductivos de las mujeres no se encuentren garantizados la violencia contra las mujeres persistirá.

This thesis examines the repeal of the eight amendment of Ireland’s constitution in 2018. The thesis builds on the concept of how issue networks can succeed to push for gender policy reforms when there is a favourable opportunity context in State institutions. The fit also depends on the Church-State Relations. This paper examines Htun’s framework on issue networks and how they can fit into State institutions. We observe a few prominent advocacy groups prior and during the general election in 2016. The result shows how issue networks in Ireland had access and leverage to affect policy process. This is explained by the tension in relations between Church and State which made issue networks more successful. The window of opportunity due to the general election and the Citizen’s Assembly gave leverage to issue networks to promote policy change in abortion.

The aim of this study has been to analyse the ways Mexican states articulates the actions of women undergoing an abortion and the effects it has on criminal sanctions specified for women. This study analyses the criminal code of Mexico City which decriminalised abortion in 2007, the criminal code of Jalisco reformed in 2009 and the criminal code of Yucatán reformed in 2009. The discrimination of women had been the major concern of International Human Rights Law as well as feminist jurisprudence. This research has attempted to problematise and highlight different aspects of discrimination taking place in Mexican law. Feminist liberal theory and radical feminism had been placed to analyse the criminal codes governing Mexican abortion law. Thus, in this thesis, the problems of women to access legal abortion had been discussed as a problem of discrimination based on sex. Therefore, this study does not touch upon tensions between the foetus and the mother but the conflict that emerges in the ways the law thinks of women.

This thesis examines the effects of the change from strict scrutiny to the undue burden standard in Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992). A history of abortion in the United States and the various ways in which government regulates it is explored. Particular attention is focused on the role of the federal judiciary in abortion regulation. Theories of judicial decision making are discussed as means to understand the outcome of cases. Several models are tested to determine which, if any, model explains judicial decision making. The effect of the change in standard, as well as an alternate precedent, are examined.

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2001.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Perhaps one of the most talked about subjects worldwide and in South Africa these days is the abortion issue. A growing number of women admit to having had one. Basically there are two opposing views and values on the question of abortion. We normally hear people referring to the 'abortion issue'; my understanding of this is that there is a dialogue going on at the moment concerning abortion. In South Africa before the current Choice of Termination of Pregnancy (TOP) Bill, some activists' women and the ever-growing 'feminists' movements were lobbying and demanding that abortion be decriminalised. As we may all be aware, up until 1 February 1997, abortion or termination of pregnancy (TOP) in South Africa was conceivable under very restrictive atmosphere. Before the introduction of the current Termination of Pregnancy Bill, a majority of women had no access to abortion services in the country, hence the growing number of back-street job. By implication this means that most women given the choice, would not seek the experience of abortion, but if they do, it would be available to the in safe, legal, accessible and affordable service. Not only does the Act conceal that terminating pregnancy that occurred through criminal acts such as rape and incest is justifiable. The current liberal Termination of Pregnancy Bill also gives pregnant women the 'right' or 'freedom' to abort whenever and for whatever reason they deem fit. Part of the ethical dilemma of the abortion issue is that there are those who holds a view that always where there is a conflict of rights and interests, the foetus' rights must give way to, or that the foetus' rights must be overridden by those of a pregnant women. Pro-choice advocates maintain that a woman's choice to terminate her pregnancy is her own business and hers alone, in other words, this for them is a private decision. Well, I argue that this is not necessarily the case, ethically, the father of the unborn child should also be considered in such a decision. Given that virtually every abortion has risks, the parents of the aborting woman and to some extent the society at large are involved. Therefore, to solely talk of the 'mother's right to choose' is basically suggest that morality is "relative" and such relativism is conceived from the idea of privatisation of abortion and life in general. In the following pages I will look at the arguments in support of abortion and against it, and these are criticised. Also discussed are the ethical implications of the new South African Termination of Pregnancy Act. Broadly speaking, technology advancement has made it possible to detect the unborn baby's physical condition (sometimes even its mental state) while the mother is still pregnant. The ethical implications of this medical intervention are used to decide whether the unborn child should live or die. Given this, if the purpose of these prenatal diagnosis were for the destruction of the unborn, therefore, advocates of the movements such as 'the right to life', and 'pro-lifers' would argue that because of particularly twisted purpose, prenatal diagnosis must be abolished. Furthermore, I will acknowledge that the Termination of Pregnancy Bill as we have it, is appraised by feminists movements and others who are not necessarily feminists as allowing increased and unrestricted access to 'free' and 'safe' abortion in the government hospitals and clinics. However, I argue that this was rather prematurely introduced. I argue that a number of pregnant women claiming to be poor still present themselves to private doctors and private clinics for abortion and they pay anything between R 600- 800 or more depending where these services are provided. On the other hand, for one reason or another, other women still choose to terminate their pregnancies back street way although the risks are high in such servicing stations. In the light of these facts, one wonders whether it is appropriate to legislate for the termination of pregnancy or would it have been a worthwhile decision to delay the legislation of abortion for a while and thoroughly make a research and relevant preparation for it. I also argue that ideology plays an important part in the abortion debates. Besides, the abortion debate is also characterised by indoctrination, the purpose of which is to leave other confused. In both cases facts are misrepresented or false statements are made, and this for me is ethically unacceptable. I will also comment on the importance of linguistics, that is, the proper understanding of normal English terms and what I refer to as 'deceptive language' used by campaigners. Inthe last part of this thesis, I will outline some basic approaches to ethics and which belong to what is referred to as postmodernism. The Postmodern worldview deconstructs metanarratives so that no one particular belief is more believable than another. This worldview bring with it ethical relativism, which is a theory which holds that morality is relative to the individual. Three movements are given as an example of this move toward ethical relativism, they are: (a) Emotivism, (b) Subjectivism, and (c) Situationalism While I will argue that rape and incest are evil acts, and support abortion in cases involving such acts, however, I also believe that abortion is not the answer to the problem of rape and incest. I will propose a number of recommendations the South African government should have made before legislating for abortion. For instance, by creating separate abortion service facilities even in the hospital premises, with properly trained staff; so that people who came to seek advice for abortion are not intimidated by those who go to full terms with their pregnancy. Included in this thesis is a case study to demonstrate the complexity of the abortion issue to everyone involved. Some psychological and emotional symptoms following abortion will be outlined and this according to women who do share their abortion story is a reality they have to live with every day of their lives.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Aborsie is moontlik een van die mees veelbesproke kwessies van ons tyd, sowel in Suid- Afrika as wêreldwyd. 'n Groeiende aantal vroue erken dat hulle al een gehad het. Basies is daar twee opponerende gesigspunte en waardes betrokke by die twispunt rondom aborsie. Aborsie was voor die aanvaarding van die jongste wetgewing (d.w.s. voor 1 Februarie 1997) in Suid-Afrika slegs moontlik onder streng beperkings. Voor die huidige wet ( die "Termination of Pregnancy Bill") in werking gekom het, het die meerderheid vroue geen toegang tot aborsie gehad in Suid-Afrika nie, wat gelei het tot 'n toename in agterstraat aborsies. Die nuwe wet gee nie slegs die reg om te aborteer aan vroue wat swanger is as gevolg van kriminele optrede soos verkragting of bloedskande nie. Die huidige, buitengewooon liberale wet gee ook vir alle praktiese doeleindes aan die vroue die reg om aborsie op versoek te ondergaan tot op 20 weke van swangerskap. Die doel van hierdie werkstuk is om hierdie nuwe liberale wet aan 'n krities ondersoek te onderwerp. Deel van die etiese dilemma rondom die kwessie van aborsie spruit voort uit die feit dat daar diegene is wat reken dat, indien daar enige konflik tussen regte en belange is, die regte van die fetus ondergeskik is aan die regte van die swanger vrou. Diegene ten gunste van aborsie voer aan dat die keuse gemaak moet word deur die betrokke vrou, en dat so 'n keuse uitsluitlik haar eie is. Ek argumenteer dat dit nie noodwendig die geval is nie. Die vader van die ongebore kind behoort ook 'n sê te hê in hierdie saak. Gegee dat elke aborsie sekere risiko's insluit, het die ouers van die betrokke vrou en die samelewing ook 'n belang by so ,'n situasie. Dus is om slegs te praat van die 'vrou se reg om te Ides' om te suggereer dat moraliteit "relatief' is, en sulke relativisme word afgelei van die idee van die privatisering van aborsie en die lewe in die algemeen. In die volgende bladsye sal ek die argumente vir en teen aborsie analiseer en kritiseer. Die etiese implikasies van die nuwe Termination of Pregnancy Act word veral bespreek. Tegnologiese vooruitgang het dit moontlik gemaak dat die ongebore baba se fisiese (en soms selfs mentale) kondisie bepaal kan word voor geboorte. Die etiese implikasies van die mediese intervensie word gebruik om te besluit of die ongebore baba moet lewe of sterf Dus, indien die doel van prenatale diagnose die moontlike vernietiging van die ongeborene insluit, sal diegene wat teen aborsie is, argumenteer dat so 'n verwronge doel veroorsaak dat sulke ondersoeke gestaak behoort te word. Ek sal erken dat die nuwe wet waardeer word deur feministe, en andere wat nie noodwendig feministe is nie, as 'n wet wat dit moontlik maak dat daar toenemende en onbeperkte toegang is tot 'gratis' en 'veilige' aborsies in regeringshospitale en klinieke. Maar ek wil argumenteer dat die wet te vroeg aangeneem is. Ek argumenteer dat 'n groot aantal verwagtende vroue voorgee dat hulle arm is en poog om 'n aborsie te kry by private dokters en klinieke, en dan tussen R600 - R800 of meer betaal vir so 'n diens, afhangende van waar dit geskied. Aan die ander kant, om een of ander rede, kies sommige vroue steeds om hulle swangerskappe te termineer deur agterstraat-aborsies, ten spyte van die risiko's. Gegewe hierdie feit, wonder mens of dit gepas was on 'n wet in te stel aangaande die terminasie van swangerskap, en of dit nie beter sou wees om die wetgewing uit te stel tot volledige navorsing gedoen is en voorbereiding getref is nie. Ek argumenteer ook dat ideologie 'n belangrike rol speel in die aborsie-debat. Die aborsie-debat word ook gekenmerk deur indoktrinasie ten einde mense te verwar. In beide gevalle is daar die wanvoorstelling van feite of word valse stellings gemaak, wat eties onaanvaarbaar is. Ek salook kommentaar lewer oor die belangrikheid van taal, dws die korrekte verstaan van normale (Engelse) terme en wat ek na verwys as die 'misleidende taal' wat gebruik word deur sekere kampvegters betrokke by die debat. In die laaste deel van die werkstuk sal ek sekere basiese benaderings tot etiek ondersoek, veral dié wat na verwys word as "postmodernisme". Die Postmoderne gesigspunt dekonstrueer metanarratiewe sodat geen spesifieke oordeel langer meer geloofwaardig is as 'n ander nie. Hierdie gesigspunt word dan ook vergesel deur etiese relativisme, wat huldig dat moraliteit relatief is tot die individu. Drie bewegings word genoem as voorbeelde van hierdie beweging na etiese relativisme, nl: (a) Emotivisme, (b) Subjektivisme, en (c) Situasie-etiek Alhoewel ek argumenteer dat verkragting en bloedskande morele verkeerd is, en alhoewel ek aborsie in sulke gevalle voorstaan, glo ek nie dat aborsie 'n antwoord bied op die probleem van verkragting en bloedskande nie. Ek sal 'n aantal voorstelle maak aangaande wat eintlik moes gebeur het voor die regering die huidige aborsiewet aanvaar het. Byvoorbeeld, dat aparte aborsie-fasiliteite, selfs by die hospitaal en met opgeleide personeel, geskep moes word ten einde te voorkom dat diegene wat advies vra aangaande aborsie nie geïntimideer word deur persone wat nie wil aborteer nie. Ingesluit in hierdie studie is 'n gevallestudie wat die kompleksiteit van die kwessie rondom aborsie, vir al die rolspelers, demonstreer. Sekere emosionele en sielkundige simptome, veroorsaak deurdat 'n persoon besluit het om te aborteer, sal geskets word. Vir vroue wat 'n aborsie ondergaan het is hierdie 'n realiteit waarmee hulle elke dag moet saamleef

This thesis focuses on how well indicators of judicial ideology and institutional constraints predict whether a judge will vote to increase abortion access. I develop a model that evaluates a judge's decision in an abortion case in light of ideological factors measured at the time of a judge's nomination to the bench and legal and institutional constraints at the time a judge decides a case. I analyze abortion cases from all of the U.S. Federal District Courts from 1973-2004. Unlike previous studies, which demonstrate that the president and the home state senators are the best predictors of judicial ideology, I find that the Senate Judiciary Committee at the time of the judge's nomination is the only statistically significant ideological indicator. Also, contrary to conventional wisdom, Supreme Court precedent (a legal constraint) is also a significant predictor of judicial voting behavior in abortion cases.

The main purpose of this thesis is to analyze laws that completely prohibit abortion through a legal philosophical perspective. To demonstrate that abortion blanket bans cannot be seen as legally legitimate, the author has completed a literature study where she uses Robert Alexy’s “Concept of Law” to analyze abortion laws both in general, and in Nicaragua in particular. Based upon Alexy’s “Concept of Law” the author has identified three relevant key elements – social efficacy, the argument from injustice and correctness of content - which she uses in her analysis. In order to apply these three elements on the total abortion ban, she then uses four different analysis tools - feminist theory, Human Rights, deontology analysis and right analysis. This has enabled a thorough analysis of the total ban on abortion that has demonstrates that such laws cannot be considered legitimate. By highlighting the human rights violations the law entails, one can conclude that the law has a social impact. Using MacKinnon's theory "experience as a woman" the author had been able to demonstrate how the law should be considered as a gender equality issue, and that it is sexist in nature. Based on the argument from injustice and the legal norms about equal treatment and non-discrimination, the blanket ban can be considered extremely unfair for the women concerned. Based on deontology- and rights analysis, one can conclude that the Catholic Church's stance does not hold for the conservative position that excludes abortion in all circumstances. Thus, the normative arguments from the Christian abortion ethical and conservative position that is basis for the law is not coherent. These three indicators demonstrate that the law in Nicaragua has a social efficacy that is both extremely unfair, violates Human Rights and its application sexist with normative argument and content that is not coherent. It would therefore be entirely justified to thwart the legitimacy of such total abortion ban, as in Nicaragua

Based on an analysis of the Swedish laws in the field of healthcare, the purpose of this essay in jurisprudence is to examine whether Sweden has a need to implement the new EU-resolution on abortion. The study is based upon legal sources such as official government reports (SOU) as well as words of an Act. The subject also deals with ethical standards and more community-oriented material, and texts from both these areas are also included. The Swedish laws in health care are extensive, but still put the patient first. Care givers are able to delegate their responsibility if it means good health care which is also a key word in the Swedish health care. This means that the current laws are covering large areas of care and, as with many other laws in the country; it is up to each individual to interpret them.
Utifrån en analys av de svenska lagarna inom området vård är syftet med denna uppsats i rättsvetenskap är att undersöka om Sverige har ett behov av att implementera den nya EU-resolutionen angående abort. Studien är uppbyggd på såväl lagtext som statliga offentliga utredningar men då ämnet även tar upp etiska normer och även är mer samhällsinriktad har material inom båda dessa områden också medtagits. De svenska lagarna inom vården är omfattande men sätter ändå patienten främst. Vårgivare har möjlighet att delegera sitt ansvar om det innebär god vård vilket också är ett ledord inom den svenska vården. Detta innebär att dagens lagar täcker stora områdena inom vården och som med många andra lagar i landet är det upp till var och en att tolka dem.

The right to freedom of conscience is protected by international conventions and declarations of human rights that have been ratified by Sweden. Nationally, the issue of health professionals’ right to freedom of conscience in the abortion care is not resolved by public inquiry. This has led to that Sweden has been notified to the European Committee of Social Rights on the grounds that the country is considered to be violating the Council of  Europe Resolution 1763 and that the proper question to be determined by regulations of the interests that are balanced, based on their legal value in relation to each other. Freedoms, rights and obligations conflict with each other. In Norway the health professionals are legally entitled to abstain from performing and assisting abortion, which the employer is obliged to consider in organizing its activities. In light of the countries different regulations but similar legal traditions, the study includes an empirical comparison of health care employees experiences of conscience in the context of the abortion care. How the Swedish law relates to the legal ruling and normative rules of conscience and whether a right to conscientious objection can be derived from case law, is examined in the study. The legal investigation shows that Sweden does not recognize and guarantee freedom of conscience in the abortion care. The fact that career choices are based on voluntariness speaks in the essay against a right to conscientious objection. This is proved by the ECHR and the European Commission's general view that the manifestations attributable to belief or religion can not be considered a subject to discrimination, if the situation includes possible obstacles to religious practice can be traced to volunteerism. The essays empirical comparison is displaying what the complexity of freedom of conscience means in abortion activities organized by different legal systems. The informantsworking inSwedenfear thataconscience clauseshalllimit women’s rightto abortionandthat health professionalsshould not havean equivalentapproach tothe patients.Furthermore they fearedproblemsrelated toorganization andwork environment.The informantsworking in Norwayhave experiencedproblemsthrough conflictsbetween health professionalsrelated toreservationright.
Rätten till samvetsfrihet skyddas av internationella konventioner och deklarationer om mänskliga rättigheter som Sverige har ratificerat. Nationellt har frågan om vårdpersonals rätt till samvetsfrihet inom abortvård dock inte bemötts genom offentlig utredning. Detta har föranlett att Sverige anmälts till Europeiska kommittén för sociala rättigheter på grund av att landet betraktas bryta mot Europarådets resolution 1763 samt att rättsfrågan får bedömas utifrån reglering av de intressen som avvägs, utifrån bestämmelsernas rättsliga värde i förhållande till varandra. Friheter, rättigheter och skyldigheter står emot varandra. I Norge ges vårdpersonal lagenlig rätt att reservera sig från att utföra och assistera abortingrepp, vilket arbetsgivaren är skyldig att beakta vid organisering av verksamheten. Mot bakgrund av ländernas skilda reglering men liknande rättstraditioner görs en empirisk komparation av arbetstagares upplevelser av samvetsfrihet inom ramen för abortvård. Vidare bemöts hur svensk rätt förhåller sig till rättsligt styrande och normerande bestämmelser av samvetsfrihet och huruvida en rätt till samvetsvägran kan härledas ur rättspraxis. Av rättsutredningen framgår att Sverige inte erkänner och garanterar samvetsfrihet inom abortvård. Att yrkesval bygger på frivillighet bemöts i uppsatsen emotsäga en rätt till samvetsvägran. Detta styrkes av Europadomstolens och Europeiska kommissionens generella åsikt om att manifestation hänförlig till övertygelse eller religion inte kan anses vara föremål för diskriminering om situationen som inkluderar möjliga hinder för religionsutövning kan härledas till frivillighet. Uppsatsens empiriska komparation visar på den komplexitet som samvetsfrihet innebär inom abortverksamheter styrda av skilda rättsordningar. Informanterna som arbetar i Sverige befarar att en samvetsklausul ska inskränka kvinnors rätt till abort och att vårdpersonalen inte ska ha ett likvärdigt förhållningssätt till patienterna. Vidare befaras problematik hänförlig till organisering och arbetsmiljö. Informanterna som arbetar i Norge har upplevt problematik genom konflikter mellan vårdpersonal hänförlig till reservationsrätten.

Thesis (PhD (Education)--Stellenbosch University, 2008.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Before the implementation of abortion legislation in South Africa in February 1997, illegal abortions were the only way out for women with unwanted pregnancies. Because of the high morbidity and mortality rate of the women concerned, abortion legislation was implemented with the aim of ending illegal abortions in South Africa by having abortions carried out legally on request in designated health care facilities. The abortion legislation stipulates that registered nurses who have undergone the proposed abortion care training may terminate a pregnancy upon request of a woman during the first twelve weeks of the gestation period of her pregnancy. Although legislation authorises registered nurses to carry out first trimester abortions, an inadequate number of nurses are being trained in the Western Cape to provide pregnant women with guidance and counselling services, carry out the abortions and/or refer problem cases. Since the implementation of the abortion legislation no real attempts have been made by higher education institutions in the Western Cape to offer abortion care training for nurses. A need has therefore been identified to develop a comprehensive training framework for higher education institutions in the Western Cape for the training of nurses in abortion care. The case study was used as research design and the specific unit of analysis on which the researcher focused were the registered nurses who had received training in abortion care and the context in which they provide abortion care at the various levels of service provision in the different regions of the Western Cape. A random, stratified sample (non-proportional) was taken of the designated state health care facilities in the Western Cape, as well as a non-probability purposive sampling of registered nurses who provide abortion care, a non-probability convenience sample of women who have received abortion care and a non-probability purposive sampling of final-year pre-registration nursing students. Data was generated by means of questionnaires to the women who received abortions and/or counselling, the registered nurses who carried out abortions as well as final-year preregistration nursing students. A checklist was used to observe the abortions that were carried out by registered nurses in an objective and non-participatory manner and semi-structured interviews were conducted with various role-players in abortion care and training. The main findings of this study indicate that the necessary infrastructure within which the services could be provided according to the abortion legislation was adequate, but that the ongoing shortage of trained health care practitioners hampers the abortion care services. Only 10 (n=10) of the 15 certified nurses employed in state health care facilities actively offered abortion care services in the various designated facilities in the Western Cape. Deficiencies were identified in the existing provincial protocol and it was clear that some of the guidelines are either not in use or have become obsolete in the light of new research findings. It was found that midwives with appropriate and effective training are the ideal category of health practitioner for the provision of abortion care. The certified nurses who have been trained by the various regional offices of the Department of Health: Western Cape are skilled in carrying out the abortion procedure, but the other aspects of abortion care, that are mainly carried out by other categories of nurses, will probably require greater attention. The recommendations, which are based on a thorough literature study as well as on the findings and conclusions that arose from the empirical part of this study, have been included in a training framework. The researcher recommends that the training framework provide the basis for the development of a formal programme or programmes for the training of nurses in abortion care at higher education institutions. The purpose of the proposed framework is therefore to determine the context within which curriculation ought to take place, and to provide a focus or format for those who develop the curriculum for prospective students.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Voor die implementering van aborsiewetgewing in Februarie 1997 was onwettige aborsies die enigste uitweg vir vroue met ongewenste swangerskappe in Suid-Afrika. Weens die hoë morbiditeit- en mortaliteitsyfer van die betrokke vroue is aborsiewetgewing geïmplementeer met die doel om onwettige aborsies in Suid-Afrika te beëindig en aborsies op versoek wettiglik in aangewysde gesondheidsorgfasiliteite uit te voer. Die aborsiewetgewing stipuleer dat verpleegkundiges wat die voorgestelde aborsiesorgopleiding ondergaan het, ‘n swangerskap kan beëindig op versoek van ‘n vrou gedurende die eerste 12 weke van die draagtyd van haar swangerskap. Ten spyte van wetgewing wat verpleegkundiges magtig om eerste trimester aborsies uit te voer, word daar om verskeie redes onvoldoende aantal verpleegkundiges in die Wes-Kaap opgelei wat voorligting en berading aan swanger vroue gee, die aborsies uitvoer en/of probleemgevalle moet verwys. Geen daadwerklike pogings is sedert die inwerkingstelling van die aborsiewetgewing deur hoëronderwysinstellings in die Wes-Kaap aangewend om aborsiesorgopleiding vir verpleegkundiges aan te bied nie. Derhalwe is ’n behoefte geïdentifiseer om ’n omvattende opleidingsraamwerk vir hoëronderwysinstellings in die Wes- Kaap te ontwikkel vir die opleiding van verpleegkundiges in aborsiesorg. Die gevallestudie is as navorsingsontwerp gebruik en die spesifieke eenheid van analise waarop gefokus is was die verpleegkundiges wat opleiding in aborsiesorg ontvang het en die konteks waarbinne hulle aborsiesorg lewer by die onderskeie vlakke van dienslewering in die onderskeie streke van die Wes-Kaap. ’n Ewekansige, gestratifiseerde steekproef (nie-proporsioneel) is geneem van die aangewysde staatsgesondheidsorgfasiliteite in die Wes-Kaap, sowel as ’n nie-waarskynlike, doelbewuste steekproefneming van verpleegkundiges wat aborsiesorg verskaf, ’n nie-waarskynlike gerieflikheidsteekproefneming van vroue wat aborsiesorg ontvang het en ’n nie-waarskynlike, doelbewuste steekproefneming van finalejaar voorregistrasie verpleegstudente. Data is gegenereer met behulp van vraelyste aan onderskeidelik die vroue wat aborsies en/of berading ontvang het, die verpleegkundiges wat aborsies uitgevoer het, asook finalejaar voorregistrasie verpleegstudente. ’n Kontrolelys is gebruik om die aborsies wat deur verpleegkundiges uitgevoer is objektief en nie-deelnemend te observeer en semigestruktureerde onderhoude is met verskeie rolspelers in aborsiesorgdienste en -opleiding gevoer. Die hoofbevindings van hierdie studie dui daarop dat die nodige infrastruktuur waarbinne die dienste ingevolge die aborsiewetgewing gelewer kon word voldoende was, maar dat die voortslepende tekort aan opgeleide gesondheidsorgpraktisyns die aborsiesorgdienste kortwiek. Slegs 10 (n=10) van die 15 gesertifiseerde verpleegkundiges in diens van staatsgesondheidsorgfasiliteite het aktief aborsiesorgdienste aangebied in die onderskeie aangewysde fasiliteite in die Wes-Kaap. Leemtes is in die bestaande provinsiale protokol geïdentifiseer en dit het in die lig van nuwe navorsingsbevindings geblyk dat sommige van die riglyne óf nie in gebruik was nie, óf dat hulle intussen verouderd geraak het. Daar is bevind dat vroedvroue met toepaslike en doeltreffende opleiding die ideale kategorie gesondheidsorgpraktisyn is vir die verskaffing van aborsiesorg. Die gesertifiseerde verpleegkundiges wat deur die Departement van Gesondheid: Wes-Kaap se onderskeie streekskantore opgelei is, is vaardig in die uitvoer van die aborsieprosedure as sulks, maar die ander aspekte van aborsiesorg, wat meestal ook deur ander kategorieë verpleegkundiges uitgevoer word, sal waarskynlik groter aandag moet kry. Die aanbevelings is gegrond op ’n deeglike literatuurstudie sowel as op die bevindings en gevolgtrekkings wat uit die empiriese gedeelte van hierdie studie spruit en is vervat in ’n opleidingsraamwerk. Die navorser beveel aan dat die opleidingsraamwerk die grondslag sal bied vir die ontwikkeling van ’n formele program of programme vir die opleiding van verpleegkundiges in aborsiesorg aan hoëronderwysinstellings. Die doel van die voorgestelde raamwerk is dus om die konteks te bepaal waarbinne kurrikulering moet plaasvind, asook om ’n fokus of formaat te verskaf vir diegene wat die kurrikulum vir voornemende studente ontwikkel.

A more conservative supreme court will likely have the chance to overrule Roe v. Wade. Many states have passed heartbeat laws that will probably be taken all the way to the supreme court, these cases will ask the supreme court to affirm fetal personhood, giving fetuses a constitutionally recognized right to due process and making abortion illegal. In this thesis, I will defend an expansion of protections for pregnant peoples through a socialized right to abortion.

This study investigates the representation of women's reproductive rights in the feminist blogopshere during 2009/10 United States health care reform. Focusing on two purposively selected feminist blogsites - Feministing and Jezebel- it critically examines the discursive and rhetorical strategies employed by feminist bloggers to contest the erosion of women's reproductive rights as proposed in health care reform legislation. While the reformation of the U.S. health care system was a lengthy process, my analysis is confined to feminist blog posts published in November 2009, December 2009 and March 2010. These three months have been designated as they are roughly representative of three pivotal stages in health care reform: the drafting of the House of Representatives health care reform bill and Stupak Amendment in November 2009, the creation of the Senate health care bill inclusive of the Nelson compromise in December 2009, and the passage of the finalised health care reform bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and supplementary executive order, in March 2010. This study is informed by feminist poststructuralist theory and Foucault's conceptions of discourse and power - an appropriate framework for identifying and analysing the unequal power relations that exist between men and women in patriarchal societies. Foucault conceives of discourse as both socially constituted and constitutive and contends that through the constitution of knowledge, discourses designate acceptable ways of talking, writing, and behaving, while simultaneously restricting and prohibiting alternatives, thereby granting power and authority to specific discourses. However, Foucault also stresses the multi-directionality of power and asserts that though hegemonic discourses are privileged over others, power lays in discursive practice at all social sites; hence the socially and politically transformative power of contesting discourses. Critical discourse analysis is informed by this critical theory of language and regards the use of language as a form of social practice located within its specific historical context. Therefore, it is through engaging in the struggle over meaning and producing different 'truths' through the reappropriation of language that the possibility of social change exists. Employing narrative, linguistic and rhetorical analysis, this study identifies the discursive strategies and tactics utilised by feminist bloggers to combat and contest anti-choice health care legislation. The study further seeks to determine how arguments supportive of women's reproductive rights are framed and how feminist discourses are privileged while patriarchal discourse is contested. Drawing on public sphere theory, I argue that the feminist blogosphere constitutes a counter-public which facili tates the articulation and circulation of marginalised and counter-discourses. I conclude this study by examining the feminist blogopshere's role in promoting political change and transformation through alternative representations of women and their reproductive rights.

Traces the inter-related histories of the eugenics movement and birth control, with an emphasis on abortion. Discusses Sarah Weddington's arguments and the Supreme Court's ruling in Roe v Wade. Straws the eugenic influences in the case and asserts that these influences caused the decision to be less than decisive.

Die philosophischen Grundlagen der Meta-Dimension des Rechts auf Menschenwürde lösen eine Fragestellung aus, die die Grenzen der Disziplin des Rechts übertrifft: wie könnte das Transzendentale als ein Aspekt der Bedeutung von Menschenwürde dargestellt werden? Das Beharren auf der nicht-Bestimmung des Menschenbildes oder auf dem Begriff ‚Gott’ in der Präambel des Deutschen Grundgesetzes, wie es sich in der Deutschen Dogmatik widerspiegelt, gepaart mit dem Bestreben nach einer Fall-zu-Fall ad hoc Konkretisierung dessen, was Menschenwürde bedeutet, inspiriert diese Untersuchung von ‚etwas fehlt’ [‘something missing’]. In postmoderner Art und Weise beschreibt diese Geschichte das Gesetz der Menschenwürde als Trojanisches Pferd und bietet hermeneutische und literarische Grundlagen für eine affirmative Haltung gegenüber einer ''leeren'' Rede im juristischen Diskurs. Die Forschungsfrage erweckt und umkreist die polemisch verbrämten Begriffe von ‚Leere’ und ‚Black Box’: Warum erscheint der Rechtsbegriff der Menschenwürde ‚leer’? Oder wie ist er ‚leer’? Warum und wie ist er eine ‚Black Box’? Wie erscheinen Manifestationen des Konzepts abstrakt wie Universalien, aber im Einzelnen konkret? Die ontologischen, sprachlich-analytischen und phänomenologischen philosophischen Erkenntnisse, vorgestellt im ersten Kapitel, bilden die Linse, durch die fünf maßgebliche Fälle des Bundesverfassungsgerichtes – über Abtreibung, lebenslange Freiheitsstrafe, Transsexualität, staatliche Reaktion auf Terroranschläge und die Gewährleistung eines menschenwürdigen Existenzminimums – im zweiten Kapitel analysiert werden. Die philosophischen Quellen werden nicht als Momente im langen Verlauf der Menschenwürde in der Geschichte der Ideen eingeklammert.
The philosophical underpinnings of what may be called the meta-dimension of the law of human dignity trigger a question that surpasses the boundaries of the discipline of law: how could the transcendental as an aspect of human dignity meaning be portrayed? The insistence on non-determination of the Menschenbild [human image] or ‘God’ in the Preamble to the German Basic Law [Grundgesetz] reflected in German legal doctrine, paired with the commitment to case-by-case ad hoc concretization of what human dignity means inspire this story of ‘something missing’. In postmodern fashion, this story portrays the law of human dignity as a Trojan Horse and provides hermeneutic and literary foundations for an affirmative stance towards ‘emptiness’ talk in legal discourse. The research question rekindles and twists polemically framed ‘emptiness’ and ‘black box’ contentions: Why does the legal concept of human dignity appear ‘empty’? Or, how is it ‘empty’? Why and how is it a ‘black box’? How do manifestations of the concept appear abstract as universals and concrete as particulars? The ontological, linguistic-analytical, and phenomenological philosophical insights presented in Chapter One compose the lens through which five benchmark Bundesverfassungsgericht cases – on abortion, life imprisonment, transsexuals, state response to terrorist attacks, and the guarantee of a dignified subsistence minimum – are analyzed in Chapter Two. The philosophical sources are not bracketed as moments in the long course of human dignity in the history of ideas.

Abortų problema yra prieštaringai vertinama daugelyje pasaulio valstybių. Dažniausiai diskusijų sukelia tokios temos kaip vaisiaus ir motinos teisės, tačiau tėvo teisės sulaukia mažiau dėmesio, nors šis klausimas yra ne mažiau aktualus. Jei tėvas prisideda prie gyvybės sukūrimo, tai kodėl neturėtų dalyvauti sprendžiant ir jos nutraukimo klausimą? Vyro teisės priimant aborto sprendimą ne visada buvo vienodos ir keitėsi su laiku. Jeigu senovėje nutraukiant nėštumą lemiamą sprendimą priimdavo vyras, tai dabar ši teisė priklauso moteriai. Tačiau vyrai toliau kovoja už teisę turėti palikuonį, remdamiesi vaisiaus teisės į gyvybę teorija, moterų ir vyrų lygių teisių įstatymais, Konstitucija ir kitais teisės aktais. Atlikus tarptautinių dokumentų, Jungtinių Amerikos Valstijų, Jungtinės karalystės ir Lietuvos nacionalinių teisės aktų bei tarptautinių ir nacionalinių teismų praktikos analizę vyro teisės priimant aborto sprendimą klausimu, prieita prie išvados, kad tarp būsimųjų tėvų iškilus nesutarimui dėl nėštumo nutraukimo sprendimo priėmimo, lemiamas žodis atitenka motinai, o tėvui tenka susitaikyti su moters priimtu sprendimu, kadangi jis neturi jokių įstatymuose garantuotų teisių uždrausti moteriai darytis abortą, nesvarbu ar jis būtų moters sutuoktinis ar ne. Šiomis dienomis, kai visur yra pabrėžiamos vyrų ir moterų lygios teisės, kai moterys ir vyrai atrodo, kad visose srityse pasiekė lygybės, liko bent viena sritis, kurioje vyrai turi mažiau teisių negu moterys – tai priimant... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]
Abortion is a very controversial issue in various countries. The discussion it arises is mainly concerned with mother’s and unborn fetus’s rights but father’s rights are rarely discussed. The aim of this thesis is to analyze father’s rights in abortion decision. The attitude towards father’s rights has been changing with time. The first law against abortion appeared in ancient times protecting the father's right to have an offspring and the woman’s opinion was not important. But nowadays the situation has changed – the abortion decision is left for the mother. In most countries men have no right to stop a woman from having an abortion with a small exception of some mostly Muslim countries. The thesis analyzes international documents and jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR); national laws, related to abortion decision and father’s rights and case law in the United States of America, the United Kingdom (UK) and Lithuania. The analysis of international and national laws and jurisprudence shows that when a woman becomes pregnant, the man who impregnated her has few legal rights with respect to that pregnancy. He can neither require the woman to remain pregnant if she chooses to have an abortion nor force her to have an abortion if she wants to give a birth. Furthermore, if the woman chooses to bear a child, the father is legally liable for child support. The question arises – if men have financial responsibilities for their children, should not they have... [to full text]

Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Political Science, 2014.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 114-124).
Abortion is a loaded, controversial, and divisive sociocultural and political term, concept, and debate. Yet little empirical research has been conducted to examine what effects abortion rights legislation and court cases have had on the public and our society. After analyzing a broad overview of the history of the abortion rights debate in the US, I conduct bivariate and multivariate regression analyses from 1972-2004 using NES and personally-collected data to see how these laws and court opinions in various states at the individual level influence public opinion of abortion rights and of the government. In the end, I conclude that, of the possible iterated relationships therefrom, anti-choice policies have statistically significant impacts on both how people view abortion rights and their own state governments. In doing so, I challenge extant models that describe the interaction between public opinion and policy. I also further develop the idea of Policy Overreach, where policymakers go "too far"-at least, in the eyes of the public-in setting anti-choice policies, causing the public to retaliate in various ways. Not only does this thesis answer some important questions, but also introduces new measures, concepts, questions, and data for future research into this important area of study.
by Cory D. Hernandez.
S.M.

A tese de doutorado que ora se apresenta trata do diagnóstico da anencefalia e seus desdobramentos para o Direito, em especial no que tange à existência ou não de personalidade jurídica em seus portadores. Analisam-se, então, os princípios informadores que se relacionam com a matéria em questão, demonstrando a existência de diferentes planos de apreciação. O trabalho explora, ainda, os direitos da personalidade, discutindo as diferentes teorias que se pronunciam acerca do momento em que a personalidade jurídica se inicia, destacando quais as consequências que derivam da adoção de uma ou outra teoria. A pesquisa traça conceitos e distinções, como a diferenciação entre personalidade e capacidade. Trata-se, então, dos momentos que limitam a existência humana, discorrendo acerca dos marcos em que se inicia e termina a vida humana. Ao cuidar do fim da existência humana, arrolam-se os diferentes conceitos de morte, com as consequências de cada um na seara jurídica. Neste ponto, destaca-se a morte encefálica, com enfoque na Lei de Transplantes de Órgãos e Tecidos. A análise deste panorama deságua no estudo da anencefalia, com posições médicas sobre esta doença, levantando-se os demais casos de anomalias encefálicas que podem se apresentar em um ser humano, bem como suas implicações na vida biológica e relacional daquele ser. Analisa-se, então, a aplicação dos critérios de morte encefálica no que tange à anencefalia, traçando as perspectivas de vida que um ser nestas condições apresenta. Discorre-se acerca da existência de vida e sua manutenção nos casos em esta anomalia é detectada. Uma abordagem sobre a interrupção da gestação nos casos de diagnóstico pré-natal desta doença é realizada, com enfoque na atual tipificação do crime de aborto, nas suas excludentes de ilicitude, nos conceitos de aborto eugênico e aborto anencefálico e as decorrências jurídicas de cada um deles. Os resultados são comparados com as posições dos Tribunais brasileiros e estrangeiros sobre o aborto anencefálico, colocando o debate que existe sobre as ações de Wrongful Life e Wrongful Birth. Cuida-se, por fim, da situação do anencéfalo nascido, que venceu a barreira da gestação, colocando o debate médico que existe sobre a viabilidade de existência extrauterina, com a repercussão jurídica na atribuição ou não de personalidade a este ser. Conclui-se que portadores de anencefalia são dotados de personalidade jurídica, explicitando a não aplicação dos conceitos de morte encefálica em seu diagnóstico.
The scope of this present Doctoral Dissertation comprises the diagnosis of anencephaly and its involvement with Law, especially in what concerns the problem of bearers thereof having or not a juridical personality. Informing principles relevant to the matter at issue are then analysed, and two different plans come into evidence for appreciation. Personality rights and different theories on the moment when the legal personality begins are also examined and discussed so as to highlight the consequences deriving from each theory. Concepts and distinctions are elicited by this research, such as differentiation between personality and capacity. The moments limiting human existence are then studied by considering the initial and final landmarks of human life. When dealing with the end of human life, different concepts of death are evoked, as well as the consequences of each one in the juridical field. Encephalic death is then highlighted with a focus on the Organ and Tissue Transplant Law. Analysis of this panorama leads to the study of anencephaly and medical opinions on this disease, while examining all the other cases of encephalic anomalies a human being is prone to, as well as their implications in the biological and relational life of such beings. The application of encephalic death criteria to cases of anencephaly is then analysed on the basis of life perspectives expected for a human being in such conditions. The conditions of existence and life maintenance once such anomaly is detected are discussed. A possible termination of pregnancy in cases of early diagnosis of this disease makes the object of an approach in the light of not only the current characterization of abortion as a crime, but also of the elements excluding its illicit character, concepts concerning eugenic abortion and anencephalic abortion, as well as of the legal consequences of each one of these cases of exclusion. The results are compared to Brazilian and foreign courts\' positions with respect to anencephalic abortion, placing the existing debate on actions of Wrongful Life and Wrongful Birth. Finally, attention is given to the situation of the anencephalic infant who has overcome the gestation barrier, raising medical argumentation about the viability of extrauterine existence without juridical repercussion on the dilemma of attributing or not juridical personality to such a being. It is concluded that bearers of anencephaly are entitled to legal personality, non-application of encephalic death concepts to such diagnosis being therefore explicit.

Health conscientious objection in Spain: nature and exerciseConscientious objection is conceived as the infringement of a legal duty, peacefully and morally motivated, which aims to safeguard the own moral integrity against a heteronomous imperative judged as unfair. Generally, there is social agreement concerning some justice principles that generate group-shared laws. However, there can be disagreement among some of the members of the group, which can lead them to decide to break the law. The aim of this paper is to reflect on the social and juridical legitimacy of an individual’s moral obligation to disobey a rule that is incompatible with his or her personal options, in order to assert that faculty and base it on the existence of a conscientious objection right. Also, it seeks to point out the existing difficulties in Spain to exercise the conscientious objection within the healthcare sector.
La objeción de conciencia se concibe como el incumplimiento de un deber jurídico, pacífica y moralmente motivado, que procura salvaguardar la propia integridad moral frente a un imperativo heterónomo que se juzga injusto. En general, existe acuerdo social en torno a unos principios de justicia que generan normas compartidas por el grupo. Sin embargo, pueden existir discrepancias entre algunos de los miembros del mismo, que los lleven a optar por la desobediencia a la norma. En este trabajo se pretende reflexionar acerca de la legitimidad social y jurídica de la obligación moral de un individuo de desobedecer o incumplir una norma jurídica incompatible con sus opciones personales, con el objetivo de afirmar dicha facultad y fundamentarla en la existencia de un derecho a la objeción de conciencia. También se quiere poner de manifiesto las dificultades que encuentra en España el ejercicio de la objeción de conciencia en el contexto sanitario.